Born Rich (2003) on Netflix
NR20031h 15mDocumentary
A young heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune is about to come into his inheritance. He interviews ten other young heirs about growing up rich and the silence around their money.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.5/102,093 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
A history student who stands to inherit the Johnson & Johnson fortune spends three years making a documentary about growing up in wealthy families. Ten other young heirs, in their late teens and twenties, sit for interviews: a real-estate heiress, a media heiress, a publishing heir, textile and supermarket heirs, a Vanderbilt and Whitney descendant, a descendant of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Many more refuse to take part, held back by their parents or by fear of losing an inheritance. Around the interviews he sets his own family's story as he approaches the money due to him on his 21st birthday. He wants to understand why inherited wealth so often produces unproductive lives, and why the rich will not talk about their money, a silence he says shields the belief that America is a meritocracy.
Cast
- Georgina Bloombergas Herself - Media Heiress
- Christina Floydas Herself - Professional Sports Heiress
- Juliet Hartfordas Herself - A&P Supermarket Heiress
- Si Newhouse IVas Himself - Publishing Heir (as S.I. Newhouse IV)
- Luke Weilas Himself - Gaming Industry Heir
- Cody Franchettias Himself - Textile Heir
- Josiah Hornbloweras Himself - Vanderbilt / Whitney Heir
- Carlo von Zeitschelas Himself - European Royalty
- Peter L. Skolnikas Himself - Attorney (as Peter Skolnik)
- Stephanie Ercklentzas Herself - Finance Heiress
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Born Rich (2003)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film refers to Johnson's grandfather, Seward Johnson, and the conflicts from his third, late-in-life marriage to his chambermaid, followed by the longest, most expensive contested will trial in U.S. history after his death in 1983, with ongoing headlines in The New York Times.
- After hearing early reports about the film, Luke Weil filed a lawsuit on September 4, 2002, demanding that his scenes be removed, and the lawsuit itself was then featured in the film.
- According to Johnson the decadence of the closing party was intentional: he had always wanted to film the final scene, where he and Bingo pour Veuve Clicquot into a tower of champagne glasses, "as part of the movie about the unequal distribution of wealth in America."
- Johnson appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss Born Rich in a namesake episode that also featured Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton, two days before the film's premiere in New York City on October 15, 2003.
