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None of them "invented" the thing that made them rich, but that thing didn't become a worldwide sensation until they did it! Smartphones were built by Nokia an

None of them "invented" the thing that made them rich, but that thing didn't become a worldwide sensation until they did it! Smartphones were built by Nokia and Microsoft in the 2000s. Computers were thing way before MS, but still it needed Bill Gates' genius to make them ubiquitous. EVs were along for 100+ years...Modern EVs were just ridiculous: ugly and small, nobody wanted to buy them. Musk made the EVs sexy and desirable, and mainstream now. There were many many people with money and connections, yet only some changed the world and became billionaires in the process, don't you think that deserves the recognition? I personally don't like either of the people I talked about, but you must give credit where credit is due.

lumost 5y ago
Credit? Sure, they can take 100x the value of the median engineer who worked on the project. Smartphones failed for a bunch of reasons in the 2000s, recognizing the convergence of touch screens, and mobile broadband was pretty smart. It likely would have happened within 6-12 months of when it did, if an engineer/pm failed to convince Steve jobs that the iPhone was a good idea.
- flavius29663 5y ago
  But you see, they provide much bigger value than just 100 engineers put together. All the engineering was already in place for smartphones, yet it didn't happen until Jobs made it so. No amount of regular engineers would have made it happen. No amount of bureocrats either. Packing the idea and selling it, gaining momentum in appstore, needed a revolutionary vision, not a mere 100x person.