I’ve got some exciting news folks! Over the past 16 months, I’ve been in talks with a couple executives at Netflix about a potential new show. They only live 50 minutes south of me in Los Gatos. Today, I’m proud to announce I’ll be producing a new Netflix original series called Love Is Money!
The idea came about when I was chilling alone in my hot tub one day. It’s my regular sanctuary where I think of new post ideas, read, skim through social media, and meditate.
A friend of mine, let’s call her Sarah, confided in me during the pandemic that her love for her husband was waning. Sarah was 34 at the time and doing really well in her career, but her husband was not.
As her husband’s company’s stock price floundered, so did their hopes of buying a $3.8 million dream house to raise their growing family in the expensive Bay Area. Sarah was pregnant with their second and both of them wanted to upgrade to a new home.
Sarah asked me, “Sam, is it weird I find him to be a little less tolerable every time his company’s stock declines by another 10%? I used to put up with him being a slob, but no more!“
It was then that I realized love often isn’t blind, nor pure. Instead, the amount of love you have for someone may be highly correlated with the amount of money they have. Hence, a new show and relationship experiment is born! It’ll actually even have Asian folks in it too!
The Rules Of Love Is Money
In the first season of Love Is Money, here’s how things are going to go.
My team and I interviewed hundreds of people to find 20 contestants looking for true love. These contestants all signed an oath saying they don’t believe love has anything to do with money.
Here is the makeup of the contestants:
- 20 heterosexual and bisexual contestants looking for love consisting of 10 men and 10 women
- Age range: 21 – 70
- Net worth range: Negative $700,000 to positive $100 million.
- Personality scores between 3 – 8, with 8 being the best personality.
- Physical attractive scores between 3-8, with 8 being the most attractive.
We verified the net worths of each contestant. Meanwhile, we assigned a random group of 30 people to interview each contestant for one hour and rate their personality. The random group also had to assign a physical attraction score. Then we added up the scores and compared how the candidates stacked up.
The Broke And Beautiful Contestants
We were able to find 10 contestants who scored very high in personality and attractiveness, but who were all broke. These contestants, for various reasons, are deep in debt, went through bankruptcy, and all have negative net worths.
During the interview screening process, these contestants were described as “stunners,” “knockouts,” “gorgeous,” “kind,” “patient,” “loving,” “understanding,” “empathetic,” “humanitarians,” “warm and comforting,” “buns of steel,” and “a smile to warm my heart,” just to name a few.
The Rich And Nasty Contestants
We were then able to find 10 contestants with net worths all in the top 1% for their age group. The only problem with these contestants is that they all scored low in the 3 – 4 range in terms of physical attraction and personality.
During the interview process, they were described as “workaholics,” “sociopaths,” “disgusting,” “conceited,” “clueless,” “annoying as F,” “egomaniacs,” “sadly insecure,” “full of crap,” “foul oder,” “unhygienic,” “completely selfish,” “vomit-inducing,” and more.
Love And Money: Stage 1 Of The Experiment Begins
Are you hooked yet?! Here’s what happens in stage 1 of the experiment.
The 10 contestants are split up by sex, one living quarters for the men and a separate one for the women. Similar to the Netflix show Love Is Blind, contestants take turns going on “dates” in separate pods for each person. Thus, they cannot see each other during the dates, but we the viewers can.
There are daily rounds of 20-minute conversational dates over the course of three days. The show captures the most interesting dialogues and combines them into neat segments for the viewers.
Here’s the X factor. Each contestant’s net worth is displayed at the top of an electronic board next to their name for the other person to see. This way, both contestants are completely aware of how wealthy the other person is before and during conversation.
After three days of getting to know each other, each contestant must choose one person they want to match with. The only way the contestants can see each other is if they both choose each other as their desired match.
We will certainly see some drama, especially when one person wants to match with someone who’s into somebody else. Love triangles are so fun!
Love Is Money: Stage 2 Of The Experiment
As the producer, my theory is the poorer contestants will tend to choose the wealthier contestants and look beyond their personality issues. I want to capture their faces and body language when they see each other for the first time. Remember, we’ve found very wealthy contestants who only score a 3-4 on the attractiveness scale.
Will great wealth overcome a poor personality and bad looks? We shall see! The contestants will go on three dates to see if love will blossom or bust.
Some of the dates will be extravagant, like taking a private jet to a remote island to board a private yacht with champagne and caviar. While other dates will be simple, like going camping under the stars with no toilets. They only get to dig one hole for two people.
Multiple Outcomes And Twists Will Make Things Fascinating!
The reality is, anything can happen, which is the fun part of Love Is Money! And as with any good reality show, there are twists.
Perhaps one of the rich and nasty contestants is actually lying about their net worth and is dirt poor. During our due diligence process we discovered an anomaly and decided to let the contestant proceed with the show if they agreed to fess up during stage 2.
Maybe one of the broke and beautiful contestants is actually actually rich, but has successfully practiced stealth wealth to make them seem poor.
You’ll just have to tune in and find out!
A Dream To Produce
This relationship experiment has been so fascinating to produce and I think you’re going to love it. Maybe only the beautiful and broke people will end up together, proving there’s way more to love than money. Or maybe the rich and nasty people will stay united, proving that money beats all.
My theory going into the show was the rich and nasty will go after the beautiful and broke people and succeed. After all, if you’re already rich, you don’t need to find someone with more money. And if you’re poor, it’s part of evolution to find someone who can provide to ensure your survival. We shall see.
Love Or Money May Be The Better Question
I believe marrying for love is better than marrying for money. But that’s easy for me to say coming from a middle-class background having never worried about my next meal.
If I was was in debt and jobless, I may have sought a rich spouse to save me. First, I’d eat better and work out like crazy to look my best. Then I’d go on the prowl with my rock-hard abs. Once I was hitched, I could always then get a divorce and find someone awesome!
Ideally, you find an equal and grow rich together. This way, you know that money was never the driving factor in your relationship. If the wealth discrepancy is too large, the rich partner may always wonder whether the poor partner loves them for who they are.
But again, I’m biased because I found my wife in college when we both hardly had anything.
Maybe it would have been nice to marry into extreme wealth. I wouldn’t have had to work 60+ hours a week for over a decade and go to business school part-time for three years. Nor would I have had to save so much or stress at all about my investments!
But being uncomfortable is one of the greatest motivators for change. So maybe marrying an extremely rich person isn’t the best after all. If the person is so used to having everything, what more can you give them?
I gotta say, I’m pumped Love Is Money is coming out on Netflix on April 1, 2023! I think it’s going to do great and ironically, make me so rich I won’t know what to do with myself!
So what do you think folks? Do you think love tends to rise and fall with the amount of money one has? If not, what percentage does money have to do with a wonderful relationship? Happy April 1st.
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