Wealth vs. Harvest

Jeff Bezos.

He’s hated and he’s loved.

He’s appreciated and he’s ridiculed.

Like him or not, the large majority of people have purchased from his company, Amazon, have you?

I have. And I do.

I love it.

In recent months while many stocks are faltering, the value of Amazon has risen continuously.

This has increased his overall wealth as well. He’s now worth well over $120 billion.

Is that too much?

Some people say that but what they fail to understand is that it is not liquid cash.

He has stock in the company, in Amazon.

I think about farmers though.

They have all this wealth throughout the year, right?

But come harvest time, they only hold onto or maintain a small portion for themselves. I’d compare that to the stock market.

When you start a company, you have 100% of the equity.

When a farmer plants the item for harvest, they have 100% of the seeds.

But, as the seed (or company) grows, other people become interested.

Then what?

Then your stakes are essentially valued more than they were at the beginning — before harvest.

I was just thinking more and more about the incredible wealth transfer that’s taking place right now.

I know of people making close to $10,000 some days out of stocks alone while others are generating a quarter million from online courses, another who’s redeveloping a block in Houston, and another who’s just been grinding away building another business.

But that’s small talk compared to some of the greater wealth transfers happening.

There are people who have attained (and lost) billions upon billions of dollars of wealth.

So the key thing I was just reflecting on again was the difference between a harvest — liquid wealth vs. the crops that are continuing to grow — illiquid wealth.