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At 20 years old, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates was living the privileged life of a rich white kid. His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served o

At 20 years old, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates was living the privileged life of a rich white kid. His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. Gates' maternal grandfather was JW Maxwell, a national bank president. If anything, the story about Bill Gates shows that your own success will change your childrens' future.

ggg9990 9y ago
Not necessarily — I know several people who grew up in even more privileged households and never did anything useful with their lives.
- rezoner 9y ago
  Which is a story for the most of the priviliged children as they don't have too much motivation to excel in anything.
  - wklauss 9y ago
    Wealth is not as great a motivator as people think and motivation and ambition exist in a broad spectrum. Most people want more money, yes, and will work harder to get it. But in order to "excel" (like Gates did) requires a different kind of ambition. It's a very complex issue, especially because we tend to mix professional success with wealth and because growing in a wealthy family grant you certain expectations, education and networks of friends that steer you toward certain goals.
    - koolba 9y ago
      > Wealth is not as great a motivator as people think and motivation and ambition exist in a broad spectrum. On the contrary, it’s a demotivater. Hunger, both literal and figurative, is the greatest motivator. It’s not unheard of to find it in the affluent either, just not as common. One other thing I’ve noticed is that the figuratively hungry never seem to be satiated. I say that as a complement. It doesn’t matter how they started, they won’t rest on their laurels as there’s more to conquer. Combining that hunger with the resources and support network of a (relatively) affluent family is a surefire recipe for success.
dogma1138 9y ago
That's not really what you should take from that. K&L Gates is in the same building as the company I work for, despite multiple mergers 2 decades past retirement the Gates name is still on the door and it's not because of Bill. William Gates is a very accomplished individual and a true philanthropist not many people would be schlepping through Africa in their 80's and 90's, especially people of his stature. 1976 (when Bill was 20) would be about 10 years after W. Gates co-founded his law firm and while for sure that they were well off that time I don't exactly know if they would be classified as "wealthy" especially by SV standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Gates_Sr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Gates_Sr. My take on this is that if anything this proof that good parenting is important, there are plenty of other wealthy lines where the children do not amount to anything but managing not squander their heritage and fortune. Don't get me wrong growing up in an upper middle class family or higher does have a lot of benefits it allows you to have the potential benefit of better education and values and it allows you to take risks that less fortunate individuals may not be able. However I don't see anything that would prove that someone's success will change their children's future other than to give them a bigger bank account (which cannot be dismissed on it's own ofc).
- walshemj 9y ago
  Bill came from old money
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    That is debatable especially when you think old money e.g. Rockefeller etc. His dad was hard working from the get go, didn't dodge the WW2 draft like plenty of "old money" people did and worked his arse off to achieve what he did. As for Bill again I don't see anything where his "came from so called old money" badge would've contributed to his success considerably beyond what an upper middle class family could. His actions outside of Microsoft also speak greatly to his character and go well beyond the typical SV billionaire or even the "typical" philanthropist. I think the gates case is unique in terms where you have 2 very accomplished parents both Mary Maxwell Gates and William H. Gates Sr. which were accomplished on their own regardless if they were old money or not.
wklauss 9y ago
> If anything, the story about Bill Gates shows that your own success will change your childrens' future. Of course, but think of all the rich kids and trust fund babies that end up doing nothing useful with their lifes. I think Gates family background was incredibly useful in his career (as is usually the case with most entrepreneurs) but still decided to do things that were out of the comfort zone for a kid in his situation. Most of the other kids would have opted to follow a career in finance or law and use his family name and connections to carve a comfortable "successful-in-appearence" professional life. Wealth is not as great a motivator as we tend to think. Social and family expectations are much more important, especially in rich and upper middle class families, in determining what to do with your life. Gates took and odd bet. He could because the stakes weren't that high thanks to family money, and it paid off.
mjfl 9y ago
There are tons of rich kids that don't even get to an iota of Bill Gate's success. You may claim that it's necessary (despite middle class Jeff Bezos as a counter example) but certainly not that it's sufficient. There are a lot more variables that must go into the equation. Dismissal based on initial social class is prideful, slothful, and envious excuse-making. That's 3 of the 7 deadly sins. Repent.
- adventured 9y ago
  There are in fact a vast number of counter examples demonstrating it's not necessary to come from wealth to become a billionaire (no doubt it can be helpful under the right circumstances). The Forbes 400 is filled with examples and always has been. A broad spectrum of recent well-known examples: Jan Koum, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin, Jim Clark, Jerry Yang, Craig Newmark, Sheldon Adelson, David Tepper, Howard Schultz, Larry Ellison, Shahid Khan, John Paul DeJoria, Harold Hamm, Jensen Huang, Jack Dorsey, Ev Williams, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Marc Andreessen, Kirk Kerkorian, Carl Lindner, Ralph Lauren, Alec Gores, Ken Langone, Carl Berg, Thomas Peterffy, Michael Jordan, JR Simplot, Mark Cuban.
  - SketchySeaBeast 9y ago
    You're right, being rich initially isn't a prerequisite of being rich later on, but it certinaly does help. If you were look at percentages of those who came from haves and have nots in a 400 person list, how would that turn out? You listed < 10%. If we expanded that list to something like the Forbes 10,000 what would that look like?
    - thousandautumns 9y ago
      When I read "The Millionaire Next Door", I remember they actually found that the people who become wealthy actually tend to come from non-wealthy backgrounds. They hypothesized that later generations were more likely to have grown used to a consumption based lifestyle, and also felt freer to pursue non-lucrative but more appealing careers. For example, someone without a ton of money is more likely to go on and create a successful trucking business than get an art or history degree. They are also less likely to splurge on the new iPhone, car, etc., even after they manage to accumulate lots of wealth.
onetimemanytime 9y ago
OK, I'll bite: How many other rich or richer kids did what Bill Gates did?
- Audible_logic 9y ago
  Ill bite, what power of poor kids could have done what Bill Gates did or more if they had an opportunity? We could do this forever. For every rich kid who did nothing line, I'll match you a poor kid who has busted their butt and will still get nothing.
tuna-piano 9y ago
Re “rich white kid” I understand being rich is relevant to this conversation. But how is him being white relevant? You seem to imply that a white persons accomplishments are less meaningful, solely because they are white. This feels like casual racism to me, which I don’t think should be acceptable in this type of discussion.
- acdha 9y ago
  > But how is him being white relevant? You seem to imply that a white persons accomplishments are less meaningful, solely because they are white. You have the relationship backwards: being white meant no barriers. He never showed up for a meeting to be pointed at the back door or asked whether he was there to apply for the job as janitor or security guard. Nobody assumed he was there to take notes. He didn’t face constant questions about whether he could actually do something or was just “the diversity hire”. That’s huge, especially when you look at the stats for things like loan or VC approval rates. Starting a company as a white man isn’t easy but it’s still easier than what most other people have to do.
  - ramblerman 9y ago
    > He didn’t face constant questions about whether he could actually do something Actually he is being questioned right now in OP's subtle statement that it was his 'rich whiteness' that was responsible for his success.
    - Audible_logic 9y ago
      Seems like a false equivalence. What were the negative consequences of him being rich? OP laid out what he would have experienced as a minority. If the only negative consequence of being rich is every once in a while you are called on it, how is that at all equivalent to the experience described by OP?
      - ramblerman 9y ago
        The thread you are in began with a question about him being 'white' and not just rich. I never stated pure equivalence but I do believe both are examples of racism.
ThoAppelsin 9y ago
> rich white kid Excuse me, but was Bill Gates back then or is the article right now being discriminative against the people without the privileges he had? The article rather depicts him as an influential figure that encourages all people to have "self-confidence", not confidence in their wealth or whiteness. This comment, on the contrary, suggests people with the privilege to think twice before establishing any business, which is rather discouraging for those people, and detrimental for the community's well-being.
justherefortart 9y ago
Capital helps. Being in the right place at the right time helps (along with connections). Being brilliant, having a vision, and working hard for decades helps significantly more than all of the above.
andai 9y ago
Good genes!
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
to_bpr 9y ago
>rich white kid This is incredibly fatiguing. This isn't Reddit, or tumblr. Strive to be better.
j45 9y ago
Who picks what family they're born into? Are there enough privileged kids that actually do something with it for a greater good? Growing up with comforts can make you just as soft. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed Steve Jobs having fun at Bill Gates' expense. Still, if someone works hard to have a track record of helping others maybe it's something. There's no need to venerate someone, but there's no need to take shots at people doing more than others too.

ggg9990 9y ago

Not necessarily — I know several people who grew up in even more privileged households and never did anything useful with their lives.

rezoner 9y ago
Which is a story for the most of the priviliged children as they don't have too much motivation to excel in anything.
- wklauss 9y ago
  Wealth is not as great a motivator as people think and motivation and ambition exist in a broad spectrum. Most people want more money, yes, and will work harder to get it. But in order to "excel" (like Gates did) requires a different kind of ambition. It's a very complex issue, especially because we tend to mix professional success with wealth and because growing in a wealthy family grant you certain expectations, education and networks of friends that steer you toward certain goals.
  - koolba 9y ago
    > Wealth is not as great a motivator as people think and motivation and ambition exist in a broad spectrum. On the contrary, it’s a demotivater. Hunger, both literal and figurative, is the greatest motivator. It’s not unheard of to find it in the affluent either, just not as common. One other thing I’ve noticed is that the figuratively hungry never seem to be satiated. I say that as a complement. It doesn’t matter how they started, they won’t rest on their laurels as there’s more to conquer. Combining that hunger with the resources and support network of a (relatively) affluent family is a surefire recipe for success.

dogma1138 9y ago

That's not really what you should take from that. K&L Gates is in the same building as the company I work for, despite multiple mergers 2 decades past retirement the Gates name is still on the door and it's not because of Bill. William Gates is a very accomplished individual and a true philanthropist not many people would be schlepping through Africa in their 80's and 90's, especially people of his stature. 1976 (when Bill was 20) would be about 10 years after W. Gates co-founded his law firm and while for sure that they were well off that time I don't exactly know if they would be classified as "wealthy" especially by SV standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Gates_Sr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Gates_Sr. My take on this is that if anything this proof that good parenting is important, there are plenty of other wealthy lines where the children do not amount to anything but managing not squander their heritage and fortune. Don't get me wrong growing up in an upper middle class family or higher does have a lot of benefits it allows you to have the potential benefit of better education and values and it allows you to take risks that less fortunate individuals may not be able. However I don't see anything that would prove that someone's success will change their children's future other than to give them a bigger bank account (which cannot be dismissed on it's own ofc).

walshemj 9y ago
Bill came from old money
- dogma1138 9y ago
  That is debatable especially when you think old money e.g. Rockefeller etc. His dad was hard working from the get go, didn't dodge the WW2 draft like plenty of "old money" people did and worked his arse off to achieve what he did. As for Bill again I don't see anything where his "came from so called old money" badge would've contributed to his success considerably beyond what an upper middle class family could. His actions outside of Microsoft also speak greatly to his character and go well beyond the typical SV billionaire or even the "typical" philanthropist. I think the gates case is unique in terms where you have 2 very accomplished parents both Mary Maxwell Gates and William H. Gates Sr. which were accomplished on their own regardless if they were old money or not.

wklauss 9y ago

> If anything, the story about Bill Gates shows that your own success will change your childrens' future. Of course, but think of all the rich kids and trust fund babies that end up doing nothing useful with their lifes. I think Gates family background was incredibly useful in his career (as is usually the case with most entrepreneurs) but still decided to do things that were out of the comfort zone for a kid in his situation. Most of the other kids would have opted to follow a career in finance or law and use his family name and connections to carve a comfortable "successful-in-appearence" professional life. Wealth is not as great a motivator as we tend to think. Social and family expectations are much more important, especially in rich and upper middle class families, in determining what to do with your life. Gates took and odd bet. He could because the stakes weren't that high thanks to family money, and it paid off.

mjfl 9y ago

There are tons of rich kids that don't even get to an iota of Bill Gate's success. You may claim that it's necessary (despite middle class Jeff Bezos as a counter example) but certainly not that it's sufficient. There are a lot more variables that must go into the equation. Dismissal based on initial social class is prideful, slothful, and envious excuse-making. That's 3 of the 7 deadly sins. Repent.

adventured 9y ago
There are in fact a vast number of counter examples demonstrating it's not necessary to come from wealth to become a billionaire (no doubt it can be helpful under the right circumstances). The Forbes 400 is filled with examples and always has been. A broad spectrum of recent well-known examples: Jan Koum, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin, Jim Clark, Jerry Yang, Craig Newmark, Sheldon Adelson, David Tepper, Howard Schultz, Larry Ellison, Shahid Khan, John Paul DeJoria, Harold Hamm, Jensen Huang, Jack Dorsey, Ev Williams, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Marc Andreessen, Kirk Kerkorian, Carl Lindner, Ralph Lauren, Alec Gores, Ken Langone, Carl Berg, Thomas Peterffy, Michael Jordan, JR Simplot, Mark Cuban.
- SketchySeaBeast 9y ago
  You're right, being rich initially isn't a prerequisite of being rich later on, but it certinaly does help. If you were look at percentages of those who came from haves and have nots in a 400 person list, how would that turn out? You listed < 10%. If we expanded that list to something like the Forbes 10,000 what would that look like?
  - thousandautumns 9y ago
    When I read "The Millionaire Next Door", I remember they actually found that the people who become wealthy actually tend to come from non-wealthy backgrounds. They hypothesized that later generations were more likely to have grown used to a consumption based lifestyle, and also felt freer to pursue non-lucrative but more appealing careers. For example, someone without a ton of money is more likely to go on and create a successful trucking business than get an art or history degree. They are also less likely to splurge on the new iPhone, car, etc., even after they manage to accumulate lots of wealth.

onetimemanytime 9y ago

OK, I'll bite: How many other rich or richer kids did what Bill Gates did?

Audible_logic 9y ago
Ill bite, what power of poor kids could have done what Bill Gates did or more if they had an opportunity? We could do this forever. For every rich kid who did nothing line, I'll match you a poor kid who has busted their butt and will still get nothing.

tuna-piano 9y ago

Re “rich white kid” I understand being rich is relevant to this conversation. But how is him being white relevant? You seem to imply that a white persons accomplishments are less meaningful, solely because they are white. This feels like casual racism to me, which I don’t think should be acceptable in this type of discussion.

acdha 9y ago
> But how is him being white relevant? You seem to imply that a white persons accomplishments are less meaningful, solely because they are white. You have the relationship backwards: being white meant no barriers. He never showed up for a meeting to be pointed at the back door or asked whether he was there to apply for the job as janitor or security guard. Nobody assumed he was there to take notes. He didn’t face constant questions about whether he could actually do something or was just “the diversity hire”. That’s huge, especially when you look at the stats for things like loan or VC approval rates. Starting a company as a white man isn’t easy but it’s still easier than what most other people have to do.
- ramblerman 9y ago
  > He didn’t face constant questions about whether he could actually do something Actually he is being questioned right now in OP's subtle statement that it was his 'rich whiteness' that was responsible for his success.
  - Audible_logic 9y ago
    Seems like a false equivalence. What were the negative consequences of him being rich? OP laid out what he would have experienced as a minority. If the only negative consequence of being rich is every once in a while you are called on it, how is that at all equivalent to the experience described by OP?
    - ramblerman 9y ago
      The thread you are in began with a question about him being 'white' and not just rich. I never stated pure equivalence but I do believe both are examples of racism.

ThoAppelsin 9y ago

> rich white kid Excuse me, but was Bill Gates back then or is the article right now being discriminative against the people without the privileges he had? The article rather depicts him as an influential figure that encourages all people to have "self-confidence", not confidence in their wealth or whiteness. This comment, on the contrary, suggests people with the privilege to think twice before establishing any business, which is rather discouraging for those people, and detrimental for the community's well-being.

justherefortart 9y ago

Capital helps. Being in the right place at the right time helps (along with connections). Being brilliant, having a vision, and working hard for decades helps significantly more than all of the above.

andai 9y ago

Good genes!

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

to_bpr 9y ago

>rich white kid This is incredibly fatiguing. This isn't Reddit, or tumblr. Strive to be better.

j45 9y ago

Who picks what family they're born into? Are there enough privileged kids that actually do something with it for a greater good? Growing up with comforts can make you just as soft. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed Steve Jobs having fun at Bill Gates' expense. Still, if someone works hard to have a track record of helping others maybe it's something. There's no need to venerate someone, but there's no need to take shots at people doing more than others too.