Boston Magazine |
The 50 Wealthiest Bostonians: Added Value
A field guide to the filthy rich. Plus the scoop on who tips and who doesn't, and big-money heirs who are making their own way.
By Francis Storrs
A FIELD GUIDE TO THE FILTHY RICH: Spotting the elusive Boston millionaire.
Finding New York millionaires is easy: They're the ones in Prada rushing to the Hamptons, PR flack in tow. Doing the same in Boston is harder. "It's about succeeding, but for God's sake never call attention to yourself," says Jim Lowell of Fidelity Investor, who makes a career of tracking Fidelity's performance and a hobby of tracking its owners.
Plumage: Lowell says the key in Boston is to "look for the colors of the tribe: khaki below, blue on top." On the islands—'Sconset and Edgartown, please—blue corduroys with kelly-green whale belts are still considered chic. You may find the wealthy waiting on their personal shoppers at Saks, but the ultrarich buy from catalogs, because, as one wag observes, "it doesn't really matter how it fits."
Habitat: When the $278 million Mandarin Oriental hotel-and-condo complex finally opens, it will be the epicenter of wealth. Until then, try Via Matta; the Bristol at the Four Seasons for power breakfasts; and Abe & Louie's for power everything else. Or just walk down the street in Weston, where every fourth household is worth at least a million. For clubs, there's Oyster Harbors in Osterville, and The Country Club—emphasis on "the"—in Brookline. So many of our wealthiest winter in Palm Beach, it should be an honorary suburb. One of the hottest tickets in that town is to the annual Dana-Farber major-donor dinner, where families give $10,000 or more to get in.
Finding New York millionaires is easy: They're the ones in Prada rushing to the Hamptons, PR flack in tow. Doing the same in Boston is harder. "It's about succeeding, but for God's sake never call attention to yourself," says Jim Lowell of Fidelity Investor, who makes a career of tracking Fidelity's performance and a hobby of tracking its owners.
Plumage: Lowell says the key in Boston is to "look for the colors of the tribe: khaki below, blue on top." On the islands—'Sconset and Edgartown, please—blue corduroys with kelly-green whale belts are still considered chic. You may find the wealthy waiting on their personal shoppers at Saks, but the ultrarich buy from catalogs, because, as one wag observes, "it doesn't really matter how it fits."
Habitat: When the $278 million Mandarin Oriental hotel-and-condo complex finally opens, it will be the epicenter of wealth. Until then, try Via Matta; the Bristol at the Four Seasons for power breakfasts; and Abe & Louie's for power everything else. Or just walk down the street in Weston, where every fourth household is worth at least a million. For clubs, there's Oyster Harbors in Osterville, and The Country Club—emphasis on "the"—in Brookline. So many of our wealthiest winter in Palm Beach, it should be an honorary suburb. One of the hottest tickets in that town is to the annual Dana-Farber major-donor dinner, where families give $10,000 or more to get in.
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