Billionaire goes to the subway with a bag and dresses at sales. This photo blew up the Internet. Unfortunately, when we hear the phrase rich man, we immediately think of rich people who spend money, mindlessly and lead a showy lifestyle. Why is that surprising? After all, pictures of the rich people with their expensive cars, houses, and even planes are pretty annoying, but at the same time, there are some really rich people who haven’t been aiming to increase their wealth for a long time.
It might even sound strange But they rather want to help the world become a little better. Today I will tell you about a man from a Russian family who is one of the top 20s richest people in the world but who prefers to live a life as simple as ours. He was born in Moscow on 21 August 1973 in a family of two graduates of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. But already in 1979, the family, by Hooker by Cook, managed to immigrate from the Soviet Union to the United States, settling in Maryland.
At first, Sergei, aged seven, attended school in the Jewish community, where he had a very difficult time.
Often he was bullied by his classmates for his Russian accent. In addition, the curriculum seemed to him too simple, and his father constantly had to give his son extra lessons to deepen his knowledge. There’s not much more to say about the school years of our hero. He was just an ordinary schoolboy like millions.
Now back to the story; After school, the young man successfully entered the University of Maryland and graduated with honors. This gave him the opportunity to go to Stanford while still in school, Sergei showed an interest in computer science and later dwelled as far as possible into the study of Internet technology and search engines. But the fateful moment in our hero’s life came in March of 95 when he met Larry Page. At first, these two were not at all enthusiastic about each other, but since they had to live in the same dorm room, they got used to it.
We would probably never have heard the names of these two if it hadn’t been for a simple coincidence. One day, two students were assigned a research paper whose main idea was to create a new product. They wanted to take the then-existing search engines as the basis but improve and modify it a little. They worked hard and their product caught the fancy of even the local administration. So in 1997, they launched a domain called Google inside their University, recognizing that the system was in demand.
A year later, the friends were able to show it to the world; The startup received investment from relatives and friends, but it was a Stanford Professor who invested the biggest chunk in the project and he did not go wrong. He was able to see the potential in the guys and became a shareholder in the future company. The first office was a garage of one of the buddies, with only four people working in it. September 98 can be considered a historical day for the two adventurers from Stanford who were able to give the world the most popular search engine.
Many people already know the story of Google and Sergey Brin, but I thought I would remind you of it again very briefly. Things have only gone upwards and today Google is one of the most expensive companies in the world. But that is not what I wanted to talk about in this video. It’s about how one of the most successful and richest people in the world lives and spends his money. As far back as 2004, Sergey Brin and Larry Page decided that 1% of Google’s resources should be devoted to philanthropic projects.
The two friends, in turn, set themselves an annual salary of just $1, thanks to these two guys, and for their money projects are being developed today that make it possible to switch to engines powered by alternative energy sources. They’re also funding a number of studies that predict the spread of disease around the world, warn of the occurrence of natural disasters, and more. Sergey initiated the Google Foundation back in 2005, which invests the proceeds as grants for cutting-edge ideas from young developers to help people around the world.
At the same time, having earned a lot of money, the guys do not forget about their employees. For example, every employee is entitled to a free lunch at the company’s office and a taxi ride home if they wish.
They also have TVs, showers, washing machines, and much more. You don’t see that very often. Also in one of Google’s offices in New York, there is an entire entertainment floor for employees where they can spend as much time as they like in the room with Legos, arcade games, billiards, and even a roller coaster ride. Plus, workers don’t have desks to work at and they can work anywhere. Many places are built for this purpose, such as loungers or cabins for secluded work.
Oddly enough, this kind of attitude on the contrary, motivates employees to do their work on time, and if there is a major football Championship going on, they can safely come to work in the uniform of their favorite team. It’s also amazing that the company is willing to pay their workers even after their death. For a full ten years. The families of such workers will receive half their wages and their children will be paid for internships and subjects they are interested in. This kind of treatment of staff is more than just decent.
Even goats are hired at Google. They’re needed to pluck and fertilize the grass of the company’s huge campus in California, while a shepherd watches over them. Needless to say, even for this kind of work. The employees are paid handsomely because they really live up to their expectations. What does the world know about Sergei’s personal life?
The man is known to have two children with his ex-wife Anne Wojcicki, Despite being the 11th richest man in the world and a fortune of almost $50 billion, Bryn lives almost as well as the average US citizen, and he has no suits in his wardrobe, only those for formal occasions. Instead, Sergey almost always wears the most ordinary things trousers, shorts, T-shirts, and jackets. At the same time, they are bought in the most ordinary shops, where a large number of American residents are dressed. But that’s not all.
One of the richest men in the world drives a Toyota car with an environmentally friendly engine. But not so long ago, he also got a Tesla, a gift from Elon Musk. As you can see, he has no driver, and security is out of the question. Anyone can just walk up to him and take a photo with him. Sergey’s mother suffers from Parkinson’s disease, so the philanthropist has already donated over $60 million to create a cure to help with the disease.
Sergei once invested as much as half a million dollars in a Wikipedia project, and another four and a half million went to Space Adventures, a space tourism company. $150,000,000 has been spent on building a huge blimp that delivers humanitarian aid to those in need in far-flung corners of the planet. In general, investments are regularly made to benefit projects that the man considers promising. In his personal opinion, the cofounders of his charitable foundation say with confidence that another $20 billion will be spent within 20 years to support young inventors, Sergey says of himself: “it doesn’t matter if I’m rich or poor. I am happy because I enjoy what I do, and that is my main wealth, If we were doing it all for the money, we would have sold our company long ago and been relaxing on the beach.” But that’s not all either. Even though Bryn has a huge house, the businessman spends most of his time in a simple three-room flat because he has to work hard and travel a lot, and sometimes he can even stay overnight at work. Sergei tries to avoid expensive restaurants if possible and to eat homemade meals that he sometimes takes with him to work. As for our hero’s Hobbies, there are many.
As soon as Sergey found out about the high risk of Parkinson’s disease, he immediately took up yoga and gymnastics, as well as ice skating and running. In the morning. In 2017, Sergei Brin’s Act surprised the public when, after Donald Trump banned citizens of seven Muslim countries from entering the US, he personally came out to a demonstration, also calling himself an illegal refugee from the Soviet Union. In addition, Sergei is always willing to speak at conferences or present his designs at forums without charge. It is not a problem for him to make a photo with a passerby on the street or even to help financially those in need.Even those unfamiliar with Sergey, and his acquaintances note him as a very cheerful and compassionate person. Stories keep coming up about him roller-skating around the office, doing yoga during business meetings, or pranking colleagues. Employees at Google have said he once conducted a job interview on the street, and on April 1, he told pregnant employees that he would pay for childbirth and parenting classes. In short, they say he’s not like all the other billionaires, and he has built everything with his own hands. But the culmination of this whole story is just one photo that once went viral on the Internet.
In a matter of days. One of the men tweeted: “you won’t believe it, but I’ve just had a chat with one of the most influential people in our world. And do you know where? in an underground train! Nice guy. I would have mistaken Brin for an ordinary American, but the Google glasses gave him away.”
After all, it’s hard to believe. But Google founder Sergey Brin, one of the richest people in the world, just rides in a New York City underground, and he can’t be distinguished from other passengers at all, unremarkable in a dark jacket and cap, carrying a yellow plastic bag. And those around him are not guards and extra people, but ordinary people. To conclude, it is worth quoting a quote from Sergey Brin. Obviously, all of us want to succeed, but I want to be remembered above all, as a great innovator and a trustworthy person who has ultimately brought great change into our world.