While the rest of America grapples with an 8 percent unemployment rate and a generally MySpace economy, the New York Times reports Facebook's top 250 richest staffers gather to talk boats, art, and generally being unimaginably rich. Sounds fun!
The Times' claim undergirds an important aspect of Facebook's IPO disaster: you can be insanely rich, lose a ton of money, and still be insanely rich.. Particularly if you're one of Facebook's first 250 employees, who share a spot on what's called the TNR (The Nouveau Riche) 250, an illustrious group of rich people who talk about rich people things. You know, rare paintings and stuff, says NYT's Nick Bilton: "They discuss things they plan to buy when they sell their hundreds of millions of dollars in stock: boats, planes, artwork, even an island. (To be fair, philanthropy is also discussed.)"
I'd like to assume that these meetings take place with everyone dressed in Illuminati-style robes, but we're still waiting to hear back from Facebook for an official comment. A lamb is sacrificed. Blood is smeared on a map, and a Facebook engineer proclaims the next public school that will receive free iPads.
So, right, never let Zuckerberg's Silicon Valley ascetic lifestyle fool you—not everyone is content with hoodies and chicken tenders. Facebook is generating cash like a nuclear power plant. [NYT]