“I want to be very wealthy when I grow up”
Dad looked up, bemused, “But why, Ammu?’
“Every year since 1982, Forbes magazine has published a list of the richest Americans.
If we compare the 100 richest people in 1982 to the 100 richest in 2020, we notice some big differences.
In 1982 the most common source of wealth was inheritance. Of the 100 richest people, 60 inherited from an ancestor.
By 2020 the number of heirs had been cut in half, accounting for only 27 of the biggest 100 fortunes.
The reason the percentage of heirs has decreased is not that fewer people are inheriting great fortunes, but that more people are making them.
How are people making these new fortunes? Roughly 3/4 by starting companies and 1/4 by investing. Of the 73 new fortunes in 2020, 56 derive from founders’ or early employees’ equity (52 founders, 2 early employees, and 2 wives of founders), and 17 from managing investment funds.
By 2020 the biggest source of new wealth was what are sometimes called “tech” companies. Of the 73 new fortunes, about 30 derive from such companies. These are particularly common among the richest of the rich: 8 of the top 10 fortunes in 2020 were new fortunes of this type.” – Extract from Paul Graham’s essay, How People Get Rich Now.
Wealth, according to my middle class, government salaried parents meant that it was most probably acquired by dubious means.
And as a culture, aspiration was meant for life’s higher ideals, not baser, material things.
And it was plain greedy to wish for more of something. Something someone has less of.
What technology has driven today though is how wealth creation can be moral.
That founders and organizations can act with integrity, and create true value and impact.
Probably now, if he were around, I could tell him this, ‘You will have always have dubious folks across generations. But you will also have people who do it because more of something can also create value and impact across the world. You can make the pie bigger and do it with integrity that will make you proud. And most importantly, life isn’t a zero-sum game”
*****************************************************************
#reviewswithranjani #technologiesofthefuture
#startups
Paul Graham’s Essay : http://www.paulgraham.com/richnow.html