Notch. Made a shit ton of money selling Mojang/Minecraft to Microsoft. Now basically spends his life partying, playing games and coding games for fun. Oh, and shitposting on Twitter. Ofcourse.
Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
11–20 of 39 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#12(created throwaway for this) Thank fucking GOD I find myself in this position right now! Through some random luck and the sell of an old startup I am now able to take a few years off and just like think and sleep all day and have inappropriately long lunches. At present I am writing crypto currency trading shit just for fun, having a blast, and most importantly, not having to worry about any meetings or struggling fo…
You don't really have to be rich (> millionare) to do that. I currently work at a company that was once a freelance project, bought by some huge tech company and I was lucky to be one of the first few developers who joined before it was bought and enjoy every minute of writing code and I still have the energy to work on my own projects every day (I'm quite young, that might explain). It depends how lucky you are and…
Yeah, I didn't mean to imply I was rich. Just that I was able to work for code without needing to worry about money, or what that code has to do for cash, for the time being. I think having nothing to do all day is the ultimate wealth - the richness of leisure.
Wish I had known this years ago and just focused on building my own shit rather than making the already rich slightly richer
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#13In a team lead role for a big telco, (build my wealth trough stock trading robots, can retire anytime) and every year cannot get myself to leave and retire early... Too much fun, interesting projects and great team to lead (also working from home helps a lot)... Maybe next year :-)
I need a job and can contribute to your team. Please assist
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#14In a team lead role for a big telco, (build my wealth trough stock trading robots, can retire anytime) and every year cannot get myself to leave and retire early... Too much fun, interesting projects and great team to lead (also working from home helps a lot)... Maybe next year :-)
did you build your own robot or used some existing ones?
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#15Throwaway for this. I'm virtually there, although not quite: I will inherit ~$1M cash, arguably within the next 1-3 years.
I never thought too much about it and did what I thought would interest me anyway; I thought I had to get a sense of what a modern capitalist society really is. I ended up starting a somewhat successful career in CS (I’m in my late 20s), did the 9-5 thing for a few years… but I got to the point where I simply don’t care much anymore. Call it a quiet burn out if you want. Sure, coding can be fun, but I don’t see how “becoming a better programmer” will eventually make me happy. It will at best keep me busy - and most likely won't make me contribute with anything too positive for the world at large.
I’m not ruling out the fact that I’ll keep writing code in my life for one reason or another; I’m simply not interested in having a career anymore. I feel incredibly lucky to have a safety net that will allow me to decide how to best spend the rest of my life. I also feel the responsibility to do something truly positive with it, and not just for me.
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#16My company pays for my rent and living expenses which allows me to save roughly 50k a year working remotely. I tried working less hours but found myself bored with going to the gym 3 hours a day and working by the pool. I'd rather be in stinky room surrounded by white boards and joking around with other devs. I found that 5-6 solid hours of productivity is better than 8-9 hours 5 days a week.
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#17A friend's friend. Working in Amazon for 15-16 years (still not manager). His stock would easily make him a millionaire. He puts minimal effort just enough not to get fired, doesn't care about promotions, works 6-7 hour days and has a good life. My friend asked him why doesn't he quit? He said this job gives him something to do.
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't really have to be rich (> millionare) to do that. I currently work at a company that was once a freelance project, bought by some huge tech company and I was lucky to be one of the first few developers who joined before it was bought and enjoy every minute of writing code and I still have the energy to work on my own projects every day (I'm quite young, that might explain). It depends how lucky you are and…
Yeah, I didn't mean to imply I was rich. Just that I was able to work for code without needing to worry about money, or what that code has to do for cash, for the time being. I think having nothing to do all day is the ultimate wealth - the richness of leisure. Wish I had known this years ago and just focused on building my own shit rather than making the already rich slightly richer
"I think having nothing to do all day is the ultimate wealth - the richness of leisure."
I can bet that after a week of doing nothing you'll get back to your daily stuff. It's like nicotine, once you are used to work all day you can't just stop. Even if it's not something you're used to do, something else might interest you. Our brain needs new stuff all the time, can't just put it to sleep inside a lambo.
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#19Throwaway for this. I'm virtually there, although not quite: I will inherit ~$1M cash, arguably within the next 1-3 years.
I never thought too much about it and did what I thought would interest me anyway; I thought I had to get a sense of what a modern capitalist society really is. I ended up starting a somewhat successful career in CS (I’m in my late 20s), did the 9-5 thing for a few years… but I got to the point where I simply don’t care much anymore. Call it a quiet burn out if you want. Sure, coding can be fun, but I don’t see how “becoming a better programmer” will eventually make me happy. It will at best keep me busy - and most likely won't make me contribute with anything too positive for the world at large.
I’m not ruling out the fact that I’ll keep writing code in my life for one reason or another; I’m simply not interested in having a career anymore. I feel incredibly lucky to have a safety net that will allow me to decide how to best spend the rest of my life. I also feel the responsibility to do something truly positive with it, and not just for me.
Re: Ask HN: Any rich programmers that don't have to work but coding for fun?
#20I don't know if I'm rich (actually decidedly not), but I freelance and save a large proportion of my income, and when I'm not working on client projects I just work on my own, which can be for weeks at a time. My day pretty much looks the same whether I'm working for a client or myself, but with way less emails/Slack/whatever taking me out of flow.
It's a very enjoyable way to pass the time.