This Is How Billionaires Do Their Christmas Shopping

When Michelle Moquin enters the Christmas shopping season, her shopping list looks incredibly glamorous. Fine art, Teslas and Van Cleef Arpels watches feature prominently, and her days are spent browsing auction websites and speaking to luxury dealers. “I have gifts that are anywhere from $10,000 to a few million dollars, depending on the client,” she says. Moquin’s a full-time personal shopper and stylist who works out of the San Francisco Bay Area, and her clients range from twenty-something tech billionaires to sixty something CFO’s. “There are some differences between people in their twenties with new ‘techie’ money, opposed to older gentlemen,” she says. “A lot of tech people aren’t used to money and they’re wanting to show off how much they can spend — the older clients are not as flashy, and more [concerned] about the uniqueness of the gift.” The use of luxury concierge and personal shopping services has risen over the last decade, and for many billionaires and millionaires they’re a necessary service for the cash rich, time poor. Many of the 1% view these as the most efficient way to get the gifts they need while using their time working on their business — what they do best. Entrepreneurs earning this kind of money tend to be aware of what their strengths are, and time is an increasingly valuable commodity. Read more at Forbes.