Richest Americans
I ran into something last night which surprised substantially - Forbes' list of the richest Americans. Not that there was a list - this is the kind of obscure voyeurism that I expect from the American people and media. No, what surprised me was the number of people there which were labeled as being 'self-made'.
The top three were no real surprise - Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Larry Ellison (the head of the #2 software company in the world, and, yes, he's bitter about being #2).
The entries for #4 - #7 were labeled as inherited wealth - the Walton family which owns Wal-Mart, no big surprise there. But these are an aberration. Going down the list you find people reasonably well known in the areas of finance and computer technology, some fo the key founders of Microsoft, Google, and Dell. #18-#21 were one of the inheritors of Fidelity (who will likely take over running the company), and the Mars family - yes, Mars as in the candy bar. The heiress of the Cox communications fortune is in at #28. More are sprinkled in here and there.
But what surprised me is that so many of the these people were self-made. Donald Bren #16 is listed as having "Attended U. of Washington on skiing scholarship; dropped Olympics bid after injury 1956. Joined Marines, then built first house on $10,000 loan 1958." George Kaiser at #24 had an interesting history: "Family fled Nazi Germany 1938, settled in Oklahoma. Parents developed oil and gas operation; took over in 1969." From there he took a small-time operation to being one of the largest energy companies. 2 generations from nothing to something ... something BIG. Philip Knight, who apparently owns a huge chunk of Las Vegas was a cab-driver's son. Dan Duncan at #30 "Cofounded Enterprise Products 1968; met customers' delivery needs with 2 trucks." That's starting from scratch and working your way up.
I had assumed that most of the richest people in America inherited their wealth. I was wrong. It appears that most people who are rich got that way because they managed to provide an important good or service where it was needed. Yes, for a lot of them, luck and timing is what made sure that they were billionaires and not merely millionaires. This should not and can not discount the hard work, vision and determination that went into making the businesses which they now run.
The top three were no real surprise - Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Larry Ellison (the head of the #2 software company in the world, and, yes, he's bitter about being #2).
The entries for #4 - #7 were labeled as inherited wealth - the Walton family which owns Wal-Mart, no big surprise there. But these are an aberration. Going down the list you find people reasonably well known in the areas of finance and computer technology, some fo the key founders of Microsoft, Google, and Dell. #18-#21 were one of the inheritors of Fidelity (who will likely take over running the company), and the Mars family - yes, Mars as in the candy bar. The heiress of the Cox communications fortune is in at #28. More are sprinkled in here and there.
But what surprised me is that so many of the these people were self-made. Donald Bren #16 is listed as having "Attended U. of Washington on skiing scholarship; dropped Olympics bid after injury 1956. Joined Marines, then built first house on $10,000 loan 1958." George Kaiser at #24 had an interesting history: "Family fled Nazi Germany 1938, settled in Oklahoma. Parents developed oil and gas operation; took over in 1969." From there he took a small-time operation to being one of the largest energy companies. 2 generations from nothing to something ... something BIG. Philip Knight, who apparently owns a huge chunk of Las Vegas was a cab-driver's son. Dan Duncan at #30 "Cofounded Enterprise Products 1968; met customers' delivery needs with 2 trucks." That's starting from scratch and working your way up.
I had assumed that most of the richest people in America inherited their wealth. I was wrong. It appears that most people who are rich got that way because they managed to provide an important good or service where it was needed. Yes, for a lot of them, luck and timing is what made sure that they were billionaires and not merely millionaires. This should not and can not discount the hard work, vision and determination that went into making the businesses which they now run.