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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 count

by 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.

by mjfl 9y ago

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.