u/Punchie45

obviously, he was a wealthy man during the K rock era also, but not to the point where he could literally curate every aspect of his existence and use his money to ply every one in his orbit indulge all his own weirdo obsessions and sensibilities. if during those years, he would just do normal shit with his kids go to Jackie‘s stupid parties even hang out with stuttering for some godforsaken reason. At that point he actually seemed to be living his fucking life.

After Sirius all that $ only served as an anchor of his own misery and demise. Instead of just living a nice life as a rich guy that can do what he wants he now has to keep up with $100M homes and dozens of employees juysat to maintain a lifestyle his doesn’t seem to enjoy on even the slightest level. He doesn’t entertain. He doesn’t really seem to enjoy most of the ultra wealthy debauchery (to his credit on that one). like no matter how much money you have I can’t imagine anyone, much less someone as cheap as Howard not being stressed out maintaining multiple properties the size of a fucking hotel resort for no tangible benefit of any kind. Not to mention those ultra luxury homes are often very difficult to sell or liquidate because they have such a limited market.

If he wasn’t so cheap, nasty and ungracious with his employees and the people around him, it would be a real tragedy.