Society has a way of assigning labels to different groups to define their social status. Old money versus new money are expressions you may have heard used. What does each term mean when it comes to wealth?
What is Old Money?
Old money is a term that refers to a person or family who has inherited wealth from prior generations. Families who come from old money have typically been considered wealthy for several generations, and have been able to successfully maintain that wealth.
The term “generational wealth” is often used interchangeably with old money. The terms are related, but not the same.
What is New Money?
New money is a term that refers to a person or family who has been wealthy for a much shorter time. Someone with new money may be the first person in their family to become wealthy, whereas someone who is considered old money would have been born into a wealthy family just like their parents had been as well.
By today’s standards, someone considered new money may be a celebrity, a politician, or anyone who became wealthy within one generation or less.
What families are considered Old Money?
Old money families exist everywhere in the world, however, we can share some of the families that have managed to maintain their wealth and upper class social standing to this day. A few examples include:
The Hearst Family: modern descendants of William Randolph Hearst include William Randolph Hearst III (Chairman of the Heart Corporation) and Lydia Hearst (actress)
The Vanderbilt Family: modern descendants include Anderson Cooper (journalist) and Timothy Olyphant (actor).
The Getty Family: modern descendants of J. Paul Getty include Mark Getty (founder of Getty Images) and Balthazar Getty (actor)
What families are considered New Money?
As we covered above, new money refers to people or families who did not come from a family situation where money is inherited but instead acquired it themselves.
A New Money individual could come from any social class. Because of the timeline surrounding this definition, we will only have modern examples to provide. Some of these could be:
Elon Musk: Co-founder of PayPal; formed SpaceX, CEO of Tesla and owner of Twitter
Jeff Bezos: Chairman and Founder of Amazon
Bill Gates: Co-founder of Microsoft; Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Oprah: Entrepreneur, Personality, Philanthropist
Is it better to have old money or new money?
The answer to this question is a matter of preference. In recent history, there has been a renewed interest in the aesthetic that seems to go along with old money. The Internet has picked up on the fact that oftentimes, people or families that come from old money tend to be less flashy and much more understated than families who have relatively recently come into wealth.
Old money tends to be more traditional because they have had many years and generations of practice and are used to the finer things in life. New money may not know the unspoken rules of the land - and for some - that may be considered “bad.”
Does old money look down on new money?
Yes, sometimes. New money has a social perception that they are equal, however, they must remember that the social connections that exist within the old money networks are worth much more than any amount of cash can cover.
That being said, there are certainly nuanced situations in which old money does look down upon new money. While this was likely more prevalent at the turn of the century (view the HBO series The Gilded Age for reference), members of today's old money society may have different approaches to social situations than newer members of the upper crust.
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