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Originally Posted by rants
I guess in "really high society" you just have to be born into it, even your a millionaire that doesn't necessarily make you high society. I read that a lot of very rich people (multi millionaires), had difficulties being accepted by high society and nobility, one of them was a Vanderbilt.
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Those people you speak of are becoming less and less important every year. Once upon a time they kept control of the money. All the big companies were run by them and their offspring. One look at the fortune 500 will tell you that's no longer the case. The ones that are on there have nothing (real) to do with business and that's diminishing their influence. Personal money influences little, how much money you can put into other people's hands IS the influential lifeblood of those familes. Running the family company allows you to do that on a large scale. But, as I said, the kids aren't continuing the tradition.
I wouldn't be too amazed by them. The NY social circut has them but it's been infiltrated by everyone else. They still have some very uninteresting events together but places like The Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard have plenty of the "others" nowadays. Their kids hold very little clout... again, because the parents are holding less business clout than ever before.
The only place where the Society kids still matter is the UK. They still have a King and Queen over there so that tells ya how much they value that little network and way of life. Ever read Tatler? Pasty, inbred and unattractive... but still "fabulous" in their own way. It's an interesting thing to watch.