Viral Twitter Thread Shows How Billionaires Really Got Their Start
We hear a lot of rags to riches stories in America and we’re supposed to look at people who are self-made and use them as examples for inspiration in our own lives.
But a man named Aidan Smith took to Twitter to try to dispel the myths about how some billionaires really got started in their respective businesses.
Smith started by laying out the truth about how Jeff Bezos started Amazon and he called the accepted version of events “cute propaganda.”
And he went on to talk about how Bill Gates and how he wasn’t really just a “normal guy who dropped out of college.”
You can find this in the backstory of almost every billionaire. The story of Bill Gates is told as if he was a normal guy who dropped out of college to pursue his dream when in reality his mom Mary Gates, the president of United Way, convinced IBM to hire Microsoft to build an OS pic.twitter.com/OOX1ELjMLb
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
Smith admits that Gates is a talented person but the wealth and connections of his parents are what really helped him get his big break.
Gates is a talented individual but his career break wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t the child of wealthy, well-connected parents who were able to convince IBM to hire the-then obscure Microsoft to build an OS. He likely wouldn’t be a billionaire if he was born working-class.
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
And then Smith moved on to billionaire Warren Buffet and the exaggerations about his background.
The tale of Warren Buffett is told as if he was a scrappy upstart living in a lower-middle class suburban home in Omaha who had a knack for investing. In reality his dad was a congressman (and Bob Taft’s campaign manager!) and, uh… pic.twitter.com/GmjyMCKYlU
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
One person who read Smith’s Twitter thread added this observation.
Being from a wealthy family allows you to take risks from a young age without penalty.
— david marden (@marden_david) July 7, 2020
And Smith continued on his topic and talked about the elite school that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg went to.
Even if you’re not born to mega-celebrities it really can’t be stressed enough how much a leg up children of the wealthy get even indirectly. Mark Zuckeberg’s wealthy parents sent him to Phillips Exeter Academy (tuition: almost $57,000 for boarding)…
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
And then he talked about how developer David Newman was privileged enough to have a private tutor in computer science before he attended college and talked about how Newman and Zuckerberg likely wouldn’t have had certain opportunities if they were from working-class families.
He added that there is “no fair playing field.”
…and got software developer David Newman to give him private tutoring in computer science before he even entered college. Zuckerberg, is, like others mentioned, an intelligent individual in his own right, but if he was born into a working-class family he simply…
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
…wouldn’t have had the same opportunities as he did. Remember: People took such an interest in Zuckerberg to begin with because he already entered college with the reputation as…
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
a computing prodigy, which, again, couldn’t have happened if his parents didn’t hire a software developer to tutor him. The benefits of having wealthy parents, even if they don’t give you a 1/4 million as Bezos’s did, can’t be underestimated. There is no fair playing field.
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
And then he set his sights on Kylie Jenner.
People laugh when Kylie Jenner is described as a “self-made billionaire” as if she doesn’t come from one of the wealthiest/best-known families on Earth, but really, it’s no more absurd then describing Gates’/Bezos’ wealth as being a “self-made” product of meritocracy.
— Aidan Smith (@aidan_smx) July 6, 2020
Here’s what other people had to say on Twitter.
This person said entrepreneurship is all about family money and connections.
I repeat the #1 SECRET to Successful Entreprenuership is
-Family MONEY and CONNECTIONS https://t.co/NlkEc1z56T— FortWorthPlayboy (@FWPlayboy) July 8, 2020
And this reader had a good point…
Just like when we wait for every single, “This 20-30 year old has no debt and a 6 figure salary,” story to tell us that their family connections and inherited wealth made it possible. https://t.co/PJxJ1B2Vs6
— Brian Gray 🪩🥂💖 (@urbanbohemian) August 7, 2021
Another person said that the money needed to start these kinds of businesses is unavailable to 99% of the population.
the whole value of “started in a garage” is that “anyone can do it!” meritocracy bullshit. Dude needed a cash infusion unavailable to 99% of the planet to succeed and we’re supposed to act like it’s something anyone can do which is horse shit.
— terrible opinions haver (@daemonite) July 6, 2020
And another Twitter user shared a quote from the great George Carlin that just about sums it up.
“It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it” –George Carlin https://t.co/HaMXCWJh5C
— Fularsız Entellik 🐵 Immanuel Tolstoyevski (@imTolstoyevski) July 8, 2020
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