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There are no mom and pop store billionaires.

by RNCTX 5y ago

wod3m 5y ago
It's a principle that we should apply evenly. I also find it hard to believe that this won't grow in scope once implemented.
jonas21 5y ago
I'm not sure what you mean by this, but Walmart started as a mom and pop store, and the Walton family maintains majority ownership to this day.
- nicoburns 5y ago
  Yes, but Walmart is no longer a mom and pop shop.
- RNCTX 5y ago
  Walmart didn't go from mom and pop store to national corporation without an IPO. I'm going by wiki data here, which says they had 18 stores and annual revenue of 9 million in 1968. If they had stayed private they were probably clearing a million dollars a year, give or take. To get from there to billions they had to raise outside money, specifically by selling stock and debt to someone else. That is by definition "not owning it anymore" because they're selling (some of) it to raise funding. Like I said, there are no mom and pop billionaires. To get from millionaire to billionaire requires outside money. And yes, that includes tech companies. I know tech founders like to write false hagiographies for themselves after the fact about starting XYZ in a garage, but dig far enough and you usually find it was more like "garage + 25 million from Sequoia Capital," like Google.
  - missedthecue 5y ago
    Koch industries does over $100B in revenue and has never gone public. Bloomberg is another example.
syshum 5y ago
And the Income Tax originally was only 3% and only applied to less than 1% of the population. The idea that it would apply to everyone, and be 20% was literally laughed out of the debate on implementing a national income tax as a "crazy conspiracy", it took less than 50 years before that crazy conspiracy was reality. There is little reason to believe history will not play out the same, and it will not be long before this expands beyond the evil billionaires you despise soo much to those mom and pop stores you seem to claim love for...
- CamperBob2 5y ago
  But don't forget: the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy!!!11!
CamperBob2 5y ago
Sam Walton says, "Huh?"

There are no mom and pop store billionaires.

by RNCTX 5y ago

There are no mom and pop store billionaires.

It's a principle that we should apply evenly. I also find it hard to believe that this won't grow in scope once implemented.

jonas21 5y ago

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but Walmart started as a mom and pop store, and the Walton family maintains majority ownership to this day.

nicoburns 5y ago
Yes, but Walmart is no longer a mom and pop shop.
RNCTX 5y ago
Walmart didn't go from mom and pop store to national corporation without an IPO. I'm going by wiki data here, which says they had 18 stores and annual revenue of 9 million in 1968. If they had stayed private they were probably clearing a million dollars a year, give or take. To get from there to billions they had to raise outside money, specifically by selling stock and debt to someone else. That is by definition "not owning it anymore" because they're selling (some of) it to raise funding. Like I said, there are no mom and pop billionaires. To get from millionaire to billionaire requires outside money. And yes, that includes tech companies. I know tech founders like to write false hagiographies for themselves after the fact about starting XYZ in a garage, but dig far enough and you usually find it was more like "garage + 25 million from Sequoia Capital," like Google.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  Koch industries does over $100B in revenue and has never gone public. Bloomberg is another example.

syshum 5y ago

And the Income Tax originally was only 3% and only applied to less than 1% of the population. The idea that it would apply to everyone, and be 20% was literally laughed out of the debate on implementing a national income tax as a "crazy conspiracy", it took less than 50 years before that crazy conspiracy was reality. There is little reason to believe history will not play out the same, and it will not be long before this expands beyond the evil billionaires you despise soo much to those mom and pop stores you seem to claim love for...

CamperBob2 5y ago
But don't forget: the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy!!!11!

CamperBob2 5y ago

Sam Walton says, "Huh?"