has anyone ever interacted with an actual billionaire?

Malcolm Forbes was a regular at Mort Coopermans Lone Star Cafe the 'insiders' often hung out with the talent underneath The Iguana on the roof.

The first time we were introduced... insert a very long story about Kinky Friedman, 3 tall gals from the Ford Model Agency, a conversation about wine & the then new Smother Brothers vineyard and rolling adult cigarettes using a 100 dollar bill ... made an impression. He often invited a few folks to champagne with him in the kitchen of his house around the corner on a number of late night meets early morning occasions. Our conversations had no gravitas.

I have. She was quite nice.

This is second hand, and i’m not sure if they’re actually billionaires, but I have a good friend that was stewardess on a 150+ foot yacht with ~7 full time crew. I don’t know the guys’ names (they were brothers, not sure if they were both wealthy, she had to sign non disclosure agreements), but they partied on the boat several times a week. There was lots of cocaine and dozens of prostitutes (sounded like they went through an escort service), every now and then they’d try the old fashioned way of bringing girls back from the bars. The crew had to be prepared for a party each night.

They were both married, and they’d occasionally take their families with them on short trips around the Caribbean.

They were in the real estate/developer business.

As far as them being cut from another cloth, sure, but it is more that there are fewer complete idiots in the billionaire/millionaire club than them all being exceptional

Family friend is the guy who owns the distribution rights for "As Seen on TV". He has a net worth of over a billion dollars but you'd never know it. Regular down to earth guy and family.

More money than me wrote:

through my high school and college years.

several people who's last names.

You didn't even make it through middle school...

No I have never met a real billionaire. I’ve met Donald J. Trump before—so I have met a wannabe billionaire but everyone knows he’s not really worth that much money.

Lamar Hunt, 22 years ago.

My brother is a pro poker player. I met, what he said, was the 8th richest man in the world (this was about 7 years ago).

Normal guy, down to earth. HOTTTTTTTT, young wife- not a floozy type, pretty and intelligent.

He seemed very normal and was actually impressed that I was a runner and a teacher.

I met a billionaire (old inherited money that grew with investments) when they were deposed in a law suit that one of my clients was involved in. It was a construction project gone wrong and the billionaire was one of the investors.

They were very polite and seemed nice enough.

We all do every day.

Every day billionaires put their hands in each and everyone of our pockets.

billionaire schmillionaire wrote:

derp wrote:

details

It's work-related. I'm on a project that's being funded in part by a foundation set up by a billionaire. He came into the office today to meet with my boss and discuss communication strategy, among other things. Without getting into it, he wasn't a big fan of how I handled outreach towards a particular constituent. I was very intimidated and now feel like getting drunk.

So how are they “cut from a different cloth”?

This anecdote above describes features of yourself more than of the donor.

My aunt was the executive assistant for a billionaire-- you'd most likely recognize his name (and certainly his middle name). I met him several times over the years and he was nothing but cordial and down-to-earth. When my aunt was dying of cancer, in addition to providing her with the best possible care, he would fly my mother in on a weekly basis to be with her. Good guy.

I literally have spent hours alone with Sergei Brinn and Tim Cook.

Both were incredibly respectful and nice. I was helping them rehab injuries.

They took interest in my life and remembered details about me when they came back in our clinic.

Both top notch men. Way smarter than the average and they both could analyze things incredibly quickly.

I had an “in” with Cook, both of us Auburn Grads, but I think they genuinely treat “ normal “ people very well. They both knew I was an Olympian, but I don’t think that was much of a factor.

Nothing bad to say about either one.

Other Therapists worked on Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison and Larry Page and had similar experiences. Although Jobs would blatantly steal people’s parking spots.

...for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs, and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.

I was in line at the grocery store and behind me and my daughter was Steven Spielberg. She was about 5 at the time and asked him what he was buying. Obviously she had no idea who he was.

He was very nice in chatting with her and complimented me on her cuteness and politeness.

billionaire schmillionare wrote:

Not at like a forced interaction like a book signing or a public engagement, but a personal interaction where you're involved in something they're doing.

I had one today and holy crap - I feel like I was hit by a bus. Wealthy people are cut from a different cloth.

Depends on the person. I worked for a billionaire and he was like a "regular joe" with the exception of his ability to always see an angle when it came to business situations. He would see something that he could take advantage of almost instantly. But in other areas he wasn't anything one would consider a standout.

I started to wonder just how likely is it meet a billionaire, really, aside from the anecdotal sightings here.

Some statistics which help answer this:

Currently in the U.S. there are:

540 billionaires

325.7 million (2017) population of U.S.

80,000 people an average person meets in a lifetime

From that, i calculated the purely random chance of meeting a billionaire in your lifetime in the U.S. as (540 x 8,000) divided by 3,257,000. = .01326 chance

Therefore, a person has a 1.3% chance to meet a billionaire in the U.S. based on purely random chances.

Put another way, only 1 in 77 people are likely to meet a billionaire in the U.S. based on purely random chances.

One might conclude, therefore, that the chances of actually meeting a true billionaire are very very small, though not out of the realm of comprehension.

My boss is a billionaire... awesome attitude, driven, visionary. Never intimidated.

Intimidated? You're a beta male then. No man should ever be intimidated by another man. You should have the confidence and competence to go toe to toe with the billionaire in your work endeavors. If he has advice on outreach then take his advice and do what he says. You don't get to be a billionaire without being a master salesman. Just look at Trump. He’s as smart as a box of rocks but he’s the greatest marketer and salesperson in the world so he sold himself and got the top job.