On 5/8/2016 10:53 AM, alister wrote:
On Mon, 09 May 2016 03:12:14 +1000, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
On Sun, 8 May 2016 08:21 pm, Cai Gengyang wrote:
If one looks at the Forbes List, you will see that there are 4
programmers amongst the top ten richest people in the world (Bill
Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Jeff Bezos) , a very large
percentage. Science and Technology is in a sense the most egalitarian
field in the world, because it involves using your brains and
creativity. You don't need to have a father who is a director at
Goldman Sachs or a mother who is the admissions officer at Harvard to
succeed in this line.
Bill Gates III's father was a prominent lawyer, his mother was on the
board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and United Way, and
one of his grandfathers was a national bank president. Gates himself
went to Harvard.
Zuckerberg's paternal grandparents were successful middle class,
described as being the first on the block to own a colour TV. (This was
back in the days when colour TVs were an expensive toy that few could
afford.) His parents were also very successful professionals: a dentist
and a psychiatrist. And he too went to Harvard. Despite the jeans and
tee-shirts Zuckerberg is known for wearing, he's firmly from the
professional/upper class.
Bezos comes from a family of land-holders from Texas. His grandfather
was regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and was
financially successful enough to retire at an early age. He didn't go to
Harvard, but he did go to Princeton.
Ellison is the son of an unwed mother who gave him up for adoption by
her aunt and uncle, comfortably middle-class. That makes him the closest
out of the group as a "regular guy".
And at least 2 of the above reached their position using business
practices that could be described as less than 100% honorable & above
board.
What do you expect from people who haven't graduated from Harvard? :P
Thank you,
Chris R.
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