NOUVEAU RICHE?
OCTOBER 2004NOUVEAU RICHE?Not everyone can sell a company and join the high-net-worth club. But ifyou’re among the fortunate few you may be interested in Tiger 21, an organi-zation providing peer-to-peer learning for high-net-worth individuals.Started in New York City by Michael Sonnenfeldt, the group meets to dis-cuss budgeting and family issues, such as “How do I keep what I earned?” and”Talking to my kids/spouse about money,” as well as more technical financialissues like “How should I set up the sale of my company to get the bestadvantages in retirement?”Sonnenfeldt says he started the group six years ago in response to his ownneeds for support and knowledge after he sold his real estate investment busi-ness, which at the time had assets of $1 billion spread over 200 properties.”It’s hard to find the right environment to ask elementary questions whenmost people expect you to be an expert,” he explains.Managing new wealth is obviously a common concern among the members,so lessons on investing are a large part of the Tiger 21 curriculum. “Each ofus is expert at something particular to our specific industries, but we aren’texpert at investing,” says Sonnenfeldt. “Now, as an investor, the worldbecomes more complex-exactly at the moment you’ve lost the infrastructureyou had as a CEO.Today, Tiger 21 has about 30 members with net worths from $15 million to$100 million each. Those members are divided among three separate groupsthat meet one full day per month. The result is strong peer relationships thatbuild trust, loyalty and mutual support. Current groups are centered in NewYork City (though one splits its time between New York City, and Boca Ratonand Fort Lauderdale, Florida), but Sonnenfeldt expects to have several satel-lite groups operational soon. So if the $20,000 annual membership fee fitsyour budget, you can find more information at www.tiger21.com.
