Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live-and How Their Wealth Harms Us All

by Michael Mechanic

Overview

A senior editor at Mother Jones dives into the lives of the extremely rich, showing the fascinating, otherworldly realm they inhabit—and the insidious ways this realm harms us all.

Have you ever fantasized about being ridiculously wealthy? Probably. Striking it rich is among the most resilient of American fantasies, surviving war and peace, expansions and recessions, economic meltdowns and global pandemics. We dream of the jackpot, the big exit, the life-altering payday, in whatever form that takes. (Americans spent $81 billion on lottery tickets in 2019, more than the GDPs of most nations.) We would escape “essential” day jobs and cramped living spaces, bury our debts, buy that sweet spread, and bail out struggling friends and relations. But rarely do we follow the fantasy to its conclusion—to ponder the social, psychological, and societal downsides of great affluence and the fact that so few possess it.

What is it actually like to be blessed with riches in an era of plagues, political rancor, and near-Dickensian economic differences? How mind-boggling are the opportunities and access, how problematic the downsides? Does the experience differ depending on whether the money is earned or unearned, where it comes from, and whether you are male or female, white or black? Finally, how does our collective lust for affluence, and our stubborn belief in social mobility, explain how we got to the point where forty percent of Americans have literally no wealth at all?

These are all questions that Jackpot sets out to explore. The result of deep reporting and dozens of interviews with fortunate citizens—company founders and executives, superstar coders, investors, inheritors, lottery winners, lobbyists, lawmakers, academics, sports agents, wealth and philanthropy professionals, concierges, luxury realtors, Bentley dealers, and even a woman who trains billionaires’ nannies in physical combat, Jackpot is a compassionate, character-rich, perversely humorous, and ultimately troubling journey into the American wealth fantasy and where it has taken us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982127220
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	664,912
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Michael Mechanic is a senior editor at Mother Jones magazine. He lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, two teenagers, and various animals. Jackpot is his first book.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I

Chapter 1 Jackpot 15

Chapter 2 Retail Therapy 32

Chapter 3 The One 45

Chapter 4 From the Elite to the Impossible 59

Part II

Chapter 5 Entourage 73

Chapter 6 The Psychology of Consumption 90

Chapter 7 Losing Trust 102

Chapter 8 The Marriage Premium 112

Chapter 9 My Bodyguard 123

Chapter 10 The Offspring 135

Chapter 11 Getting In 150

Chapter 12 Losing Touch 165

Part III

Chapter 13 Capital Hill 177

Chapter 14 The Snow Ball Grows 192

Chapter 15 Dynasty 206

Chapter 16 Who Wants to Have It All? 217

Chapter 17 Thriving While Black 229

Chapter 18 Women on Top 247

Chapter 19 Giving It Away 259

Chapter 20 Perfect Storm 281

Acknowledgments 293

Resources 297

Notes 299

Index 391

Editorial Reviews

02/15/2021

Mother Jones senior editor Mechanic debuts with a unique look at the “social, psychological, and societal complications that come with great affluence and the reality that so few possess it.” Relating the stories of people who have inherited a fortune, won the lottery, or hit some other type of “jackpot,” Mechanic notes the awkwardness of having “long-lost friends and relations come out of the woodwork seeking handouts,” and explains that no longer having a financial incentive to work can leave one feeling “unmoored.” He describes $500 T-shirts and concierge medical services that cost as much as $40,000 per year, but cites evidence that people’s sense of how well they’re doing in life stops improving once they hit the “satiation point” of $105,000 in annual earnings. Mechanic also takes a skeptical view of “grand philanthropic gestures” made by billionaires who avoid taxes and underpay their workers, discusses the influence of money on politics, and sketches the origins of the “wealth fantasy” in American culture. Mechanic’s nuanced perspective on wealth accumulation offers fresh insights, though he spends more time chronicling success stories than analyzing the structural forces that rig the economy in favor of the affluent. Still, this is an intriguing look at the boons and burdens of wealth. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Economic inequality has never been more gaping in the United States, which makes it the perfect time to read Jackpot, Michael Mechanic’s entertaining and eviscerating peek behind the velvet curtains and into the real lives of America’s Super-Rich. Mechanic provides an eyeopening exposé of the myriad ways in which our nation’s political system unfairly enriches those at the top at the expense of those at the bottom. His myth-busting conclusion is that everyone loses, even the lucky few who have hit the jackpot.” —JANE MAYER, author of Dark Money

“Eye-opening.... often a gleeful sendup of the absurd eccentricities of the superrich.... A scathing but fair indictment of how the mindless worship of wealth makes us all poorer.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Jackpot skillfully explores the impact of great wealth on people’s lives and society; an economic system driven by selfish values; and the urgent need for a more fair, equal, and sustainable capitalism that works for the greater good of everyone and the planet.” —MARC BENIOFF, chair and CEO of Salesforce

“Jackpot explores the harm that great wealth imposes, not only on society but also, surprisingly, on those who possess it. In ways that bring to mind the late nineteenth century, the United States now faces the consequences of ‘wealth against commonwealth,’ except today’s robber barons are even richer. Do you want to win the lottery? As Michael Mechanic eloquently shows, maybe you don’t. Instead of playing a rigged game, we should be challenging its outcomes and changing the rules.” —ERIC SCHLOSSER, author of Command and Control

“Such great fun to read—so inside the heads and lives of its subjects— that its vital insights sneak up on you: how America's most fortunate, often despite the best intentions, perpetuate class advantages; how African Americans and women of all races are systematically excluded from wealth-building; and how rethinking our cherished myths about money and mobility could help us survive as a nation.” —PEGGY ORENSTEIN, author of Girls & Sex

“A nimble exploration of a society obsessed with crowning winners and punishing losers. Jackpot makes me angry but also hits the spot.” —GARY SHTEYNGART, author, Lake Success

“Mike Mechanic’s Jackpot is a rich, well-reported, compellingly told story that is not only a good read but an unsettling reminder of the absurd advantages that accrue to Americans who have won the proverbial lottery.” —GARY RIVLIN, author, Broke USA

From the Publisher

2021-01-26
Is getting filthy rich really worth it?

Mother Jones senior editor Mechanic offers a harsh wake-up call for the millions of American dreamers who still believe that winning the lottery—or just simply having obscene wealth—will change their lives for the better. The author ushers readers past the velvet rope to reveal the lifestyles of the ultrawealthy and the ever more expensive ventures they have to indulge in to not only keep themselves amused, but to outdo their wealthy peers. One of the most interesting factoids in this well-researched book is that, according to one study, a person’s “self-reported positive emotions improved with rising earnings up to a satiation point at about $65,000 per year. Negative emotions…declined as earnings increased, reaching an inverse satiation point at $95,000.” As Mechanic demonstrates throughout this eye-opening book, once the contentment with one’s finances ends, the addiction to “extrinsic” goals—e.g., buying mansions, cars, and other luxury goods—leaves less time for the “intrinsic” pursuits that give us real grounding. The author is a personable guide to this gilded world, showing how the ultrawealthy make their money and how U.S. tax laws and loopholes allow them to keep building it—but he also provides a cautionary tale about the myriad headaches that unbridled wealth can bring. Mechanic is happy to report that the rich are often bored and miserable—and (surprise!) less compassionate unless they can balance their extrinsic and intrinsic pursuits. Though the text is often a gleeful sendup of the absurd eccentricities of the superrich, the author also spotlights a few billionaires who find genuine spiritual contentment in giving their wealth away. “For an actual rags-to-riches tale,” writes the author, “one might turn to Ford Foundation president Darren Walker, who grew up penniless in rural Texas and went on to become an icon in the world of philanthropy.”

A scathing but fair indictment of how the mindless worship of wealth makes us all poorer.

Kirkus Reviews