“Give a child a million dollars and you have blessed him, give him a billion dollars and you have cursed him.” These words were spoken by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin during an interview this week.
Potanin who is worth an estimated ten billion dollars stated that after his death, he planned to donate all his money to charity, leaving only one million dollars to each of his three kids. He explained that the greatest curse one could bestow upon his children is to shower them with unearned and often undeserved money.
It struck me as fascinating that a person in a position of ensuring their child’s absolute financial security would refrain from doing so. Which of us does not dream of acquiring as much wealth as possible? You’d think that somebody who inherited a billion dollars would be one of the happiest and luckiest people around. Apparently, Vladimir Potanin disagrees. He claims that while a one million dollar inheritance is greatly beneficial in that one can receives a good education, find employment without haste and discover oneself, no good can come from an excessive bequest. Too much cash often causes a rapid descent in a downward spiral, ultimately depriving one of life. As a result, Potanin has decided to follow in the footsteps of U.S. multi-billionaire Bill Gates by handing over his entire fortune to charity.
Potanin insists that kids who earn money for themselves earn the right to decide what to do with it. If that money is bequeathed to them, they live the rest of their lives in their father’s shadow. It’s unfair to them. Maybe they don’t want to be billionaires; perhaps they desire a different route in life.
Parashat Behar, which is read this week, details the prohibition of lending money with interest. Charging interest, the Torah states, is a cheap way of earning money that should never have belonged to you in the first place. Instead of putting in an effort, the lender receives revenue off money that is no longer in his possession. Such earnings are in a sense deceitful- the other guy does all the work while I reap the benefits. Torah opposes this idea because it contradicts all that we as humans stand for. G-d gave us laws which require a tremendous amount of work. An unearned glory is not a glory at all. Sitting back and relaxing while relying on others to provide totally negates this innate need and robs not just the borrower, but more importantly, the lender.
What would you do if you were in Vladimir Potanin's position?