3 ms·

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.
- krageon 9y ago
  Nowhere in this post do you successfully make the case that he's not old money. You may have demonstrated that he didn't fall victim to many of the tropes that his contemporaries did, but the fact remains he had (a lot) more than most people would at any point in time (including opportunities and contacts). I still remember the moment when Bill Gates switched from being the "Microsoft guy" (during those times sort of akin to the new Satan) to being the "philanthropist" that he is now. I'd say it's been a very successful bit of public relations for him if this is how you see him now.
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    I don't understand why do I need to prove he isn't "old money" old money is a pretty defined term unless you want to use it in the most ambiguous way. Both of his parents worked (and unquestionably very hard) for a living and while lived a comfortable life it wasn't one of some extreme affluence. His parents is what we would for the most part consider upper middle class or "working rich" it's not like Bills childhood could be a backdrop to a scene in "all the money in the world" or anything similar. I've also never considered Gates to be a Satan or anything of the sort regardless of Microsoft's practices I've always have had an admiration of him as well as many other successful people.
    - walshemj 9y ago
      Class isn't just about money your falling into the fallacy that the USA doesn't have a class system.
      - dogma1138 9y ago
        So wait now it’s about classes? It seems like every time the goal posts move.
- walshemj 9y ago
  Its a bit more subtle than that you need to look at the signifiers and not just $$ Bill has a generational qualifier for example and look at his family background and where he went to school.
mjfl 9y ago
I wouldn't say Bill was old money. Old money is where neither you nor your parents need to work for a living due to the success of some ancestor. Bill Gates was upper middle class, not old money, and even so is that really necessary and sufficient cause for his success? Like other posters here, I know many people more privileged than Bill Gates was and have done little to nothing with their lives, therefore coming from his parent's level of wealth is not even close to sufficient for success. There are also certain people who have made it to his level of wealth from more humble origins, notably John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie but more recently Jeff Bezos, who was middle class, therefore it is not necessary to come from Gate's parents level of wealth either. If something is neither necessary nor even close to sufficient for success, how can you dismiss someone's success as due to it?
- hfdgiutdryg 9y ago
  how can you dismiss someone's success as due to it? I don't think it's being dismissed as due to it, so much as it's acknowledging the near-necessity of it to attain success. Gates went to a high school where the parents pooled money in order to buy mainframe time for their kids. Gates was seeing a therapist, which helped him focus and mature faster. He had the support to start a fairly wild venture with a friend. Gates is incredibly intelligent, focused, disciplined, and was in the right place at the right time. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't have succeeded. Not because I lacked the resources, but because I'd have found the idea of writing a BASIC interpreter to be boring and wouldn't have seen it through. But I also probably wouldn't have had access to the technology necessary in the first place...

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.

krageon 9y ago
Nowhere in this post do you successfully make the case that he's not old money. You may have demonstrated that he didn't fall victim to many of the tropes that his contemporaries did, but the fact remains he had (a lot) more than most people would at any point in time (including opportunities and contacts). I still remember the moment when Bill Gates switched from being the "Microsoft guy" (during those times sort of akin to the new Satan) to being the "philanthropist" that he is now. I'd say it's been a very successful bit of public relations for him if this is how you see him now.
- dogma1138 9y ago
  I don't understand why do I need to prove he isn't "old money" old money is a pretty defined term unless you want to use it in the most ambiguous way. Both of his parents worked (and unquestionably very hard) for a living and while lived a comfortable life it wasn't one of some extreme affluence. His parents is what we would for the most part consider upper middle class or "working rich" it's not like Bills childhood could be a backdrop to a scene in "all the money in the world" or anything similar. I've also never considered Gates to be a Satan or anything of the sort regardless of Microsoft's practices I've always have had an admiration of him as well as many other successful people.
  - walshemj 9y ago
    Class isn't just about money your falling into the fallacy that the USA doesn't have a class system.
    - dogma1138 9y ago
      So wait now it’s about classes? It seems like every time the goal posts move.
walshemj 9y ago
Its a bit more subtle than that you need to look at the signifiers and not just $$ Bill has a generational qualifier for example and look at his family background and where he went to school.

mjfl 9y ago

I wouldn't say Bill was old money. Old money is where neither you nor your parents need to work for a living due to the success of some ancestor. Bill Gates was upper middle class, not old money, and even so is that really necessary and sufficient cause for his success? Like other posters here, I know many people more privileged than Bill Gates was and have done little to nothing with their lives, therefore coming from his parent's level of wealth is not even close to sufficient for success. There are also certain people who have made it to his level of wealth from more humble origins, notably John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie but more recently Jeff Bezos, who was middle class, therefore it is not necessary to come from Gate's parents level of wealth either. If something is neither necessary nor even close to sufficient for success, how can you dismiss someone's success as due to it?

hfdgiutdryg 9y ago
how can you dismiss someone's success as due to it? I don't think it's being dismissed as due to it, so much as it's acknowledging the near-necessity of it to attain success. Gates went to a high school where the parents pooled money in order to buy mainframe time for their kids. Gates was seeing a therapist, which helped him focus and mature faster. He had the support to start a fairly wild venture with a friend. Gates is incredibly intelligent, focused, disciplined, and was in the right place at the right time. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't have succeeded. Not because I lacked the resources, but because I'd have found the idea of writing a BASIC interpreter to be boring and wouldn't have seen it through. But I also probably wouldn't have had access to the technology necessary in the first place...