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This is completely missing the point of the article. None of them are 'self-made' and statistically probably wouldn't have been successful if their families did

This is completely missing the point of the article. None of them are 'self-made' and statistically probably wouldn't have been successful if their families didn't have money and connections. They didn't succeed because they can do something the rest of us couldn't, they just also had opportunity which is why we shouldn't put them on a pedestal as examples of self-made success and expertise. It's like praising someone for winning the lottery. If someone like Elon Musk started out poor in life he'd probably still be there.

missedthecue 5y ago
It all depends on how you define self made. Traditionally, defining someone as self made means they didn't inherit their fortune. This is how Forbes does it for instance. Today there seems to be a trend of saying that simply if you were born in a society, you're not self made, because after all, you didn't pave your own roads! This is just bizarre to me because everyone has access to roads and other basic functions of society. If someone created a billion dollar fortune in their own lifetime, there's likely some unique and interesting character traits that they have.