This may come as some surprise, but even in these times, when it’s all the vogue to lose your job and all the trendsetters are competing to see whose net worth can drop the fastest, some people still want to be rich. If you’re one of them, you may learn something about how to get that way by reading Rich Like Them: My Door-to-Door Search for the Secrets of Wealth in America’s Richest Neighborhoods. The author of this book, my pal and former Jungle Media colleague Ryan D’Agostino, sought to discover the secrets of the wealthy by performing the devious trick of walking up and asking them. Ryan flew around the country to the 100 wealthiest zip codes in the USA, and went house-to-house, knocking on doors, and asking the lord or lady of the manor how he or she got rich. He got some great advice. We thought we’d go right up and ask him some questions about his experience.
How did people react when you showed up unannounced and probing the secrets behind their wealth?
There was usually total confusion at first, particularly if a housekeeper with so-so English answered. But the people who actually spoke to me—about 50 people, out of the 500 doors I knocked on—were generally friendly. After all, I was asking them about all the brilliant decisions they had made, which is probably not something they’re asked very often. So they let a little pride show. Most of them talked to me for longer than they probably thought they would. One guy, Jeff Weisfeld, a produce distributor in Beverly Hills, gave me two hours. He believed in putting as much money down on your house as possible—he put 60% down to pay for the home we were sitting in.
It doesn’t seem like too many doors were slammed in your face. Or are you saving those stories for the DVD?
Well, there was the dog that chased me down the street in Westport, Connecticut. And I did get some condescending hands waved in my face—one in Seattle, a couple in Beverly Hills, maybe one in Atlanta. But for the most part, even people who wanted nothing to do with me were nice about saying so.
What would you say is the principal explanation people offered?
The thing that I keep thinking about, as our financial system crumbles away, is that these are not people who take no for an answer. That’s not to say that they think they can do anything—in fact, they know they can’t. Humility was the most surprising recurring quality I found. They were, for the most part, humble enough to know that they have to work late and get up early and take out their own trash even though they’re the CEO and all that. One woman I met in Palm Beach started off as an art dealer in Memphis. The art business is big on ego, but she told me about the early days of her career, when she would throw on her black dress and her pearls before a big opening and stand on chairs in her high heels hanging big, heavy paintings.
Okay, but it can’t all be humility. What else do these rich people know?
They’ve figured out when to pull the trigger. On leaving a job, taking a job, starting a company, moving abroad—all the big decisions we’re scared of making, they figured out when the moment was right. Like Ron Irvine, an independent pharmaceutical consultant in Lake Forest, outside of Chicago. He had a great job as a vice president at a huge drug company, with to kids who were not far from college age. But he figured that, as an African-American, he had risen as high as he could. So, with those kids at home and tuitions looming, he decided to leave the well-paying, secure job and start a consulting company out of his den. It seems crazy on the surface, but he knew it was right because one of his jobs at the drug company was to hire consultants, so he understood how to score clients. Plus, he knew he had an advantage because most companies try to hire minority-owned contractors. He knew all the variables.
In other words, take risks. Fear nothing but fear.
Exactly. America is freaking out about money right now, but you know what? This is still America. This is still the land of opportunity. And right now is not the time to crawl under a rock or hide the money in the mattress—if anything, there are more opportunities right now because of the fear. The people I interviewed are all still rich, because they took careful risks and did the sometimes not-so-fun work to make sure they paid off. They know that now is not the time to put off a dream or bury a good idea. These people don’t panic, and neither should we.
Did anyone give credit to a well-executed crime, or to being a mean selfish bastard?
No one copped to criminal activity, but one man in Gates Mills, Ohio, a beautiful suburb of Cleveland, was definitely a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. He worked at a huge corporation, working his way up to CEO over the course of 30 years. At this company, they did those 360-degree job reviews, where people above and below you get to chime in. Everyone apparently reported that this guy—Joseph Gorman is his name—that Gorman was always sticking his nose in every department, trying to do everyone else’s job. Well, his superiors said to keep right on doing that, because he was taking it upon himself to learn how every facet of the company worked.
From your descriptions of their residences, the rich live in some fairly swell houses. However, from your descriptions of their clothing, the rich seem to favor the same cut-offs, golf shirts and tube socks the rest of favor.
That was fascinating. I think one explanation is that—and this might sound strange—these people aren’t in it for the money. A real-estate mogul in Silicon Valley, a really, really rich guy, pointed out to me that he doesn’t need to go to work every day and make a few more dollars. He loves making deals, plain and simple. Lives for it. The money is almost a bonus. Not that he doesn’t enjoy it, but it’s not the point He was wearing jeans and a golf shirt.