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doggmapeete t1_je56f9u wrote

Reply to comment by ChronoFish in We're assured that qualifications are essential, but none of the very richest people got their wealth from theirs by pufballcat

There are many examples as you lay out but the vast majority of billionaires came from money. Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg all came from wealthy families. For every Carnegie there dozens if not hundreds of JP Morgans. I think a good metaphor is a bow and arrows. The wealthier your family the better the bow and the more arrows you’re given to shoot a bullseye. Oprah had a busted ass bow and one arrow and somehow managed to hit it. Elon Musk had a fancy bow with dozens of arrows. He could shoot and miss until he made it.

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Realistic_Ad3795 t1_je79gu0 wrote

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html

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doggmapeete t1_je8c4c3 wrote

I read the article and they’re differentiating between inheriting all of your money vs making it yourself. But they’re not talking about the opportunities they were given by having wealthy parents.

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Realistic_Ad3795 t1_jeah4si wrote

Opportunities still need to be converted. And in many cases, the opportunity had little to do with the success. Zuckerberg is a good example of that. I would say Gates, as well.

They might have been well off just on status, but they are billionaires because of what THEY did.

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doggmapeete t1_jeastbc wrote

Gates’ dad was a big finance attorney in Seattle. Definitely opened doors for him and helped get him access to capital.

Yes you need to do the work, but fundamentally you have a lot more room for error and have access to people and opportunities others simply don’t.

Zuckerberg got into Harvard. That set off his Facebook adventure. Would be a billionaire without the Harvard connections? Would he have gone to Harvard without wealthy parents.

I grew up poor surrounded by wealthy people. Now I’m not poor and I see the vast difference in services, opportunities and experiences that my kids have that I didn’t that will ultimately set them up much better than I was.

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