Chapter 11: Home Again, Secrets Exposed

By home, I was actually speaking of what had been Uncle Jack’s mansion. It wasn’t small at 10,500 square feet, but it was not by comparison to many homes of the superrich, large, or even on a par. It was located on 50 acres, close to the official U.S. headquarters of The Trust.

I knew that I should eventually have to remake the place in my own image, as a young, single man about town, but I was actually quite comfortable with the house, as Uncle Jack had furnished it. I think that Mrs. Gray had helped him on the décor, and he had never been one to skimp on things, feeling that in the long term quality was more economic than buying things on the cheap, only to have to replace them frequently.

So I found myself sitting there in the great room with my parents.

“Well, son,” my father said with a mirth in his voice, “how do you feel about being a billionaire?”

“I suppose I could ask you the same thing!” I replied, then we both laughed.

Mom and Dad looked at each other and smiled.

“While you’ve been gone, I closed that sale of my practice to my junior partners. Your Mom and I have put in an offer one the 25 acres property next yours, where we are planning on building our own home.”

Mom just smiled at both of us.

“Honestly, though, Kevin, what has changed since you’ve inherited your Uncle’s estate?”

I laughed.

“I have never worked harder in my LIFE! I always thought that if I were suddenly super wealthy, I would be able to kick back and relax. Instead, I’ve been on the road constantly, meeting with the managers at each of our businesses, trying to solve problems and to keep the business on an even footing.

“And while I know that I’m now wealthier than I was, I hardly feel like a billionaire! I guess that most people don’t understand the difference between earning a billion dollars in a year, as opposed to owning a billion dollars in assets.

“I suspect that I may be, on a day-to-day basis worth $50 million or so in cash, or close to cash assets, if I need it, but most of the assets are tied up in the mines and other businesses. It would take time to turn most of those assets into cash.

“But I’m content. I think that most people who know of me, figure that I’m like Jack: worth a few millions, but not a super rich sort. The more knowledgeable people who are aware of the degree of control that I have over The Trust’s assets estimate that I’m worth perhaps between $100 and $200 million, which is VERY rich, no doubt.

“But like Uncle Jack, I’m keeping a low profile. Anyway, was it Ted Turner who once said that after you were worth $100 million, you had everything and all you could do was buy more or bigger toys!”

“Do you have any plans for expanding the Trust’s businesses, or entering into new areas?” my Dad asked, rather shrewdly guessing that I might have had some new ideas.

“Yes I do, and since you and Mom are the other main shareholders in The Trust, I wanted to tell you about them before I went too far.

“In a word, it is ‘water’, or more accurately, fresh water. In the countries where we have our operations, water is more valuable than gold. I already have two places in mind, where we will effectively be trading fresh water for valuable minerals. Fresh water in those areas is very expensive, so we can sell it for more (in effect) than what it is costing. But they don’t pay directly: we get concessions for metals or other minerals. So we profit a little on the water, then we profit a lot again on the products from the land. So far as the people living there are concerned, they don’t get any benefit from the land unless someone comes in and exploits the deposits, so for them, at least they are getting something!”