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And none of them were born particularly rich or privileged. Nice to see hard work and wise choices can elevate one to such great heights.

deleted 9y ago
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WaxProlix 9y ago
Hard work, wise choices, and of course luck. That's not to say that wealth doesn't stay concentrated. For instance, the wealthiest families in Florence today are the same wealthiest families in Florence 600 years ago[1], and families like the Waltons, Kochs, S.C. Johnsons, Hearsts, Du Ponts, etc all have a legacy of riches which sort of undermine the purity of our meritocratic Big Three. That said, it's definitely a little refreshing and wouldn't have been possible under pre-Mercantilism systems. 1 https://qz.com/694340/the-richest-families-in-florence-in-1427-are-still-the-richest-families-in-florence/ https://qz.com/694340/the-richest-families-in-florence-in-14...
alex_young 9y ago
You and I have very different definitions of being born rich then: http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/ http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/
purplezooey 9y ago
Troll much?
dogma1138 9y ago
There is an international law firm called KL&Gates the Gates in it is Bill’s dad you want might to google them.
- eesmith 9y ago
  And some quotes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett : > In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Congress > Buffett's interest in the stock market and investing dated to schoolboy days he spent in the customers' lounge of a regional stock brokerage near his father's own brokerage office. (His father brokerage company was Buffett-Falk & Co.) > In high school, he invested in a business owned by his father and bought a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer. He bought the land when he was 14 years old with $1,200 of his savings. Neither of my parents were in Congress, nor started and ran a brokerage office, nor owned a business - much less a business that others could invest in.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

WaxProlix 9y ago

Hard work, wise choices, and of course luck. That's not to say that wealth doesn't stay concentrated. For instance, the wealthiest families in Florence today are the same wealthiest families in Florence 600 years ago[1], and families like the Waltons, Kochs, S.C. Johnsons, Hearsts, Du Ponts, etc all have a legacy of riches which sort of undermine the purity of our meritocratic Big Three. That said, it's definitely a little refreshing and wouldn't have been possible under pre-Mercantilism systems. 1 https://qz.com/694340/the-richest-families-in-florence-in-1427-are-still-the-richest-families-in-florence/ https://qz.com/694340/the-richest-families-in-florence-in-14...

alex_young 9y ago

You and I have very different definitions of being born rich then: http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/ http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/

purplezooey 9y ago

Troll much?

dogma1138 9y ago

There is an international law firm called KL&Gates the Gates in it is Bill’s dad you want might to google them.

eesmith 9y ago
And some quotes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett : > In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Congress > Buffett's interest in the stock market and investing dated to schoolboy days he spent in the customers' lounge of a regional stock brokerage near his father's own brokerage office. (His father brokerage company was Buffett-Falk & Co.) > In high school, he invested in a business owned by his father and bought a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer. He bought the land when he was 14 years old with $1,200 of his savings. Neither of my parents were in Congress, nor started and ran a brokerage office, nor owned a business - much less a business that others could invest in.