There's a secret group of 250 Facebook millionaires who discuss which yachts, Banksy pieces, and tropical islands to buy
scottrsmith / FlickrT.N.R. 250 debates the merits of yachts.In the tech world, even as money pours over Silicon Valley like a flood, conspicuous consumption can be frowned upon.
"If someone buys a fancy car and posts a picture of it, they get ridiculed and berated," an anonymous Facebook executive once told The New York Times.
But inside Facebook there is one secret group in which discussing what you are going to buy with all this new cash is embraced, Nick Bilton reports for Vanity Fair. That group is called "T.N.R. 250," short for "The Nouveau Riche 250," which is made up of Facebook's first 250 employees - many of whom became millionaires after the Facebook I.P.O.
According to Bilton, this group debates the purchasing of boats, planes, Banksy portraits and other art, and tropical islands. Bilton says (to be fair) philanthropy is also discussed.
But if you've never heard of T.N.R. 250 before, it's probably because all this activity is kept behind closed doors and kept far away from any social networks, especially Facebook. For rich Facebookers, you have to walk the line between enjoying your new found riches, and keeping in line with Silicon Valley's anti-ostentatious vibe.