The Man Who Owned Everything — And Lost The Only Thing That Mattered

 

Today, I'd like to share a true story about my Uncle iQ.

In my book, Highway to Heaven, I wrote of an Uncle, who I called Uncle IQ, Uncle IQ made it, big — or so it looked. He started as a teacher, then ditched the classroom for the bright lights of entrepreneurship, opening a kids’ clothing store that oozed luxury. People say red is the color of power, and consistent with his obsession of power, his shop floor was draped in red carpet.

By 26, he was driving a Porsc. When Bee-em dropped their new M3, he had it. Jaguar launched the XJ and XK? Done. Mercedes rolled out the SLK? Parked in his driveway the same week.

His license plate? One word: EGO.

He bought a condo opposite as exclusive golf estate… and then bought the penthouse next door just to knock down the walls and create a palace in the sky to house his family, and ego.

When American Express invited him for their black Centurion card, he was first in line.

He flew first class, lounged in VIP airport suites, and during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he was in Moscow, front row to the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.

He worshipped power — and thought lawyers were its gatekeepers — so he made sure both his daughters became lawyers.

He honored his mother publicly, gifting her luxury cars and attention, though whispers said the private story was… different.

At weddings and funerals, he was magnetic. The alpha male. The circle everyone wanted to be in.

It looked like a success story we’re told to chase. Until COVID came.

His invincibility cracked. His mortality... gone. His empire, his ego, his status… finished.

In 2018 at age 42, I lost everything—my house, my cars, my furniture, my businesses. No job. No capital. No income. My kids did online school and were locked out of school for months during because I couldn't pay their school fees.

When Uncle iQ heard, he rode in like a knight on a white horse. We agreed on a verbal lease for one of his one bedroom condos at a market rate. My fortunes hadn’t turned and I defaulted, then paid him — a few days late. His response? Month two I paid early. Month three, on time. But what did he do: evicted my family and me.

At the end of the month, I left close to midnight, placed the cash and keys in his convenience store, and walked away unwilling to play his games — instead of bitterness, I looked back with reverence at an experience that made me stronger and wiser.

A few months ago, I dreamt of Uncle iQ. He was in his grave, surrounded by huge TV screens. On each TV screen — a single person. Hundreds of screens. Each person was someone he’d hurt as a landlord, entrepreneur, tyrant, or oppressor. And he was tormented — not by illness, but by the weight of the rights he’d usurped, the injustices he’d committed. He often shrunk people so that he could retain his top dog 'status' as the alpha male.

I ask you: is this a legacy worth pursuing? To be remembered as the person who looked like a big shot… but left a trail of wounds behind? What would people say about you if you were gone tomorrow?

Or… imagine this instead: despite living in a beautiful home, driving a fine car, wearing exquisite clothes, and dining in the best restaurants at the finest hotels… you still treated people well. You showed respect, warmth, and humanity in a world that often forgets these.

You might ask — does that really exist? The answer is a resounding YES. Heroes and heroines like Diana — the People’s Princess of Wales. Zeenith Lakhi — the awe-inspiring author from Malaysia. Ismail Mitha — the South African medical doctor and entrepreneur. Zunaid Moti — the extraordinary Dubai entrepreneur with the rare gift of making everybody feel like a real somebody, in a world where too many are treated like nobodies. These are the legacies worth chasing. The lives worth living. The stories worth telling when you’re gone.

I learned the hard way: It’s not the penthouse that makes you a king. It’s not the Porsc, the red carpet, or the Centurion card.

When the scaffolding of ego collapses, only one thing remains: the truth of who you are and how you treated people.

The wealth you build in your soul will outlast the wealth in your account. The kingdom you build in people’s hearts will outshine the empire you build in bricks.

So — what will they say about you when you’re gone?

Because in the end… You don’t take the wealth. You take the consequences of your deeds that you authored.

👉 See the full journey here: odyssey.lakhi.biz

📥 Or watch the extraordinary briefing and decide if this is the moment you start writing a legacy worth remembering.