Wealth does not guarantee happiness – Carlyle Group co-founder, David Rubenstein

Wealth does not guarantee happiness. Whether one can achieve happiness instead depends on the ability of a person to share what he/she holds most precious with others, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of The Carlyle Group, David Rubenstein, said at the 16th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting "Happiness Now. New Approaches for a World in Crisis" organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

"They say the amount of money that provides a sense of happiness and security is always twice as much as you have (…) When I was building my company, I was happy enough but I cannot say that I got any approval calls from my mother. However, when I started to share some of my earnings, my mother called me and said that she was proud of me. When you hear that from your mother, especially when your mother is Jewish, it is a really special feeling,” he said.

The Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, Robert Smith, fully shared this sentiment.

"Many people who get rich are somewhat exhausted by the process and do not fully understand their purpose (…) When I look at myself, my loved ones and employees, I see that happiness depends on what you create for yourself, your families, communities and countries. In fact, this embodies the principle of global citizenship. To a large extent, each of us is responsible for people we have never seen because we live in one society and share resources," he said.