3. Spike Jonze
You may not recognize his face, but you probably know him for his projects. Spike Jonze directed the Beastie Boys video “Sabotage” and the film Being John Malkovich, among other projects. He wrote the screenplay for Her and won himself an Oscar in 2014 for it. But he was a winner way before that.
Spike Jonze was born Adam Spiegel, a son of the fabulously wealthy Spiegel family. Their legacy began with Joseph Spiegel, who came to America from Germany in 1848. Joseph began a mail-order business with his son in 1905 and became a powerhouse in the catalog game, selling furniture and clothing. The company survived the Great Depression, a World War and even the 1960s. Spiegel was hit hard by the later financial crisis of 2003, but Jonze is still looking at a respectable amount of family money.
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