From a February 5 speech given by Ted Turner in New York City at a lunch sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Once you make a billion dollars, it’s not that big of a deal.

Years ago, there was a time when my stock was rising quickly. I knew how many shares of stock I had—I had only one stock, I never had time to play the market—and I figured out that if the stock hit a certain point, I was going to be a billionaire. I was still in the tiny office where I was when I was worth only a few million. I couldn’t tell anyone at the office. All of my friends were working at the company—the highest-paid person made about $100,000—and I was so much richer than my other friends in Atlanta that I couldn’t tell them, because they’d think I was bragging. So I went home and told my wife, and she said, “I don’t care, I’ve got to help the kids with their homework.” No one even cared. I thought bells and whistles would go off. Nothing happened at all. Having great wealth is one of the most disappointing things. It’s overrated, I can tell you that. It’s not as good as average sex. Average sex is better than being a billionaire.