Yahoo! News - Microsoft Millionaires Grapple With Wealth: "Microsoft Millionaires Grapple With Wealth"
Some excerpts:
The year was 1987, the company was Microsoft Corp., and Thatcher, a 28-year-old marketing assistant, had no idea what a stock option was. It grants a right to buy stock at a fixed price over a limited time. If the market price soars during that time, a few thousand options can turn into tons of money.
...He lives now in downtown Seattle on the top floor of a building with splendid views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. He takes daily banjo lessons, does office work for his church and leads children on tours of a local park. Whenever he and his wife, Shari, feel like it, they catch an afternoon movie. They meet quarterly with financial advisers and expect never to work again.
...Arguably, the largest single legion served its time -- and secured its fortune -- in the eastern suburbs of Seattle. That is where an estimated 10,000 Microsoft employees became millionaires during the era of options.
...Suddenly, there were waiting lists for yachts, Ferraris and Steinway pianos. Newly purchased horses far outnumbered stalls in local stables. Soaring new-car sales merged with 15 percent population growth to create traffic congestion that ranked among the worst in the nation. Seattle rose to No. 2, after Silicon Valley, in venture capital investment. Much of the money went to dot-com companies that went broke. The number of mental health counselors jumped by 55 percent, according to the state health department.
..Thatcher quit in 1997, as soon as his last options vested. (If he had stayed another two years, he said with a deep sigh, he would have tripled his fortune.)
With his wife, he took off and traveled around the world for a year. During that trip, which included a long stay in Burma, one of the poorest countries in the world, Thatcher was often blue.
"It was hard to reconcile the inequity of having tons of money and walking through squalor," he said.
...Here in Seattle, an organization created by the newly rich, called Social Venture Partners, has worked with hundreds of Microsoft people, teaching them how to give away money and sort out their values.
Each member commits to a minimum annual contribution of $5,500 for at least two years to join, and the organization strongly encourages members to work long hours with small local charities. Social Venture Partners is sometimes described as post-graduate training in philanthropy.
"Things and money can come to define you, even if you don't want it to happen," said Paul Shoemaker, executive director of the group and a former Microsoft employee who says he got semi-rich on options. "It takes a conscious choice to keep your feet on the ground."
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