this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2024
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Communism

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Truth be told, Jeff's (Bezos) parents put mortgage on their house to invest in their sons business. Kind of far from rich parents in position or owning a mine.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And with the monopoly Amazon now owns, good luck following in those footsteps!

[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago (1 children)

One of the big factors for both Amazon and Microsoft was their timing in the market. They both got in at seemingly the ideal time to explode with the technology.

If either guy had come around a few years later with the exact same product/service, there would have been a lot more competition already in development.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

They would have been bought out by one of them

[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago

That kind of opportunity is still unavailable to the vast majority of people, though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And Buffett's dad was just a representative from Nebraska. If a representative from Nebraska passed you on the street, you wouldn't recognize him.

His dad "ran an investment company" in Omaha Nebraska, not NYC. It obviously helped Warren at the beginning, but he also learned how to invest from one of the best teachers ever.

These are just good reasons to help out your kids.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Well, some of them claim they are "self-made" billionaires. Some have the right, other don't.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Nobody has the right to call themselves a "self-made billionaire". Those simply don't exist, every billionaire got help and exploited others to become a billionaire.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago
[–] [email protected] 36 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And don't forget the great Donald. He only received 1 million dollars from his father to build his company. And just look how he pulled himself up! Truly inspiring. Much wow.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

I mean, he couldn't talk about all the money that was snuck over to him to avoid inheritance taxes even if he wanted to for legal reasons (which I'm sure he totally wouldn't lie about).

[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's a lot more than just money that made their companies.

Anyone can get 300k or something, and would probably be left with a million dollar debt afterwards.

All these people had contacts, ie they knew many different people that helped them reach where they are now. Bezos knew the ceo of one of those huge book stores, and that's how he was able to sell books at such a lower price at the start.

That's what I read, anyway.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You're right. In theory I could have no money and an idea and if I knew someone who...

  1. Liked me
  2. Liked my idea

...it is absolutely possible they would go in to fund said idea. The problem here is that people with money and clout tend to only spend time in circles with others of their kind.

For the rest of us it's back to scraps.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Yep hence why most Harvard grads or people in ivy league schools often become more successful

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Having those contacts doesn't just happen, though

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

For sure, bezos was already a high up in some banking company or something

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

the concept of a billionaire being 'self-made' is irrelevant when they only did it through labour exploitation and barely legal practices. im sure most people in this community know this, but its worth reiterating

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Basically they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Pulled themselves up by their parents' money

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

So inspiring!

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I get the message but who ever said they were self made?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

their fanboys