A few days ago, Kevin O’Leary tweeted this;

And Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 came to mind… “I have something he’ll never have… enough”.

O’Leary’s perspective on life is dismal, and almost dangerous as he is watched and followed by so many. Pursuing money as the North Star of a life creates a self-imposed prison. A life wholly constrained by the driving force to acquire more, and more, and more. Moreover, success is not indistinguishable from more, and integrity will be compromised when there is no distinction. Taking money in the pursuit of more often sacrifices a higher form of wealth, such as relationships or experiences.

Watch him here defending- still- FTX on CNBC.

Wealth works like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where money is the most basic type of wealth, and other forms, such as knowledge, time, health, relationships, and experiences, are much more valuable. Some people focus on winning the game without asking if they wanted to play in the first place. The world’s most successful people can also suffer from somber personal lives, showing that extreme levels of outward success often come with similar levels of internal turmoil.

Of course, O’Leary might just say “sounds like sour grapes”.

But a life that is rich in all other regards but deficient in relationships is hollow at best, and depressing at worst. He’s right in one regard, money can buy freedom. But the never-ending pursuit of money is a prison of its own.

Best to have something Kevin O’Leary can’t have. Enough.

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*AI helped with research and drafting. Finished work is my own.