We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

He turned down $42M, lost a $70M deal to a war, and sold his company over WhatsApp instead.

Ryan Levesque is the author of the #1 national bestseller Ask and the founder of the Ask Method Company, a seven-time Inc. 5000 business that did over $100M in revenue. He grew up blue collar, quit AIG in China the morning the Wall Street Journal said the company was going bankrupt, and built his first business selling Scrabble tile jewelry tutorials on Etsy. Then he tried to sell his company twice. The first buyer flipped a $42.5M deal to $17M at the eleventh hour. The second, a $70M offer, evaporated the week Russia invaded Ukraine. Today he sits on $30–35M in liquid net worth and runs a 150-acre farm in Vermont with his wife and two boys, where 80% of what his family eats comes off their own land.

This is the longest Moneywise episode we've ever cut, and I barely interrupted. We go deep on the two failed exits, the life insurance rejection letter at age 30 that turned out to be organ failure, the photo of his sons that made him stop chasing the number, and what it actually costs to run a 150-acre farm (spoiler: free food runs about half a million a year). Ryan also breaks down the money curriculum he built for his kids, why $35M didn't feel like enough until he decided it was, and the honeybee epiphany that led to selling his company to his biggest competitor.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Timestamps:
0:00 — "Mr. Levesque, you should be in a coma right now." Cold open and episode roadmap
5:30 — The WSJ headline reads "AIG to file for bankruptcy." He resigns the same day with ~$100K in the bank
9:56 — Reverse-engineering an Etsy seller's income and building a Scrabble tile jewelry tutorial business: "emulate before you innovate"
12:32 — The crash of the Scrabble tile jewelry market. Lesson: pick evergreen markets
14:29 — Dead orchids in Shanghai become a $500K/year business. Then 23 businesses at once
17:19 — A nine-figure sale to NBC (Golf Pass) and a $168M sale to PayPal. His cut: "less than seven figures"
19:00 — Ask becomes the #1 bestselling book in America and births a $100M+ company
21:00 — The $42.5M deal gets flipped to $17M at the eleventh hour. "We basically gave them the middle finger"
25:13 — Interviewing 12 investment banks, going back to market, and landing a $70M offer
28:30 — Russia invades Ukraine. The deal, and the entire M&A market, evaporates
33:23 — The life insurance rejection letter. Kidney failure. Ten days in ICU. Undiagnosed type 1 diabetic
40:16 — "My kid can't grow up without a dad." Shutting down 23 businesses
41:42 — Two photos of his boys, seven years apart. "It was like a heartbeat"
43:00 — Texting his wife from a tent in Vermont. Full-price cash offer on the Austin house the same night
49:13 — Reading Peter Lynch at age 10 and turning $5K into $100K+ by 18
51:57 — What he looked for in land: top of watershed, no PFAS, good schools. 12 months of Airbnbs
56:41 — 48 beehives, 1,000 maple taps, 500 fruit trees, seven freezers. 100% of their own protein
58:40 — The farm numbers: just under $5M for the land, $2M mortgage at 6.5%, $220K/year before a single animal
1:03:59 — $260K in year one, $175K/year after. "Free food costs a lot of money"
1:06:28 — The kids' money curriculum: Rich Dad Poor Dad read-alouds, Greenlight accounts, a real estate syndication paying them $300–400/month
1:11:20 — His net worth when he decided it was enough: $30–35M liquid
1:12:47 — "I've never been less money motivated in my life." $1M webinars and the Mexican fisherman
1:15:08 — Goldenrod, purple aster, and the WhatsApp voice memo to Daniel Priestley. Company sold three months later
1:20:20 — Legacy, $120K/year in tuition, and how much to hand to your kids: "the brownies are not fully baked"
1:25:39 — Seven weeks in Europe, giving back, and why all altruism is selfish
1:31:36 — Daniel's takeaway: figure out what you're optimizing for and start living it now

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

I asked 40 millionaires their biggest regret. One answer was just two words: "withholding love."

This episode started with a simple survey: 40 millionaires, one question — what's your biggest regret? The answers ranged from $22K a year dumped into life insurance instead of Bitcoin ($11M of upside gone) to hundreds of bitcoins sold at $300 to make payroll. But cross-referenced against 100+ Moneywise conversations, every answer collapsed into just three regrets: I can see the life I almost had. I didn't become the person I thought I could become. I thought I had more time.

Then it gets into the science. Why bronze medalists look happier than silver medalists. Why finance is only 2.5% of most people's regrets but dominated this survey. Why the person you never became can bother you longer than any mistake you actually made. Why an $80M exit sent one founder to rock bottom. And a three-question Regret Test to figure out whether your regret is still useful — or just expensive entertainment.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Timestamps:
00:00 — The survey: 40 millionaires, one question, and the answers that looked completely random
01:02 — Every regret collapses into three buckets
01:24 — Regret vs. disappointment: why regret needs an alternate reality
02:25 — The brain science: patients with orbitofrontal damage don't feel regret
03:14 — Your brain uses regret to change future decisions before you make them
04:02 — Bucket 1: "I can see the life I almost had" — "the stock market is basically a regret calculator"
05:23 — The Olympic study: why bronze medalists look happier than silver medalists
06:27 — Finance is only 2.5% of most people's regrets — so why was this survey drowning in them?
07:36 — The Opportunity Principle: agency creates regret, and rich people have had a lot of agency
08:25 — Bucket 2: "I didn't become the person I thought I could become"
09:08 — Ought self vs. ideal self — and why ideal-self regrets never get closure
10:26 — "The unlived version of you never has a bad quarter"
11:02 — The famous "you'll regret what you didn't do" stat — and the 2,600-person study that broke it
13:04 — The 23-year-old already in the "never enough stage," and the moving goalposts from $10M to $1B
13:56 — Bucket 3: "I thought I had more time" — kids, health, and the $80M founder who hit rock bottom
14:52 — Why priorities flip when time feels scarce (and Daniel's midlife crisis at 30)
16:13 — When to engage with a regret and when to let it go — what the research on older adults found
17:21 — The Harvard study: relationships at 50 predicted health at 80 better than cholesterol
19:45 — The Regret Test: three questions to ask about your biggest regret
20:44 — "Regret in 4K": why money doesn't eliminate regret — it makes it higher resolution

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

They turned down a $100M offer for their burger stand — now they're giving the company to their 1,800 employees.

Patrick and Kathy Terry opened a 500-square-foot burger stand in South Austin in 2005 — three months into their marriage — selling $1.60 hamburgers. Kathy barely took a salary for over a decade. In 2016, with ten locations, a buyer offered them between $70 and $100 million, and they said no, pulling out just under $10M — the only money they've ever taken in 21 years. Today P. Terry's runs 37 locations, employs 1,800 people, does between $150 and $200 million a year growing 20%+ — and instead of selling, they're transferring the whole company to their employees through an Employee Ownership Trust, something fewer than 100 American companies have ever done.

This episode gets into the exact numbers behind the offer they walked away from, why $10M felt like enough, the $900K in interest-free loans they've made to hourly employees (with only $5K in defaults), the "Maggie rule" that governs every company decision, and how an EOT actually works versus an ESOP — including why one protects your culture forever and the other can be forced to sell it. It ends with the question underneath it all: what a business is for when the check stops mattering.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Timestamps:
00:00 — Cold open: "It was between 70 and $100 million and you turned it down."
02:53 — Kathy's West Texas upbringing, quitting the law firm, and giving herself a 500% raise
06:33 — Patrick's path: Kool-Aid stand at 5, ad agency by day, running a pizza place nights and weekends
09:30 — Springing the burger stand idea on Kathy three months into their marriage: "I didn't think he'd ever do it"
11:05 — Year one: $600K in revenue from 500 square feet — and still in the red after depreciation
16:09 — The 2016 "dog and pony show": realizing for the first time what the business was worth
17:35 — "It was between 70 and $100 million" — a 10–12x offer, and why they turned it down
20:23 — Kathy's real fear: "Who's going to take care of our employees? They're not going to bake birthday cakes anymore."
23:01 — Patrick was stunned to learn they had 300 employees — he thought it was 80 or 90
24:27 — Why the birthday cakes matter: "For a lot of our employees, that is how they celebrate their birthday"
25:59 — Barely taking a salary for 12 years, then pulling out just under $10M — the only money ever taken
27:17 — The June EOT transition: gifting and selling the first ~11% to the trust via a seller's note
33:36 — The origin of interest-free loans: Vinny's broken truck and $150
34:05 — $900K loaned to hourly employees over 20 years — only $5,000 ever defaulted
37:14 — The Maggie rule: every decision tested against the woman who's worked the grill for 21 years
42:05 — Kathy explains EOT vs. ESOP — and why one protects the culture forever
49:40 — Profit sharing starts next year: 5% of EBITDA now, 20% in five years, based purely on tenure
54:49 — "The island sucks. This is okay." What Patrick learned about what he actually wanted
59:20 — Kathy's open offer to walk any founder through the EOT model

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

He co-founded PayPal with Elon Musk, sold Personal Capital for nearly $1B — and spends $70K a year.

Bill Harris has a résumé that barely fits on one page. He was CEO of Intuit, founding CEO of PayPal — in the room with Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Max Levchin above a bakery near Stanford — and then founded Personal Capital, which he grew to $23 billion in AUM before selling it to Empower Retirement for close to $1 billion. He's done something like that 11 times. Today his net worth is around $100 million, he's 70 years old, and he spends less than $100,000 a year. He sold his houses, cars, airplane, and 31 pets (including two mountain goats and an iguana) and moved into a small cottage near Miami Beach where he bikes to work every day.

This episode gets into what $100 million actually looks like when it's spread across public equities and private operating companies — and why the man who built one of the most important wealth management firms in history keeps his own annual spend near $70K. We go deep on the PayPal origin story, what it was like being "theoretically the CEO" in a room full of people whose egos "wouldn't fit in a large gymnasium," and the specific moment Bill realized that his houses, cars, and airplane weren't making him richer in the ways that mattered. He also shares his best piece of investing advice for people in their 30s, his take on why the S&P 500 isn't as diversified as most people think, and what he calls "freedom money."

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Timestamps: 

00:00 — Cold open: "There wasn't a single one of us whose ego would fit in a large gymnasium" 

00:36 — Full guest intro: who Bill Harris is and why this episode matters 03:23 — Bill's origin story: the golden boy path, Intuit CEO at 40, and realizing "I am not a good manager" 

06:33 — What money actually is: "It is a rocket fuel. It's the scarce resource you need to build the life you want" 

07:38 — The monthly spend reveal: $70–80K a year, all in — "my addiction is Amazon" 

09:04 — Life phases: family dole → NYC studio → two houses, 31 pets, and a 1906 Woodside farmhouse 

14:20 — Net worth reveal: ~$100M, cut in half by divorce, and the barbell portfolio breakdown 

15:27 — Why he doesn't do "fancy investing": survivorship bias, absurd fees, and why alternatives rarely outperform 

17:31 — The Evergreen Wealth philosophy: why 80–90% equity is what he'd tell a client with his profile 

19:07 — How to value a private company: "Two things dominate it — markets and story" 

21:47 — "Things are time": the real cost of owning two houses, four cars, and a small airplane 

24:33 — PayPal origin story: "We were close to fisticuffs most days. I was theoretically the CEO" 

27:38 — Luck vs. skill: "I'd say it's 80 to 90% luck" — and what that actually means 

30:13 — The personal payout from PayPal and Personal Capital: specific numbers, post-tax 

32:01 — Why he's self-funding Evergreen with $10M of his own money: "Freedom. I have no boss" 

38:05 — Why he still works at 70: mastery, not money — "I can't think of a bigger waste of time" than golf 

42:48 — Best investing advice for your 30s: "Hive off a piece and let it marinate" 

43:44 — Why the S&P 500 is riskier than it looks: top 10 stocks = 37% of the whole index 

45:40 — "Freedom money" defined: the thing that lets you say yes to your own life 

48:33 — Closing: "Money is a means to an end. It's not an end."

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast 
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk 
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

He manages $1.5 billion for other people — and still tracks his own spending in a paper checkbook.

Glenn Ullmann is a former Air Force pilot who left the military at 29 with a couple hundred thousand dollars, cold-called 200 strangers a day out of a Ponte Vedra phone book, and built Ullmann Wealth Partners into a $1.5 billion RIA that has never had a down year — including 2008. He stopped worrying about money somewhere north of $20 million. Now 63, he spends $30–40K a month, flies his own $1.25M Cirrus, gives more to charity than he can deduct, and still shows up to the office every day.

This episode gets into the tension between saving and actually living: why Glenn tells clients with health issues to fly private before their kids do it with the inheritance, how a $10M portfolio pays you $300K a year in "rent" whether markets are up or down, and why he thinks stocks are a bad word. We also cover how he gave up 80% of his own firm to keep his partners, the paper ledger that runs his life, the client who started at $100 a month and now takes the best trips on earth, and why he'd tell a 20-year-old to study English or history instead of finance.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Timestamps:
01:46 — Who Glenn is, what Ullmann Wealth Partners does, and why "returns don't matter if you rear-end Melinda Gates without an umbrella policy"
04:16 — Growing up in his grandfather's plastics business, the Robin's-egg Cadillac, and the gold coin that says "your friendship means more to me than a pot of gold"
06:26 — A Morgan Stanley account at 14, paper route money, and his first stock: Sears Roebuck
07:44 — Nobody from his high school went to the military. He went to the Air Force Academy three days after graduation: "the best thing I ever did, other than marrying my spouse"
11:50 — The Cirrus G7, the parachute that lowers the whole plane, and the button his wife can push if Glenn stops functioning mid-flight
13:35 — From AWACS pilot to pharma rep to stockbroker: dialing 200 people a day, 10 conversations, one client
17:45 — Net worth leaving the Air Force at 29 and the million-dollar goal on a piece of paper that "never happened"
19:26 — The $2M–$20M client sweet spot, and why the firm has never contracted in 25 years — even 2007–2009
21:57 — Why he went from owning 100% of the firm to 20%: "How could they not have equity?"
24:03 — The 11x17 "life map," and the client who was stabbed and left for dead in her New York apartment
26:15 — HENRYs who save $10K a month and still need to be told to go enjoy the rest: "People get cancer. People die falling off a ledge."
28:49 — "If you don't spend this money and fly first class, your kids will when you're dead"
30:40 — The net worth where Glenn stopped worrying: "probably above 20"
31:49 — Alimony, fun, and the pen-and-paper checkbook ledger a $1.5B wealth manager uses to track his Amex
33:29 — The $1.25M four-seat plane, $40–50K a year to operate, and a $30–40K monthly burn before philanthropy
35:10 — Giving appreciated stock and exceeding his deduction limit every year
36:21 — Why he still goes to work at 63, the wingman system, three chronic illnesses, and "sometimes a founder needs to get out of the way"
39:40 — The Melissa example: $100 a month in 1993 to the best trips on earth
41:26 — Where to park $10M after a liquidity event: "you're going to collect around $300,000 a year in dividends and interest"
42:55 — Not a real estate guy, the $100K driveway, and "I never invest in things that eat while I'm asleep"
44:48 — 90% in global equity, and why "they're not stocks, they're companies"
45:40 — Reframing an $80K private flight as a month and a half of portfolio income
47:39 — What he'd tell a 20-year-old picking a major: English or history

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

A $3 billion founder's money advice: keep driving the Chevrolet. Here's why the richest guests all say the same five things.

After 100+ episodes of Moneywise, the same five spending refusals kept showing up — from a $3B founder who's never sold a company, a guy who lost 95% of his net worth and won't buy his own socks, and Bryan Johnson, who spends $2M a year on his body and almost nothing on anything else. None of them read the research. There's 50 years of it, and they all landed in the same place anyway.

This episode covers all five: first class, new cars, meaningless stuff, angel checks, and kids' comfort — plus the study behind each one (lottery winners, the MIT Celtics auction, the marshmallow test follow-up). Then Anne Mahlum, who sold SolidCore for nearly $100M and forces herself to spend $200K/month, tears the whole list apart. The episode ends with a 10-minute exercise using two questions that decide what stays on your card statement.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Episodes Mentioned:
How Rich Is 'Rich Enough' to Fly Private? — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZyTo6gppPw
"I'm worth about $3 billion": What Happens When You DON'T Sell Your Business — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZM0K9eqzx0
What It's Like to Lose 95% of Your Net Worth Overnight (the socks guy) — https://youtu.be/fW-F3MKwevI
Bryan Johnson: I Probably Won't Actually Live Forever — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icWHq_xjhac
How to Not Ruin Your Kids with Your Wealth ft. Dr. Becky — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1SmMA-nLk

Timestamps:
0:00 — Cold open: the $3B founder, the socks guy, and Bryan Johnson's $2M body budget
0:28 — 100 episodes in, the same five patterns kept repeating — and 50 years of research explains them
1:05 — Why guests reveal their real numbers on Moneywise
1:50 — #1: First class. "I still fly coach unless it's international" — his "poor kid habit"
2:27 — Hedonic adaptation, and the lottery winners who scored lower on enjoying breakfast
3:52 — #2: New cars. The $3B founder's advice: don't buy the Ferrari, drive the Chevrolet
4:14 — The Millionaire Next Door data (most popular millionaire car: Ford F-150), "big hat, no cattle"
4:40 — The commute study: zero relationship between car value and happiness
5:35 — #3: Stuff. The socks guy's filter: "Does this dollar come back to me or is it gone?"
6:03 — Stanford brain scans: every purchase is want vs. hurt
6:28 — The MIT Celtics auction — credit card bidders paid double
7:26 — #4: Angel checks. Bryan Johnson writes none — half of deals lose money, 7% produce 75% of returns
8:41 — Opportunity cost neglect and attention residue: every check is an open tab in your head
10:15 — #5: Kids' comfort. Parents who could buy any seat, flying the family in coach on purpose
11:06 — The marshmallow test follow-up wealthy parents actually care about
12:11 — 70% of family money gone by generation two, 90% by generation three
13:17 — The counterargument: Anne Mahlum ($115M, spends $200K/month) — "I hate when people don't spend on principle"
14:19 — The 2023 rerun of the $75K happiness study, and buying back time
15:55 — The 10-minute exercise: two questions to run against last month's card statement
16:33 — If you run a $3M+ company: Hampton

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

He spends $50,000 a month and keeps $50,000 in the bank. He's 27.

Mo Moahid is a 27-year-old who runs the finances for his entire family — parents, brother, sister, and seven operating companies across Canada, Dubai, and Pakistan. His great-grandfather built the family fortune. The next generation lost it. His dad rebuilt the whole thing from a sales job after immigrating to Canada, and Mo grew up watching both halves of that cycle happen in his own house. He started his first company at 18, scaled it to 200 employees, sold it at 21 for low seven figures, and now moves capital between line painting, real estate development, consumer electronics, eSIMs in 125 countries, and the AI company he started with his 21-year-old brother.

This episode gets into what it actually looks like to manage generational money instead of making it: why he keeps almost nothing liquid, how a $50,000 monthly burn covers five people, what happens when your dad is the chairman and your brother is your co-founder, and how inheritance gets split between three siblings before anyone dies. We go deep on the acquisition he closed the week before we recorded, the corporate job his father made him take, and the question he's already thinking about at 27 — what he wants his own kids to inherit, and what he'd rather they didn't.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

He turned down $250 million for less than half his company — and admits he'd say yes today.

Onyi Odunukwe is the son of two Nigerian immigrant doctors who dropped out of nursing school during finals week and opened a tanning salon at 21. By 30 he had seven locations, sold five to Palm Beach Tan for $2.3 million in a single week, and thought he was rich. Eight years later his net worth is $247 million — roughly $100M in commercial real estate, $194M in business equity across 26 companies, and under $10M in cash — and he recently walked away from a $250 million offer for 49% of Glo Tanning.

This episode gets into the exact breakdown of a $247M net worth, why he rejected the biggest check of his life and what changed his mind since, his $75-100K monthly burn (full-time driver, live-in nanny, a ranch on the way), the franchise math behind Blackstone's $8B Jersey Mike's deal, how he plans to keep his kids from being ruined by money — and a confession he's never made publicly before.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr

Why do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.

He got his first $5M check and expected to feel superhuman. The next day was one of the most disappointing of his life.

Jesse Pujji walked away from a Goldman Sachs job where he made $500K at 25 — with a boss making $3M and a group head making $20M — to bootstrap an ad agency on $33K per partner and a stack of Amex cards. Ampush cracked the Facebook arbitrage before almost anyone: $100K in monthly revenue in June 2010 became $2M a month with $600K in EBITDA fourteen months later. He scaled it to half a billion in annual ad spend and 250 employees without raising a dollar, turned down $25M at 27, sold 20% to Red Ventures in 2015, and sold the whole thing to New Mountain Capital in 2022 for somewhere between $40M and $60M on a 35% stake. He never got the nine-figure number he made up in his head, and he says chasing it was the mistake.

This episode gets into the exact allocation of a post-exit portfolio, why Jesse refuses to let his advisors put illiquid startup equity on his balance sheet, what $500K a year of "normal" spending actually buys, and why he asked his financial advisor how people possibly spend more than that. He's honest about the gap between the money he expected to change him and the money that didn't. And we spend real time on the part most founders avoid: three kids who never saw him grind, a Greenlight allowance split into thirds, a $63 JCPenney paycheck at 16 that taught him more than any of it, and the question of whether to leave them anything at all.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Timestamps:

00:00 — Jesse's origin story: immigrant household in St. Louis, a snow shoveling business in middle school, and $33K each plus Amex cards to start Ampush

02:00 — The Facebook arbitrage that changed everything: $100K/month in June 2010 to $2M in revenue and $600K in EBITDA fourteen months later

02:49 — "Sandbox entrepreneurship" — Facebook cold-calls them: "Who the hell are you guys? You're one of our top 100 advertisers"

04:24 — Why he left Goldman at 25 making $500K: "I would rather make half of my future expected earnings and do something I feel excited about"

06:18 — The $25M offer two years in, why they said no, and the $3M dividend they took instead — $1M each, which bought his SF house

07:30 — The made-up number that wrecked them: hoping for $150M, getting $60–75M offers, and turning down $190M in Marin stock

09:24 — The Red Ventures deal and $5M after tax: "I thought I would get wings or superhuman strength... nothing changed"

11:16 — 2022: selling to New Mountain and walking away without going with the deal

13:12 — The exit number, on the record: a $40–60M range on a stake "a little bit more than a third"

16:04 — The Zone of Genius framework, and why being a CEO sat in his zone of excellence — good at it, drained by it

17:52 — Gateway X by the numbers

19:06 — Whether the scarcity ever goes away: "nine days out of ten" became "one day out of ten," and the coach question he couldn't answer

20:16 — The Deer Valley condo, and finally understanding why people buy vacation homes

21:08 — Full portfolio breakdown and why he tells his advisors to mark his startup equity at zero

23:24 — Annual spend 

26:52 — The schedule that makes it work: Tuesdays and Thursdays he misses bedtime, Monday/Wednesday/Friday he doesn't, and he deletes Slack on vacation

28:16 — The thing that keeps him up: "They've gotten all the fruits of the grind without actually observing the grind"

29:23 — Greenlight, allowance equal to their age, and splitting it into thirds — spend, save, give

30:19 — Running a Starbucks P&L with his 9-year-old daughter in the store

32:30 — The four-bucket framework: spend it, give it to the government, give it to charity, or give it to your kids

34:44 — A Schnucks family board member on generational wealth: "Money doesn't ruin kids. Lack of values does."

35:36 — What Jesse wants said at his funeral

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Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast

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Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

Craig Newmark turned down an $11 billion offer for Craigslist, and he's already given away $570 million of his own money chasing a number even bigger than that.

This podcast is made by Hampton, a community for founders doing on average $25 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you're a founder, apply here: joinhampton.com/mw

Craig founded Craigslist off a mailing list in 1995. He turned down that $11 billion offer, and since then has given away $570 million through his foundation, aiming for a billion before he dies. He funds NYPD bomb squad gear, an NYU cardiologist's AI research, Wikipedia, journalism schools, and pigeon rescue. He's 73, hasn't owned a car in ten years, and just upgraded from $50 Skechers to $80 Skechers.

This one gets into what happens once a founder's number stops being the problem, the Sunday school lesson behind his moral compass, why his own headline net worth is wrong, the two causes eating most of his giving budget, and his plan to train an LLM to keep making his philanthropic decisions after he's gone. It closes on Take Nine, his campaign for the nine-second pause that stops most scams.

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

He had $15 in the bank and a $1M judgment against him. Eight years later, Nestlé bought his company for $1.5B — then shut it down.

Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mw

Michael Wystrach built Freshly out of the wreckage of a failing restaurant, with $15 in the bank and a personally-guaranteed lease that left him with a $1M judgment against him. Six years later he sold the company to Nestlé for $1.5B — then watched it get shut down. He never took time off. He started a veterinary platform with his sister, raised a $75M venture fund, and put almost his entire payout back to work.

This episode gets into what really happens to your bank account after a nine-figure exit — secondary sales, earn-out math, his actual living costs, his real estate philosophy at 2% interest rates, and what it felt like to lose the company he built after selling it. He also shares why he believes the first $10M matters more than the hundredth, and why he plans to keep building for the rest of his life.

Sponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com

Subscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcast
Follow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberk
Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]