When most people picture a billionaire, they tend to think of private jets, luxury cars, and extravagant mansions. However, Mitzi Perdue, heiress of two big American fortunes (Perdue Farms and Sheraton Hotels) doesn’t live that way. Even though she comes from families with a wealth of more than $20 billion combined, this 84-year-old woman chooses to live a normal life. She flies economy, rides the subway, wears secondhand clothes, and lives in a modest apartment; not a mansion.
She proves that being a billionaire doesn’t mean to live an extravagant life. So, let’s learn more about Perdue’s life.
Sheraton Hotels and Perdue Farms
Mitzi Perdue was born in a wealthy family, but raised to be humble. Her father, Ernest Henderson, was the co-founder of the Sheraton Hotels chain, which became a huge success. When he died, Mitzi and her brothers inherited his controlling shares, which is worth about $12 billion today.
Years later, Mitzi married Frank Perdue, known as ”Chicken King”, who led Pedue Farms, one of the largest chicken producers in the U.S. and worthed about $10 billion. This made Mitzi a double heiress, with wealth coming from two billionaire companies. But, despite Mitzi’s status, she never developed a taste for luxury.
A humble raising
The billionaire woman was born in 1941, during World War II, and she was the fifth daughter in her family. As a kid, she wore clothes from her older brothers and went for a while to a public school. Later, she studied at Harvard, but her values were the same: work hard, live simple, and help others.
When her father died, Mitzi was in her 20s and received her inheritance. What would most people do at this age with a wealthy inheritance? Spend it or retire, right? But, Mitzi kept working and as she was passionate for agriculture, she decided to buy farmland near the University of California, Davis, where she collaborated with farm investigations and managed a rice farm.
A billionaire worker
Mitzi was an ambitious person and she also became a journalist, writing about farming practices, mental health, and other real issues. Even though she had access to a huge fortune, she chose to work, something some billionaires don’t feel like they need to.
In the last couple of years, Mitzi focused on humanitarian aid. When the Ukraine war started, she sold her $1.2 million engaging ring and donated the money to help victims of the war. Also, she started a project to create an AI-powered trauma therapist for war victims in Ukraine.
Living like a regular person
Despite her billionaire background, Mitzi lived in an apartment in a middle-class building in Salisbury (Maryland). She has lived there for 14 years, surrounded by nurses, police officers, and Perdue workers. She paid for one year of her one-bedroom apartment the same as her friends in New York pay for one month!
What’s more, when she goes to New York, she takes the subway instead of hiring a private driver. She also takes her shoes to be repaired instead of buying new ones and avoids wearing flashy designer outfits. Mitzi calls herself a “low-maintenance badass”, and she’s proud of it.
What truly makes Mitzi happy
Many people wonder why someone that rich would live like a regular persona and Mitzi says that true happiness is not found on spending, but giving. “I’d rather have a life of endless joy than just a few happy days,” she says. “If you want to be happy, think about what you can do for someone else. If you want to be miserable, think about what’s owed to you.”
We can learn a lot from people like Mitzi, would you have done the same as her? Maybe that’s easier to answer when you experience inheriting a fortune.