The Wealth Report: MySpace for Millionaires

Who says money doesn't buy friends?

A new crop of online social-networking sites has taken aim at the rich, seeking to create exclusive Web communities of like-moneyed friends. The sites -- essentially MySpace for millionaires -- promise safe havens for the affluent where they can flirt, swap advice, plan parties and find new pals without mixing with hoi polloi.

The sites -- the best known is aSmallWorld.net -- borrow many of their rules from blue-blood social clubs. People must be invited to join. Membership decisions seem to be based on an applicant's education, job title and connections, since it's difficult to verify wealth levels. Those who engage in improperbehavior, like trying to mingle with strangers or sell products too aggressively, are kicked out.

On the surface, the sites seem like a winning idea. Social networking outposts have exploded in popularity, while the number of millionaires and billionaires is also surging. Since wealth likes to be with wealth, the rich often seek out networks to help them with everything from vacations and parties to managing money and making business contacts. What's more, the sites host frequent member events, like jet rides, vineyard tours and sailing trips, sponsored by high-end corporate partners.

Yet getting the rich to mingle online, it turns out, isn't so easy. Today's wealthy, aside from being intensely private, are so pressed for time and overloaded with existing social commitments that they may have little interest in trolling the Web for new pals.

What's more, while the sites claim to be exclusive, they're opening their doors wider and wider to please advertisers and investors, who often prefer quantity over quality. And the sites can't ensure that all their members are what they say they are, despite verification systems from fellow members and the sites themselves. All this has rankled some members, who say the sites have become simply well-dressed Facebooks.

'It's very difficult to build a network based solely on wealth,' says Stephen Martiros, a managing director of CCC Alliance, a coalition of rich families based in Boston. 'You might start with a few wealthy people, but as you grow it eventually reverts to the mean. And once that happens, the wealthy leave. If you have one guy worth $100 million sitting at a table with a guy worth $1 million, only one of them is going to be excited to be there.'

Take the recent experiences of aSmallWorld. Launched in 2004 by Swedish banker and globetrotter Erik Wachtmeister, aSmallWorld has more than 250,000 members. Weinstein Co., owned by movie moguls Bob and Harvey Weinstein, bought a stake last year, giving it added cachet. Joe Robinson, the company's CEO, says aSmallWorld is aimed at tastemakers, social connectors and the migratory rich, who may want to meet up in Scotland for golf or Paris for dinner.

Prospective members have to be invited to join by another member. Rules state that members aren't allowed to 'annoy, harass or unreasonably disturb members, or try to connect to members with whom you have no previous contact.'

The site's classified ad section reads like a billionaire's yard sale: 'For sale -- Caviar Servers and Horn Spoons.' 'For Sale $2.8 million Tsavorite gemstone.' 'Bugatti Veyron, Black, 2006. 1.1 million Euros.'

This week's hot topics in the forums included 'Best Fencing Clubs in the world,' 'Surfing in Gstaad?' and a discussion of lobster-abuse in St. Tropez. (One member recoiled at watching them boiled alive.) Another asks: 'If you had $20 million where would you invest it now, given the subprime crisis?' (Members advised commodities and cash.)

Yet aSmallWorld's fast growth -- membership doubled over the past year -- has taken a toll. Some early members complain that the site is being overrun by spammers and riffraff. Membership invitations or passwords to the site can be purchased easily and cheaply -- though in violation of the site's rules -- on eBay or other online invitation sites, members say. (Mr. Robinson says he quickly shuts down membership sellers.) And some complain of strangers hawking products.

One member recently posted the question: 'Is it just me, but lately I see people on ASW who really shouldn't be there. Who invites these people? We should be selective who to invite. What about quality control?' Another member wrote: 'In the real world, we are each discerning about who we make friends with, who we socialize with. There is no reason why when we come online we should have to socialize with truck drivers etc. from hick parts of the USA.'

A Geneva member wrote: 'One of my friends, a funny old-timer here, told me that the site has lowered so much its level, that she has invited her maids.'

Mr. Robinson says the site maintains its 'trust and word of mouth' by allowing only about 15% of its members to invite new members. As for whether the site has become too common, he says that while some members prefer the old days, a much greater number appreciate the benefits of a larger network.

'We pay attention to our growth with vigilance,' he says. 'I don't take it lightly.'

A new site, Diamond Lounge, will also target the elite, but promises to avoid aSmallWorld's growth pains. Founded by Arya Marafie, a British entrepreneur and former marketing executive, the site has 5,000 applications but will launch with no more than 500 members, Mr. Marafie says. Members must be invited to join by a three-person membership committee and have to pay $60 a month in dues.

Mr. Marafie has modeled Diamond Lounge on 'Fifty,' a gentlemen's club he belongs to in London. And since he owns the site, Mr. Marafie says he will let the members (rather than advertisers and outside investors) decide the site's future. While he insists members will be chosen for being 'interesting,' rather than just wealthy, he says most of the applications from the U.S. highlight net worth.

Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, a prominent Kuwaiti who owns a Middle East fashion retailer, is a member of both aSmallWorld and Diamond Lounge. He says he joined the Lounge hoping for a more 'exclusive' experience. Still, he says, he's getting some of his most valuable contacts and feedback for his business from a much broader networking site: Facebook.

'It's strange, but a lot of my friends are joining Facebook,' he says, adding that 'I get feedback from people who normally wouldn't have access to me.'

一批新兴的社交网站已将目标锁定富人，为财富相当的人创建单独的网络社区。这些网站本质上是"百万富翁的MySpace"，它们承诺为富人提供安全的避风港，在那里他们可以搭讪、交换看法、计划派对或找到新朋友，而无需和平民百姓混在一起。

这类网站中的很多规定都借鉴了高级社交俱乐部，其中最有名的网站之一是aSmallWorld.net。网站规定入会必须经会员介绍。因为难以核实申请人的财富水平，所以这类网站的入会审批似乎是基于申请人的教育背景、职务头衔和关系。那些有不当行为的人，比如与可疑人混在一起或是大肆推销东西的人会被踢出去。

这类网站表面上看去是不错的点子。社交网站人气很旺，同时百万富翁和亿万富翁的数量也在激增。物以类聚，人以群分，所以富人们常常想加入能在方方面面给他们以帮助的网络，从度假、派对、理财到建立商业联系，不一而足。不仅如此，这些网站还经常举办会员活动，比如由高端公司合作伙伴赞助的直升机飞行、参观葡萄园、航海旅行，等等。

不过事实证明让富人们在网上进行社交并不容易。今天的富人们不但非常注重个人隐私，而且时间紧、社交活动已安排地满满当当，因此他们可能没有兴趣再到网上去找新的伙伴。

不仅如此，虽然这些网站自称是富人独享的，但它们的大门却敞得越来越大以便吸引广告客户和投资者，这些人常常更看重数量而非质量。尽管其他会员和网站本身都有认证系统，但网站还是无法确定每个会员所提供的个人信息是否属实。所有这一切都令部分会员非常恼怒，他们称这些网站已经变成Facebook了，只是包装华丽罢了。

波士顿一富人联合会CCC Alliance的董事总经理史蒂文•玛提罗(Stephen Martiro)说，很难创建一个纯粹用财富作为入会限制条件的网络。开始的时候你可能有几个富人，但随着业务的发展，网站最终会转向穷人。到那时，富人们就会离开。如果一个亿万富翁和一个百万富翁坐在一起，他们中间只有一位会兴奋无比。

以aSmallWorld最近的经历为例。2004年瑞典银行家、世界观光旅行家埃里克•华奇特梅斯特(Erik Wachtmeister)推出了aSmallWorld，该网站目前的注册会员超过25万人。去年电影业巨头鲍伯•韦恩斯坦(Bob Weinstein)和哈维•韦恩斯坦(Harvey Weinstein)旗下的Weinstein Co.收购了该网站的一些股份，更为网站增添了声势。公司的首席执行长乔•罗宾逊(Joe Robinson)说，aSmallWorld的目标会员是流行"风向标"式人物、社交联络人和行踪不定的富人，这些人可能会聚在苏格兰打高尔夫球或是在巴黎吃晚餐。

网站规定申请人必须由其他会员介绍入会，并禁止会员们"骚扰、扰乱或无故打扰其他会员，或是试图联络以前没有联系的会员"。

该网站的分类广告栏读起来就象是亿万富翁的旧货甩卖："现出售鱼子酱托盘和牛角汤匙"，"出售沙弗来石宝石，售价280万美元"，"2006年黑色布加迪威龙跑车，售价110万欧元"。

本周论坛中的热门话题包括："世界上最棒的击剑俱乐部"、"在格施塔德冲浪"和关于圣特罗佩龙虾受虐的讨论（一位会员不忍目睹活煮龙虾）。还有会员问道："在目前的次级抵押贷款危机中，如果你手上有2,000万美元，你会投向哪里？"（有些会员建议投到大宗商品上，或是换成现金。）

去年aSmallWorld的会员人数增长了一倍，不过这种快速发展也产生了不良后果。一些早期会员抱怨说该网站现在充斥着垃圾邮件和地痞无赖。会员们表示，虽然违反网站的规定，但入会介绍信和密码很容易就可以在eBay或其他网站以低价获得。（罗宾逊说他很快就查封了出售会员资格的那些帐户）。有些会员抱怨有陌生人在网站上兜售产品。

最近有位会员贴出了这样的问题："最近我发现aSmallWorld出现了一些本不该在此的人，是不是只有我发现了这点？是谁介绍他们入会的？我们应该对入会介绍人进行筛选。质量控制怎么办？"另外一位会员写道："在现实世界中，我们每个人对与什么样的人交朋友，和什么样的人交往这类事情都小心谨慎。没有理由当我们上网之后，就必须要与美国乡下来的卡车司机这类人交往。"

一位日内瓦会员写道："我有一位风趣幽默的朋友入会已经很久了。她告诉我说网站的水平下降的太多了，她甚至介绍了自己的女佣入会。"

罗宾逊说该网站只允许大约15%的会员介绍新会员入会，藉此来保持网站的"信用和口头传播的方式"。 他说，至于网站是否变得太平庸了，有些会员喜欢过去的好时光，而更多的人欣赏更大网络所带来的好处。

他说，"我们非常关注网站的成长。我不会轻率地对待这个问题。"

一家新兴网站Diamond Lounge也将以精英阶层为目标，但该网站承诺会避免aSmallWorld在成长中的失误。该网站的创始人阿亚•马拉费(Arya Marafie)是英国一位企业家，曾经担任市场营销管理职务。马拉费说，该网站目前已拥有5,000名申请人，但初始会员人数不会超过500人。会员必须经一个三人委员会的介绍才能入会，每月还要缴纳60美元的会费。

马拉费的Diamond Lounge参考了他在伦敦参加的一家俱乐部Fifty的模式。因为他是网站的所有人，他表示会让会员而不是广告客户或外部投资者决定网站的未来。虽然他坚持说对会员的选择会考虑"是否有趣"而不仅仅是财富，但大部分来自美国的申请人都强调了他们的净资产。

一位拥有中东时尚零售品牌的科威特名人Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah既是aSmallWorld又是Diamond Lounge的会员。他说，他加入Diamond Lounge是想获得一种富人独享网站的体验。他说，尽管如此，有些最有价值的商业联系和反馈还是来自Facebook这个更广泛的网络。

他说，"虽然有些奇怪，但我的很多朋友都在加入Facebook。我会从通常不会与我有任何瓜葛的人那里收到反馈。"
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