Refusing Millions
Millions of people join the lottery hoping they’ll win some money. Every time again it’s a disappointment that they’ve yet again missed out on the money. Also, we’ve never heard anyone who enrolled in the lottery say they wóuldn’t want to win a lot of money. But then, there were these people… These people all got offered millions and they have all refused the money, each with their own specific reason.
1. Griorgi Perelman
In 2003 a Russian Mathematician solved a till then unsolvable problem. It cost a team of mathematicians seven years before they could validate his results. The problem was one of seven from the Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Clay Mathematicians Institute’s Millennium Prize list. Solving one of these problems grants you a one million dollar reward. Griorgi Perelman didn’t want the money, the knowledge he had gained was, according to him, worth way more than the money.
2. German winner
A German man won two million in the lotery, but he did not want the money. His reasons were that he wouldn’t know what to do with it. He explained that he himself was not interested in winning, but his late wife really enjoyed competing. He bought a ticket to honour her.
3. Saleh Musfer Al Gamdi
During a trip through the mountains this man found a little, black rock. He was convinced it was a shrine named in the Koran. The stone did indeed look exactly the same as described in the Koran, including weight and engraved drawings. Four million has been offered for the stone, but he refuses to sell.
4. Jeffrey van Middlebrook
In 2006, this man thought of a way to acquire gas from waste. A way, that would be worth a fortune if brought to an industrial scale. The Chinese government was very interested and offered Jeffrey van Middlebrook and his business partner a budget of 60 million dollars for research. He refused the offer, because he had heard in the news that horrible things happen there. Thus he does not want to be associated with a country like China.
5. Bill Gibbons en Dusty Hill
Two members of the band ZZ Top were offered a million dollar, all they had to do was shave their beards. Still, they refused. The idea that they would have to see themselves in the mirror cleanly shaven, was something they did not want to have to think about.
6. Lindsey Lohan
Actress Lindsey Lohan claims Playboy offered her a million to pose naked. We hope she’s not regretting refusing the money, because she will probably not get such a proposal again anytime soon…
7. Greg Coffey
We agree that this is probably the best prolonging contract ever, but this man still wasn’t impressed. Greg Coffey would receive 250 million if he’d continue working at GLG for another five more years, but he politely declined.
8. Rick Warren
This minister couldn’t just change his mind about everything when the American government offered him millions. He always preached that the government would only offer a church money to benefit of it themselves, which is why this should always be refused. The fact that the money was meant for the activities in social care his church participates in, apparently just wasn’t that important.
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