Wealth today is built on an illusion.
The illusion is that it is singular.

We measure digits while life itself breaks down.
The numbers go up, the humans break down.

If wealth is more than money, what belongs in our portfolio?
And what happens to the commons if we fail to ask?

I recently have been asking rooms of teenagers — heirs to extraordinary fortunes — a question that doesn’t appear on balance sheets:

“What is your wealth?”

No lead-in. No coaching. Just the question.

And here’s what happened: 99 out of 100 didn’t mention money.

Not even once.

✦ Their Answers Were Unmistakable

“Time with my sister before she leaves.” “A forest I can name.” “Not having to perform all the time.” “Being able to cry and not apologize.” “Knowing I can change my mind and still be loved.”

These weren’t curated. They weren’t metaphorical. They were unfiltered truths—offered before the world arrived to edit them.

What they described wasn’t financial. It was existential.

I once wrote an article called “Tokenization of a Smile.” Not as satire. Not as performance. But with just enough irony to name what I couldn’t yet say out loud:

We were living in a world that had already begun commodifying the human.

I was still wearing a white suit and closing complex deals—but part of me had already left the room. What I didn’t realize at the time was this: That article wasn’t a clever industry take. It was my soul trying to leak through the seams...

What happens when our wealth systems no longer need a world to function — but we do?

We’re Winning on Paper. And Losing the Plot.

In 2024:

• Global wealth hit $500 trillion for the first time.

• AI-driven fund strategies generated a 27% alpha over traditional portfolios.

• The top 1% controlled more wealth than the entire global middle class

Meanwhile, in the same year:

• 42% of global topsoil became moderately to severely degraded.

• The World Economic Forum ranked “Misinformation-Driven Societal Breakdown” as the #1 ten-year global risk.

• Mental health disorders surpassed cardiovascular disease as the world’s leading health burden (WHO, 2024).

If you're managing capital today, ask yourself: Are your returns calibrated to a world that’s disappearing?

No speeches. No fireworks. No declarations. Yet, something irreversible has already shifted.

When billionaires can silence presidents, launch satellites, build cities, and redraw economies — what role is left for nations?

When personal wealth eclipses public budgets, who really sets the law of the land?

When influence no longer needs a flag, what happens to citizenship?

Maybe the coup we feared wasn’t a sudden storm. Maybe it was a slow leak — a quiet, relentless migration of power from ballots to balance sheets…

Could it be that true, lasting wealth isn't something you merely accumulate through quick schemes or even long-term compounding, but something you actively shape, influence, and steward at a deeper, systemic level?

Could it be that the problem isn’t whether to give or invest—but rather, how financial capital moves, where it flows, and whether it is structured to create both immediate relief and systemic change?

We’ve been told fast growth, fast exits, and young founders are the secret to success. But what if that’s just a fleeting illusion — like the Sakura blossom?

To break the cycle, wealthy families need G.R.I.P.—a four-part model for wealth sustainability…