Hobbies of Wealthy Entrepreneurs

Have you ever wondered how the wealthiest entrepreneurs spend their money? Spending hundreds of pounds on a handbag, even thousands on an outfit is all well and good – but it’s hardly worth spending your entire fortune on. The activities listed below are expensive hobbies that only those with lots of money can take up.

The wealthy play polo, own a racehorse or two, fly a small aircraft for fun, play professional poker and participate in Formula One. And that’s just off the top of our heads – there are many more expensive hobbies out there for those whose pockets go deeper than the Mariana Trench.

Professional poker player

Rumor has it that recently, in Las Vegas, players wagered over $2 billion worth of chips on poker tables in a single night. The average player would have to spend a month’s salary to afford a seat at a table with professionals.

Professional poker players play for money, which means that playing the game is intrinsically linked to earning lots of it – clearing up about $1 million worth of winnings per year isn’t something that everyone can do.

However, for those who want to try poker as a career, becoming a professional poker player requires extensive training and experience from other game forms such as online gaming or live home games before competing against those who’ve been involved since they were teenagers.

Taking part in this hobby isn’t cheap either – each entry-level seat at one of many poker tables at a casino is hundreds of dollars, and that doesn’t include the daily fee for playing.

Racing a Formula One car

We’ve commented on how expensive it is to play professional-level poker, but what about racing a Formula One car? It’s more than just owning a gaming license – this hobby requires vast amounts of money to maintain and have access to some of the most advanced technology around.

Ex McLaren Automotive managing director Jonathan Neale described the Formula One series of cars on Twitter as “the world’s most advanced racing cars.”

All that sophistication comes with a price tag, though – which can be over £20 million for a new model. Owning an F1 team isn’t cheap either – even on the lower end, the team will need to invest at least £120 million in hiring an experienced director, designer, and IT support. Even then, that’s only enough money to cover most of the costs for half a year!

Flying a small aircraft

To spend a fortune on expensive hobbies, you don’t have to be a professional poker player or a racing car driver. You could lose your money on something like this if you’re not careful.

When partaking in these types of activities, however, there are numerous strategies to reduce the danger. Some pilots opt for less expensive flight modes, like gliding, while others get insurance or rely on their employers to cover any accidents.

Alternatively, if you want to become a helicopter pilot, you’ll have to get qualified – but that’s no easy task. Helicopter training courses are the length of two years of full-time study at university, so once you’ve done this, it’s likely your hobby will have cost you $20,000 before even getting off the ground!

Sailing a yacht

Every billionaire dreams about owning their yacht; it’s an ultimate status symbol of wealth and power. While most people might be satisfied with simply sailing on one of these luxurious boats, some people choose instead to buy them for themselves. A word of warning though, don’t just impulsively purchase a motorboat without thinking about the costs involved.

It’s estimated that millionaires and billionaires purchase over 60% of new yachts, but even so, the costs of owning a yacht can often exceed their earnings. The thing that makes yachts expensive is that they require constant maintenance – just like cars or any other boat for that matter.

If you take your hobby further and enter a race like The America’s Cup, you will need enough cash to hire a crew and be prepared to sink thousands into fuelling and maintaining your yacht over a two year period.

Collecting vintage cars

What do you get when you combine classic car restoration with high disposable income? Vintage car collectors. If you’re not into buying handwritten manuals from the 1920s and looking for a complete matching-numbers engine, this isn’t the hobby for you. But what’s wrong with purchasing replica parts instead?

Replica car manufacturers have been around since the 1980s and can provide a cheaper form of restoration that still looks good. Sellers will be hard pushed to find a buyer willing to pay as much as they would have several years ago.

Vintage car collectors are often seen as value investors because their purchases often retain their value over time. One reason for collecting is its low barriers to entry – all you need is enough money to buy something nice without paying too much attention to the price tag.

Heli-Skiing

If you’ve ever wanted to try something extreme, but skiing or snowboarding isn’t enough of a thrill for you, why not give heli-skiing a go? Heli-Skiing is probably one of the most expensive ways to ski down a mountain without hiring an Olympic champion.

Heli-skiing is a relatively new activity that has only appeared in the past decade – it started with helicopter companies being hired by big corporations so their employees could ski on weekends without having to drive across the country.

Soon after, high demand meant these companies had more people wanting to come on trips than they could handle! All this led to them opening up experiences for private individuals, which was only possible because of how expensive they are – starting at roughly $1000 per day.

Famous people and their hobbies

David Bowie might be best known for singing songs like “Space Oddity” and “Ziggy Stardust,” but he was also a pretty keen art collector. He had a collection of over 1000 paintings. Unfortunately, many of them were destroyed when his home in Manhattan caught fire.

The thing that differentiates Bowie’s collection from others is that he was interested in all types of art, not just paintings. One of his most exciting purchases was an original 1983 piece by Basquiat called AirPower – the title refers to the fighter plane used during bombing raids over Vietnam! Bowie also bought several cheaper works and even commissioned some pieces himself. He made most of his purchases through auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Other famous people with expensive hobbies are Jay-Z and Leonardo DiCaprio. They both have massive collections of things such as Rolex watches, art, cars, and more.

Jay-Z and his watches

Jay-Z’s hobby is collecting expensive things, such as Rolex watches (he has a model that is worth $50,000). He also collects art and cars, and he owns a Mercedes Maybach S600 and Porsche 911 Turbo S to name a few.

Leonardo DiCaprio and his photos

Leo’s hobby is also collecting yachts (he owns the world’s third-largest yacht) and cars. He also has a collection of vintage Rolex watches, photos, and Polaroids – not just any old polaroids. They must be antique snaps or art. So far, he has spent $1 million on photographs by artists such as Diane Arbus and Stephen Shore.

Leo also collects vintage toys such as Space Hoppers and dolls, plus classic cameras like an Olympus Trip 35.

No matter the hobby, there will be a wealthy individual making the most of their spare cash.