Hearts & Minds: How to spend it. The five narratives of super wealth

Telegram founder, Pavel Durov says the more than 100 children he has fathered – six with three partners and the rest via sperm donation - will share his fortune. ‘They are all my children and will all have the same rights. I don't want them to tear each other apart after my death.’

The super-wealthy and their money, how they talk about it, what it signifies and how it should be used, is a recurring comms theme.

For ease, they usually fall into five categories. There are the custodians, those who see their role as managing for future generations. For them, it’s about responsibility. They’re not owners but stewards. They’re interested in long-term, strategic philanthropic goals. They may enjoy a luxury lifestyle, same as the others, but they are devoted to the bigger picture, to tackling world challenges. Their giving is made through foundations and trusts. It’s focused and measurable. As they get older, their philanthropy becomes their public persona. Think Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos’s ex, Mackenzie Scott.

By contrast there are the closed books. Their fortune is theirs, to do with as they please, in private. It’s tightly managed, typically by a family office and is not open to public scrutiny. Occasionally, an item of expenditure or a gift may surface, but otherwise it remains hidden behind high walls. Hedge fund founders, old money families – those who put discretion over everything else – make up this type.

There are the redistributors, who give it all away, even in their own lifetimes. They see wealth as a moral problem and do not want to die rich. They possess an urgent imperative. Chuck Feeney, the late duty-free entrepreneur who gave away $8bn and died poor is a prime example. They will likely back egalitarianism and progressive taxation – it is not about one lot being better off than the rest.

Durov is building a dynasty. He is using his money to protect his bloodline. What his children do with it is up to them, although this breed often obeys specific inheritance and complex trust structures - the Wal-Mart’s Waltons, Goldsmiths. Their philanthropy is selective and family-branded - such as the Goldsmiths and the environment.

Then there are the likes of Elon Musks and Peter Thiel. They’re capital evangelists. They invest – not give, using business models not charities - to create more value. They’re from tech, unafraid to search for answers.

Categorising is dangerous but it can also help.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.