Money isn't about money. It's about status and power for many people.<p>That's different from being ambitious in general. I probably wouldn't stop working if I made $20 million, but I'd work differently. I'd take more risks, play less politics, and be able to focus more due to fearlessness. I, however, don't view work for work's sake as being valuable. When I'm 55, I might decide that it's time to do more traveling and less working.<p>There are, however, a lot of people who see money as "life's scorecard" and that leads them astray, because ultimately optimizing for that one factor is (beyond a certain point) astronomically stupid. If you enjoy your work, keep at it. But a lot of these people don't. When you look at why they keep going, though, it turns out that they're not really into the work or the money themselves but the status that come with them. A surprising percentage of people don't really care what it is they do, so long as they can use a private jet to do it.