I recently read an interesting article in Vanity Fair about the Agnelli family, they are like the Kennedys of Italy, extremely rich and with lots of drama. When the patriarch of the family died in 2003, the only daughter asked a series of questions about her father's estate (valued in the billions) that resulted in one of Italy's most talked about scandals. The daughter, who is 52, has eight children and is angry that her father's wealth has been shrouded in secrecy and that certain of her children did not receive the inheritance that they deserved.
She is suing her father's business confidants, and many of her family, including her mother and several of her children. As a result, she has been ostracized by a large portion of her family, including her mother and children. Whether she's just blinded by the money or fighting for her disregarded children, I'm not sure, but it made me think about how families can be ripped apart, sometimes forever, because of money.
Whether its billions or hundreds, money can make people crazy and willing to do the most unspeakable things. But what about me or you, what would it take for us to go to such extreme lengths?
I'm not sure about me. Would I sue my mother to provide for my children? I just can't imagine it. I consider my parent's money theirs and think they can do whatever they want with it but, like I said, until I walk in those shoes, I just can't honestly say for sure what I would do.
3 comments:
I think that a lot of people with wealthy parents grow up assuming that they will always have money and don't necessarily work with the intention of making more. Sometimes they don't work at all - and sometimes they pick a career that suits their passions more than their expensive tastes. If they were suddenly left without the income to which they have been accustomed - that might cause some family strife... We can think that this makes them more superficial - but everything is relative. What if something happened that made me have to move from my 3 bedroom house to a small trailer? I might really feel the pinch of that.
In this case - it really does sound like the mother saw injustice and was fighting for her children. Who knows what kinds of alliances were made prior to the drama. Maybe she's not a money grubbing ingrate, but instead a champion for the underdog. Like you said - we wouldn't know unless we were in her shoes.
I'm always so sad when someone dies and the whole family falls apart over "things".
My brother and I vow to set a match to the whole house when the parents are gone.
I didn't grow up in a well-to-do family so I am not sure how I would react. I know that right now I wouldn't even begin to think about an inheritance just mourn the loss. I would hope that I would be the same if I grew up wealthy. But money has a way of making people act oddly, so maybe I would.
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