- Old Irish Saying
Have you ever though why Bill Gates is wealthier than you? The short answer by Mike Maples is "Bill, is just smarter than anyone else. There are probably more smart people per square foot right here than anywhere else in the world, but Bill is just smarter."
Consider that he made this money in the 22 years or so since Microsoft was founded in 1975. If you presume that he has worked 14 hours a day on every business day of the year since then, that means he's been making money at a staggering half-million dollars per hour, *around $150 per second. Which means that if, on his way into the office, should he see or drop a $500 bill on the ground, it's just not worth his time to bend over and pick it up. He would make more just heading off to work. We're assuming about 4 seconds to bend down and pocket the bill. Of course he can afford to hire people to follow him and pick up any $500 bills he may drop. Not that he would, fortunately he doesn't quite think of his wealth or time this way. When I first calculated this, it was only a $20 bill, and then for some time it was a $100 bill. I remember speaking to him at a conference some years ago thinking, "$31 per second, $31 per second" as we talked. I didn't mention this. More...
He went to Stanford University a week ago for to give a speech for Stanford students. He definitly is one of the smartests...
Mon Apr 29, 2002 (11:51 PM) | Permalink | Keep Reading