Monday, March 27, 2017

Why Fil-Am Snapchat millionaire kept working after $54-M jackpot


MANILA - Technology entrepreneur Garrett Gee was $54 million richer when he decided to start fresh as an "adventure travel journalist," exploring the world with his wife and two young kids.

The flip flop-wearing Filipino American recalled how he was at a crossroads after having sold his scanning app to US-based social networking giant Snapchat.

Gee said he was ready to go on a "never ending vacation and be done with it," living off instant fortune.

But together with his wife, Gee hatched a plan to document their adventures on "The Bucket List Family" and encourage people to travel.

"Don't get comfortable. Comfort never was happiness. You can get comfortable for a little bit, that's when life stops," Gee told TFCU.

Gee said the sale of Scan to Snapchat was a turning point that could have turned bad, had he chosen an easy life, free from money problems.

"None of this is gonna matter of I can't take this situation and make something special of it," he said.

Gee, who is in his mid-20s, is in the Philippines for the first time, working on a television and website project with ABS-CBN International.

He said his new work is as enlightening as it is financially rewarding.

"You learn a lot of lessons everyday, one thing you learn when you're traveling is (there are) good people all around the world," he said.

"Maybe the world is a scary place. When you travel, you learn the opposite: The world is safe, the world is beautiful, the world is kind," he added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com