A few days later, I met up with Eric for lunch. He didn't look happy when he approached me, and he addressed me in a quite angry tone: "I heard you donated $250,000 to the ocean clean-up charity, have you gone mad?" Eric's reaction bewildered me. This was my money, and as far as I knew, he wasn't against cleaning up the oceans. Disliking his snappish tone, I snapped back at him: "Yes, I did. I like to support charitable organisations, and besides, you have no reason snooping around in my business!" Having said this, I immediately realised the hypocrisy in my statement, as I tended to meddle in other peoples' dealings.
Instead of shouting back at me, Eric leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Calm down, and I will tell you why I am worried."
I did as Eric asked, and once he noticed that my mood had stabilised, he spoke to me again: "I have no problem with you donating money to charities. But you must realise, for every cent you make on online trading, someone else loses it. "
"I don't follow you, Eric. What does that have to do with my donations to charities?" I asked tentatively.
Eric fixed up the collar on his newly purchased Gucci shirt, fixed his sunglasses, and replied: "You want to change the world to the better, right?"
"Yes, I do," I replied, wondering what Eric was getting at.
"Well, if you truly want to change the world, a few millions won't do anything. You might get lucky now, but you must watch out for those who are going to cause you trouble!" Eric stated.
"Well, if that's what it takes, that's what I will do," I replied confidently and added in. "But you still haven't told me why you are upset."
"I am not upset; I am just giving you a heads up. If you make millions from trading, that means someone else is losing millions. Some of the companies that have lost money due to your trading skills would act against you, if they found out who you are. If the people that are willing to dupe governments, cause war and famine, find out that they have lost billions to you, they won't play it nice. You could be the next Julian Assange." Eric said with a concerned voice.
I realised that Eric was right. If I really wanted to change the world, I would need to do so anonymously. The money I had donated this far, wouldn't cause many questions. But once I started spending more money, I would get unwanted attention from the people that were manipulating the world to enrichen themselves. Acting anonymously would protect me from potential threats, accusations, or lawsuits.
"So, what do you suggest that I do?" I asked.
"Well, if you really want to beat the dark forces at their own game, you'll have to remain anonymous like they do. You'll have to start using fake companies, proxies, and hidden accounts all over the world, "Eric explained.
I hugged Eric and said. "Thank you, Eric. You are really the smartest person that I know."
Eric smiled back and replied. "Thanks! That means a lot coming from the girl who beat the Chess Clubs' A.I. on Kasparov level, and made $8million from online trading in a couple of months!"
"Well, it's the truth. Let's eat, I am starving!" I exclaimed, and I called the waiter over. As I ate the delicious Italian spaghetti meatballs, while discussing strategies with Eric at the local Italian restaurant, I realised something. That being wealthy wasn't bad at all.