Somebody get the world’s smallest violin.
A Gen-Z millionaire is bragging that his key to success was cutting off all of his friends, moving across the globe and living in isolation from his loved ones “without a second thought.”
“I was extremely popular in high school and after graduation, but the constant invites to celebrate friends’ birthdays, promotions and weddings were too much of a distraction from success,” Luke Lintz, who runs PR firm HighKey Agency, told Jam Press.
“People have far too many friends … There is not one part of me that is concerned about having no friends at this age,” added the 23-year-old, who claimed he hasn’t “had a day off in seven years.”
However, Lintz does keep close with his two brothers, Jordan and Jackson, with whom he runs the company and uses his few spare moments to talk shop.
“After work, whatever time in my day is left, I give to my brothers and our discussions about work and the direction we are heading in.”
The trio has become so work-obsessed that they are no longer invited to family affairs either, he added.
“Most people don’t have what it takes to achieve laser focus on their goals,” said Lintz, who has poo-pooed his generation for being lazy. “As if I’d be caught dead playing video games or wasting time in bars.”
Instead, Lintz — whose ambition is to become a billionaire by age 40 — devotes his “social energy” to onboarding new employees or hitting the gym for some athletic competitions.
“I still have acquaintances who I play sports with but I tell them ‘no thanks’ if they want to go for a coffee or a drink once we get off the basketball court,” he told Jam Press. “I’m a friendly, personable guy and people approach me and want to get to know me, but I have to be cautious because most friendships will hold you back and suck up your time.”
Still, Lintz, who also devotes attention to his girlfriend, insists that “if I wanted a new friend, I’d make one — but I’m not in an era of creating lasting friendships.”
While the eight-figure entrepreneur may think he’s doing the Lord’s work by self-isolating, fellow young business tycoons simply don’t see the logic.
“Your net worth is your network, and I’m not the one who coined that phrase,” 27-year-old Allon Avgi, who has $100M in real estate assets across the U.S., told The Post.
Recently, a very dear friend to the Long Island-based real estate CEO began a roofing business, and Avgi immediately gave this close companion multiple contracts on his properties, he said.
Avgi described the feeling of bolstering his close kin as so rewarding, it felt like his own personal victory.
“That’s how it should be. I know he will soar to great lengths in the years to come and it’s indescribably great to see that happen from the very beginning. That’s the right attitude to have instead of shutting yourself off from others,” he told The Post.
“You should look at life and business from the perspective of, ‘Who can I bring up and who can bring me up?’
“When we do it together it makes the awesome thrill of success even that much sweeter,” Avgi declared.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
