Millionaires struggle privately with rising wealth shame

Feeling shame is a normal human emotion. And it’s the right emotion.” Julia Davies is talking about one potential response to being incredibly rich.

- Helen Coffey, The Independent

A group of millionaires attend the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC.

(File/Tribune News Service)

It might seem surprising that she, of all people, should be talking about this; after all, Davies is very much in the category of the “haves”, rather than the “have-nots” herself.

Now in her fifties, the angel investor previously worked as a lawyer before helping to set up the European arm of Osprey — the phenomenally successful premium backpack company — in 2003. She sold her stake in the business in 2018 for an undisclosed but “game-changing” sum.

Originally hailing from a working-class family in South Wales, Davies was not born into wealth. Her father, a “real grafter”, left school at 14 and became a builder, working his way up the trade until he had his own successful business. But money couldn't be relied upon — it was a childhood of feast or famine, with multiple recessions taking their toll and the family home being at risk whenever her dad’s buildings didn't sell. “I think my background did make me more aware of wealth,” she muses. It meant that, when she finally came into serious money, she wasn't content to conform to the stereotypical picture of a self-serving multimillionaire flashing the cash on superyachts and private jets. She felt called to put that money to good use.

“Wealth shame” — the experience of feeling a deep sense of discomfort and shame around having money, whether because someone grew up in poverty, feels like a class traitor, or inherited rather than earned their fortune — has become more of a talking point in recent years. The president of the Financial Therapy Association, Christine Hargrove, says she has seen an increase in rich clients who are struggling with this issue.