http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20080113_Donor_built_millions_on__11_an_hour.html
When I first read about this story I was amazed. How can a guy working in a mill become a millionaire? Afterall, even though I work in non-profit, I'm sure I must make more than him a year. The more I read about him however, the more I realized that he didn't really make money from working in the mill as much as he made the money in investing in real estate property; renting them out to tenants. He also invested in the stockmarket and kept his expenses low by not having a family and buying his clothes at thrift shops. Not having a TV or paying for cable also probably helped in keeping costs down.
Now some people criticize him for hoarding all that money, and say that he must not have had a good life since he's not married. What does the guy do for fun as well, considering he doesn't even watch TV or read books? Well, he listens to CDs, hangs out with friends, and now donates to charity, what else can you ask for? Though the article did mention that he drives to the library in his old Isuzu, which I find interesting since he doesn't read books. But since he does read newspapers maybe that's what he reads there.
To me he also sounds like a hopeless romantic, having lost the love of his life at a tender age. I respect him for that. Who here has not been completely in love and been devasted by a loss or a break up? I can understand how some people can never get over such a traumatic experience. In a way that's honorable, more so than running around and sleeping with a lot of people. But who knows, maybe he did that as well, but why criticize a guy, or gal, for not getting married? Critics should cut the guy some slack. At least he's giving some of his fortunate away to charity and to the future children of America. In the end it's what you leave behind that matters, whether it's your children or a swimming pool.
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