5 billionaires who spend a lot of money on their dreams

Billions in the account sometimes push their owners to the most incredible deeds. Someone builds houses with hundreds of rooms, alcoholizes sharks, others buy jewelry, paintings, herds of horses. But there are also rich people who send money to fulfill their dreams. And if at first glance such entertainment seems to be “pampering”, then in the end they lead to breakthroughs for all of humanity. Larry Ellison, James Cameron, Paul Alena, Elon Musk, Richard Branson are the minions of fate who, sparing no money for their ambitions, made the future one step closer for everyone.

Even if you buy a racing team for a couple of billion dollars and deliver it on your jet plane to your own island, where the longest track is built and the original cars are waiting, it will be difficult to spend fortunes that belong to, for example, Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. But just the founders of Microsoft and Amazon have long decided what to do with their capital – they swore an oath to give half of the funds to charity. But there are many billionaires in the world who like to spend money on themselves and their hobbies.

Larry Ellison

A playboy, a joker, a charismatic personality and a talented programmer – all this is about the creator of one of the largest IT companies Oracle, Lawrence Alison, whose fortune Forbes estimated in September 2024 at $ 78.4 billion.

And he really not only knows, but also does it with great pleasure. He turns any of his passions into a show with at least six zeros.

An avid yachtsman changes yachts like some rich people cars. For example, he sold the mega-vessel Rising Sun, since the 138-meter boat, which ranks sixth among the 100 largest yachts in the world, is not included in many ports.

But the billionaire manages perfectly not only sailboats, but also airplanes. He owns the Italian Marchetti fighter. But he was not allowed to buy the Russian MIG from the US Federal Bureau of Firearms Control.

Ellison also has his own island. Once in childhood, he flew over Hawaii and began to dream about this beautiful piece of land. Why not. Half a billion dollars, and now Larry has the 6th largest Pineapple Island. Lanai has the best golf courses, gorgeous beaches and, of course, pineapple plantations. The billionaire actually created a heaven on earth for the locals.

The businessman is an excellent tennis player and owns the BNP Paribas Open. He built his own court for the tennis tournament. But the dream of buying a basketball team has not yet come true. But everything is still ahead, because Larry still has many billions to spend on his ideas.

James Cameron

One of the first films by the most successful film director, The Abyss, failed miserably at the box office. Then the shooting was carried out in a 15-meter pool, imitating deep-sea landscapes, including the descent of the protagonist into the Mariinsky Trench. Later there will be many bestsellers with diving. But Cameron’s dream to descend into the abyss came true after 20 years.

The uniqueness of the expedition was not that the billionaire became the third person to visit the deepest point of the oceans. He personally financed the dive and the creation of the bathyscaphe, that is, he paid for the embodiment of his own ambitions.

Maritime experts believe that James Cameron opened up a new hobby for millionaires – submarine travel. Perhaps soon submarines will become as much a sign of success as their own aircraft and yachts.

Paul Allen

After leaving Microsoft, he took everything he wanted from life. His eyes turned to the sky and the depths. The brilliant programmer sponsored the creation of the first suborbital spacecraft SpaceShipOne for civil flights.

It was Alain who owned one of the largest yachts Octopus ($325 million) and Tatoosh ($100 million). On the “Octopus” there were 2 mini-submarines, on which the billionaire conducted archaeological expeditions. So, he personally discovered the Japanese super battleship Musashi and the American aircraft carrier Lexington, the cruisers Juneau (CL-52) and Helena (CL-50) at the bottom of the ocean.

Paul collected World War II aircraft. 20 copies with restoration and equipment of hangars cost the billionaire $ 5 million.

He also dreamed of finding an extraterrestrial civilization, for which he began to build a radio telescope for his own money, but did not have time, since no billions could help him cope with the disease. Paul Allen died in 2018 from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Elon Musk

One of the most eccentric billionaires in the world loves everything new, unknown, exclusive and does not spare money for it. Moreover, his areas of interest are constantly changing.

Speed ​​has always attracted him. The first old BMW 320i of 1978 fell apart, and there was no money to buy a car. Later, after the sale of each company, a new car appeared in his garage. So, with the money he got from Zip2, he bought a Jaguar E-Type.

For the proceeds from PayPal – McLaren F1, on which he had an accident.

Reference! Later there will be more than one accident. Safety, convenience and speed inspired him to create Tesla.

His collection includes the Audi Q7, Ford Model T and Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Roadster, BMW M5, Porsche 911. And, of course, all Tesla models, including new developments. Now Elon Musk’s favorite is Cybertruck.

The businessman bought the famous James Bond car in 2013, as he dreamed of it as a child when he watched the movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Having paid $920,000 for the Lotus Esprit at auction, he was terribly disappointed, because the “transformer” did not turn into a submarine, as shown in the movie.

Musk’s other passion is height. First, he bought an Aero L-39 Albatros aircraft, later a Dassault Falcon 900 jet from the movie “Smoking Here” appeared in the hangar. But even this was not enough. He became a member of the flight with the achievement of the effect of weightlessness by paying for a ticket to the Zero Gravity project. He had already launched his rocket into space, although his friends scoffed at his idea.

Perhaps soon the billionaire himself will start to the stars, because he dreams of colonizing Mars, if he is allowed to do so. In the meantime, he is building the future – looking for artificial intelligence.

Richard Branson

The eternal teenager, even after becoming a billionaire, spends 60% of his time on entertainment, and not the cheapest. He dreamed of conquering space and built the SpaceShipTwo suborbital shuttle. On it, he promises to rise to the stars among the first passengers.

He wanted to explore the depths of the sea – he built the DeepFlight Challenger underwater aircraft, capable of diving to super-depths, at a cost of 1.5 million euros.

According to the billionaire, he is ready to accept the last challenge of the planet to mankind – to study the bottom of the ocean.

He likes to break records for which he does not spare money:

• in 1986, a businessman crossed the ocean in a watercraft, although the year before that had turned over in British waters;
• flew in a balloon over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans;
• crossed the English Channel in 1 hour 40 minutes and 6 seconds.

But no one has yet broken the record of crazy antics of a businessman:

• drove through Times Square in a tank and shot at the shield of a Coca Cola competitor;
• skied naked and climbed on a crane to advertise telephones;
• dressed as a bride and a stewardess.

Richard at one time could not succeed in car racing, but bought for himself the Virgin Racing Formula 1 racing team.

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Yes, history knows many examples of crazy spending by billionaires: they buy castles with 600 rooms, double-decker planes with jewelry trim, gold shirts, arrange incredible holidays. But you must admit, it is much more interesting to spend money to fulfill your dream and at the same time make the world a better place.