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To me, "source" implies where the wealth came from, and it's misleading to say that the Koch brothers grew rich from a diverse portfolio of anything. They were
by idlewords 10y ago
To me, "source" implies where the wealth came from, and it's misleading to say that the Koch brothers grew rich from a diverse portfolio of anything. They were born into oil wealth.
- Nav_Panel 10y agoOh, true, if read that way then petroleum is probably the correct thing to put there. Curious.
- the_watcher 10y agoThe rest of their wealth also has sources.
- honkhonkpants 10y agoMany of the people on this list should have their source listed as "birth".
- ryandrake 10y agoFunny how many "self made" millionaires and billionaires, when you dig down to root cause, owe it to birth and family connections.
- oldmanjay 10y agoPerhaps obviously, when your interpretation makes the article not make sense, it's useful to try interpretations that work. I guess another way to put it is that a very human mistake to make is to infer something and assume it was implied, then use that assumption to form a dismissal. I get that your particular interpretation is likely meant as some subtle manner of dismissal of the Koch brothers (something along the lines of how they didn't earn their wealth would be my guess) and I'd like to encourage you to state such feelings directly. It's far more interesting than low-grade emotional rhetoric that just turns into boring no-light-low-heat discussion.
- idlewords 10y agoThis is a spreadsheet, not an article, so I'm confused about your first point. When looking at a list of billionaires, it's natural to wonder "where did this fortune come from?", and in the case of the Koch brothers, the answer is "oil". I don't think it requires a deep dive into my psyche to defend this interpretation of the "source" field, though I'm always happy to swim around down there.
- hkmurakami 10y agoSuppose I make my first $10M getting lucky in technology, then make my next $1B getting lucky in real estate by leveraging my lottery winnings. What's the source of my wealth in this case? (this seems to be a clarifying exaggeration of what is being asked here)
- ryandrake 10y agoIn my view: Technology. Without that first $10M, you'd never have had the opportunity to make $1B in real estate. When I think "source" I'm digging down to root cause.
- e7c6ht6iad 10y agoBut if you only made $10M, you wouldn't be on the list.
- chirau 10y agoWhat is Michael Jordan's source of wealth?
- pc86 10y agoBy your logic the actual source in "inheritance." More than half of their wealth came from non-oil sources so I don't see how "oil" makes sense as a source.
- sardonicbryan 10y agoI think the intended usage for this spreadsheet is more along the lines of "derived," as in where does X derive their current wealth from, or "What current holdings qualify the person for this list." Otherwise this table would involve an order of magnitude more research and editorializing. For example, Elon Musk has "Tesla" listed as his source even though as we know his initial wealth came from Paypal. At least, that is the usage that seems to best fit with what's in the spreadsheet.