I can't place the reference now, but I've read that Gates studied the lives of the big industrial titans - Carnegie, Rockefeller, Alfred Sloan at GM. He clearl

I can't place the reference now, but I've read that Gates studied the lives of the big industrial titans - Carnegie, Rockefeller, Alfred Sloan at GM. He clearly found advice on building empires... but he also, I believe consciously, emulated the charitable aspects of their lives. I think he's a Buffett fan because they share an admiration of the earlier generation of American titans.