Don't get me wrong. I know that there are hard working people out there, the ones who put together a business model and bust their asses through hard work, scrimping every cent in order to make things work. Paul Allen went to a private high school where he met Bill Gates, and his father was an associate director of libraries for the University of Washington ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen). So I'd say there was a little money there.
Michael Dell, however, did it on his own, as I understand things. He busted his ass, and simply had a great idea at a great time. He had the other thing that can make money: a great idea, one that comes along once every 100 years. Sam Walton had that, too. He started with some money. Not a ton, but enough to start up a discount department store in Arkansas, which is still more than I probably have. Nevertheless, he had a great idea, busted his ass, and made it work. No, money isn't all it takes. But it sure as hell helps, as most of the top 10 will tell you. -Ben Pitzer On 9/26/05, Mark Freeze <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Bill Gates was going to Harvard when he dropped out so I think he must > have > had some family cash behind him. I don't think that Paul Allen or Michael > Dell had any big family money backing them. I don't know for Ellison or > the > other guy. The bottom of the top ten are all Waltons. They all inherited > the > money, but the person they inherited it from was (I think) the proverbial > rags-to-riches story. > Regards, > Mark. > > > On 9/25/05, Ben Pitzer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I'm going to jump on this dead horse and start a'whippin, just because > > it's > > Sunday night, I'm bored, and y'all need to know that I still listen > around > > here so you don't start gettin' all mouthy about me. > > > > Anyone ever heard the old adage 'you have to have money to make money'? > I > > think that there's an imporant correlary to be drawn here, and that is > > that > > having money to start with is the best way to make money. > > > > My question about each of these on the top 5 (haven't seen the list > > myself) > > is whether or not they came from wealthy families to begin with. Going > > from > > big bucks to mega bucks doesn't impress me. Going from my salary to big > > bucks does. When you have money, you have connections and/or the ability > > to > > make connections. That means that you are invited into situations that > > allow > > you to make money, and which are much more reliable than those that > people > > such as myself will find. The last time that somebody offered me an > > opportunity to invest my money and make (potentially) millions, it > > involved > > purchasing cleaning products from his online store that he didn't own, > and > > was the marketing brain child of the family that brought us Amway. > > > > So frankly I don't think that having a college education always helps > when > > you already have all the tools you need to be successful, and that is a > > head > > start. > > > > Flame on, > > Ben Pitzer > > > > > > On 9/23/05, Mark Freeze <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Remember the posts we had a couple of weeks ago regarding education & > > > certifications? I was just reading the list of the 10 richest people > in > > > the > > > US and I saw an interesting fact: Out of the top 5, 4 were college > > > dropouts. > > > (The bottom 5 were all from the Wal-Mart family.) > > > I hope everyone has a good weekend, > > > Mark. > > > -- > > > TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > > > TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > > > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ > > > TriLUG PGP Keyring : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc > > > > > -- > > TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > > TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ > > > -- > TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ > -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
