Successful businessman refuses to give half his fortune to his farmer brother after a lifetime of his family favoring his brother: 'I was sending money home regularly.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Jan 8, 2026 8:00 PM EST

He was pushed out of the nest early and went on to succeed against the odds.

Being the favorite child is not always a good thing. In an ideal family, there would be no favorites, and parents would treat all their kids equally, but we all know that doesn't always work in practice. Favoritism exists in nearly all social dynamics, and the nuclear family is no exception. 

You would assume that a favorite child would receive more love from their parents, which would make them more confident and help them succeed. While that does happen, that's not always the case. Many favorite children think that because they're their parents' favorites, they don't have to work very hard to achieve what they want. Their parents may be more likely to let them live at home without a job, and enable their bad behavior because they're the favorite who can do no wrong. Meanwhile, the less favored child, depending on their temperament, might be motivated to succeed in life because they want to feel like the winner that their parents never let them feel like. If someone has felt inadequate throughout childhood, they may do everything in their power to ensure they don't feel that way in adulthood. Never having to financially or emotionally rely upon the family that rejected you is aspirational for grown-up kids who were never their parents' favorite.

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  • The son in this story didn't choose to leave his home in search of better opportunities. His mother sent him because she wanted her golden child brother to stay at home. He succeeded in business through hard work, ingenuity, and the risk of selling his share of his family's farmland. Now that he's a successful businessman, his family thinks his older brother deserves half of his earnings because he is “taking care of the family at home.”

  • A man in a suit points upward
    via TRAN NHU TUAN

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Am I the bad guy for not giving half of my fortune to my brother?

    I (M30) and my brother (M32) are not so close from the beginning mainly due to favoritism and i being the unwanted middle child, we have a younger sister (F29).
    via u/toptiershi
  • we have farm lands but the farm were not so huge and yeild of the farm is comparatively very low, not enough for our family. so when my mom got an opportunity to send one of her sons to foreign land to work, she decided to
    via u/toptiershi
  • send me instead because she wanted her favorite child to be with her, my brother. eventhough i got married recently and leaving for work means leaving my wife here at the village because the pay and
    via u/toptiershi
  • working conditions were not good enough alongside i have to keep on sending money at home also. i left for work & worked for 5 years with only 2 home visits a year, tough time for my wife & kid. i also had to miss my child birth because of
    via u/toptiershi
  • this but i never regretted that because i always use to think that the struggle i am doing now will make future of my children bright. in those 5 years i gained a lot of exposure and decided to
    via u/toptiershi
  • start something of my own, for this i had to sell half of my share of land, my family (mother, brother and sister) were not so happy about it as they thought i am doing something very stupid. they didn't supported any of this but
    via u/toptiershi
  • i still did it and it turns out to be the best thing i have ever done in my life, my business made me a good chunk of money then i finally decided to move my wife and kid out of the village and settle in city where i purchased a new house.
    via u/toptiershi
  • Green and red trees near blue and white concrete building during daytime
    via Anastasy Gang

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • everything was going well for me until my mom brother and sister demanded that whatever fortune i made should be divided equally between me and my brother. there reasoning for this is - i only get to work outside and get the
    via u/toptiershi
  • exposure for my business because my brother took care of my family at the village, and if not him i were never able to even get out of the village. so whatever success i got after moving out of the village was not of my own but a shared
    via u/toptiershi
  • success with my brother and he should get half of it. while my reasoning is - i never choose to go, i was forced because he wanted to stay and we didn't have enough for all of us. whatever time i was outside working i was sending money
    via u/toptiershi
  • home regularly so its not that hes taking care of my family for free, he getting paid for it also when i was outisde my brother used to work on my share of land also so whatever money generated from it used to go to him only, not to my wife i
    via u/toptiershi
  • would also like to mention that if i choose someone else to work on my land then i would have got a much higher amount than the amount my brother was telling me hes generating from my share of land but i didnt because deep
    via u/toptiershi
  • down i also wanted him to be present for my family eventhough that means sacrificing some money. my extended family and my community is also supporting my brother claims and
    via u/toptiershi
  • everyone except for my family and my wife family are against me and calling me AH for not giving half of my fortune to my brother.
    via u/toptiershi
  • A man walking down a dirt road carrying a basket
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • TheGingerCynic You were sent away to work and send money back to them - you've more than done your share, and they haven't been supporting you. NTA If I were you, I'd stop sending anything back to them, they haven't been treating you like family for years. They've been treating you as a source of income that they don't have to worry about.
    via u/TheGingerCynic
  • No-Midnight6015 NTA it's not your job to parent your brother
    via u/No-Midnight6015
  • AmbitiousEdi NTA, you made that money for your family - your wife and child! Your brother can make his own money.
    via u/AmbitiousEdi
  • United-Manner20 NTA- they see you as a bank account, not family. They would never do it for you if he had been the one to leave. You're an adult. Focus on your family (wife and kids) and they can figure it out in their own.
    via u/United-Manner20
  • Aurelizian NTA - My guy, you are still the unwanted one, just with money now and they try to do what they always did and push the thumb onto you to gain an advantage from your work. Distance yourself from these horrendous people and free yourself from that. You and your wife deserve a life of your own.
    via u/Aurelizian
  • scoop_booty Conversely, if your efforts after leaving home would have gone negative, would they have supported that? In other words, what if you had gone into severe debt, would they help you with that, or just blamed it on you and left the burden in your hands? I didn't think you're the AH, I think they're greedy. Just curious, what lands are you in my friend?
    via u/scoop_booty
  • Significant_Limit_68 NTA. Your brother lived home for free. You paid for a house. Your brother owes you money since he lived home for free.
    via u/Significant_Limit_68
  • creepinghippo So you get a third of everything they own? You get a third of the farm again? What if the opportunity went wrong and you owed £100k in debt, would they pay £33k for you or would that be your debt?
    via u/creepinghippo
  • Some_Refrigerator677 Dump your family man they are leeches dont sent your brother anything. Tell him he can come work for u and earns his money.
    via u/Some_Refrigerator677
  • Adorable_Rip_4069 With a brother and family like this, who needs enemies... From what you described, NTA.
    via u/Adorable_Rip_4069

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buying land farmer brother siblings village family mom business money
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