How Do Silicon Valley Techies Rejoice Getting Wealthy in a Pandemic?

For Palantir, a data analytics firm that went public on February 18, it was “giraffe money” day. This marked the first day current and former employees were able to cash out all of their shares after the company went public.

On a Slack channel for former employees called Giraffe Money – an obvious hint of wealth that can support the occasional giraffe possession – many anticipated their good fortunes by sharing links, mostly in jest, to ridiculously expensive real estate listings and boats, said a former employee.

In reality, however, tech geeks spend in very different ways.

Instead of art, they buy NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which represent ownership of digital artwork, memes, or artifacts from Internet history.

Instead of traveling around the world, they pile up in Sprinter delivery vans, which are essential for a pandemic vacation. Jackie Conlin, a personal style consultant for technical executives, said she created “van closets,” made of “comfortable clothes that look pieced together but have a laid-back vacation feeling” for clients on road trips.

Instead of designer clothes, they are looking for new outfits that look great on Zoom calls, virtual makeup lessons for the camera, and makeovers for their Zoom backgrounds. Ms. Conlin said she redecorated a client’s zoom room “to make everything the other meeting attendees see more cohesive, stylish, and pleasing to the eye.” Customers also purchase weekly “comfort” gifts for friends and family such as cozy blankets and robes, skin care products, pajamas and games.

And instead of luxury condominiums, they are looking for houses with outdoor space, fitness studios and good “zoom rooms”. In San Francisco, tech freaks are migrating from modern “white box” apartments in the SoMa neighborhood to traditional pre-war “trophy houses” in more established areas like Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights and Sea Cliff, Joel Goodrich said. a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Global Luxury in town. You are enthusiastic about historical villas with elaborate shapes and architectures.

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