What Recession? Ultra-Rich Still Spending Like Crazy

Recession? What recession? Judging by the way some wealthy businessmen and women are spending, you'd never guess that the country was in a major economic downturn.

Reports the New York Times:

Some businesses that cater to the superrich report that clients -- many of them traders and private equity investors whose work is tied to Wall Street -- are still splurging on multimillion-dollar Manhattan apartments, custom-built yachts, contemporary art and lavish parties. Buyers this year have already closed on 71 Manhattan apartments that each cost more than $10 million, compared with 17 apartments in that price range during all of 2007. Last week, a New York art dealer paid a record $1.6 million for an Edward Weston photograph at Sotheby's. And the GoldBar, a downtown lounge, reports that bankers continue to order $3,000 bottles of Rémy Martin Louis XIII Cognac.

Some other examples of products appealing to the superrich are limited edition 12-bottle box sets of Perrier-Jouet champagne, otherwise known as the world's most expensive champagne (a personalized bottle pops records at 4,166 euros, or $6,485, each) and extremely rare tropical fish (a "super-red" arowana fish has sold for upwards of $55,000).

USA Today, however, takes an opposite position on the wealth spending trend. Zeroing in on luxury car sales, they report:

Adding to a turnabout in once-resilient upscale goods, most luxury car brands saw sales drops last month. Mercedes-Benz softened 3.7% compared with March last year, Autodata reports. BMW fell 8.7%, and Lexus plummeted 13.6%. Overall, luxury vehicle sales are off almost 13% this year.

Purveyors of the finer things in life are finding their well-heeled customers are caught in the same economic riptide tugging at the less well-off. "It's a recession that has a double whammy: Your real estate is down, and your investment portfolio is down," says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "Even the ultrawealthy are saying, 'Let me pause here and see what's going on.' "

Comments

[VivaZapata]

in never never land, where we refuse to grow up, boys need toys.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Wouldn't that be because times are never tough for the ultra-rich?

[VivaZapata]

that would be it.

[CaptainHowdy]

Well, I've come to expect these kind of absurd posting from The Huufington Post, and the rest of the media.

OF COURSE the wealthy are still spending money during a recession. They have a lot of it, that's why. A recession won't matter one bit to them. So what. if a wealthy person makes 15 million this year instead of 17 million last year. Like that's gonna hurt them.

My god, the media has become useless in this country.

[vandegrasse]

You are SO right about that!

[researcher]

reagan you were a genius. not only have you found a way to eliminate the middle class which has always been thorn in the side of the rich but you even sold the middle class on your deregulation that has fuel the richest americans to increase their wealth. pure genius.

bye bye middle class nice knowing ya. the way the trickle down theory worked was that the middle class trickled down to lower class.

capitalism is designed to eliminate the middle class and promote only two classes of people. about 5% being rich and 80% of the lower class.

welcome to the new america. we brought this on ourselves with our ignorance of economic policies.

blame the politicans all you want they are only a reflection of the ignorance of the voters.

[funky1]

Yes, so very true.... people forget what Reagan started... Bush has just been burying the stake deeper

[the964kid]

welcome to dick cheney's america.

[boyd]

"welcome to dick cheney's america."
Too right!