Saturday, December 4, 2010

Rich People Who Don't Suck

People with money who unlike most of their peers, have added value to our species and so give us a fighting chance to survive.

That's right, it's not all about country clubs and yacht clubs and who can screw the poor and middle class and each other on Wall Street more with these guys.

These people matter. Thank you, gents.

Here are the 8 members of  the Inaugural class, in alphabetical order, and I'm open to others with better knowledge in other fields than those that interest me, to add more.

Paul Allen


Robert Bigelow



Richard Branson


Melinda Gates - nominated by Phil Warnell of Toronto


Dean Kamen



Mike Lazaridis



Gordon Moore




Elon Musk


James Harris Simons


Steve Wozniak

10 comments:

Phil Warnell said...

Hi Steve,

Not to be considered so much of a suggestion, yet rather a question, as to as why you would have included Paul Allen in the club and not Bill Gates; that is especially in light of his current ongoing philanthropic projects and efforts.

“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”

-Groucho Marx

"In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."

-Albert Einstein

Steven Colyer said...

Then we'll put Melinda Gates in because she started the foundation, and I have questions about Bill's behavior. I also question where the money is going.

Mostly Allen is a hero because halfway to Arizona on the original sales call to sell MS-DOS, Allen realized they had no source code for their program, and Allen wrote it right then. Gates should have noted that, but he didn't. Paul Allen saved Microsoft right at the beginning. And that doesn't suck.

Actually, Gates' father, William Gates Sr. should make it too, because I bet it was his idea to lease not sell MS-DOS to IBM, clearly the best business decision in history (and worst for IBM). Not sure what Senior does with his money however, and I'm loathe to put any lawyer on this list.

Steven Colyer said...

Added Melinda.

Phil Warnell said...

Hi Steve,

” Added Melinda”

Thanks so much for including her and you are probably right as she most likely serving as Bill’s inspiration. Oh what a dreary place it would be without the presence of woman. I’ve often wondered about the opposite as from the woman’s perspective, only to once again finding them having a greater capacity for tolerance and compassion :-)

Best,

Phil

Steven Colyer said...

Well, they're a lovely couple aren't they? I totally agree on your thoughts re women. You and I are of a generation where for the first time since pre-historical times, women have started to achieve gender equality (previously achieved in Soviet and Israeli military), and are close. Granted there are many parts of the world where this is still untrue (clitorectomies in some parts of Africa, Arab countries under strict Islamic Law, kitchen fires in some parts of India, women being forced to subject sexually at the husband's whim thanks to a single Bible verse in Bible-belt America, etc.), I was thinking more in terms of the enlightened parts of the West.

And Sparta! Let's not forget them, but of course there's the whole 90% were slaves thing, so no culture is perfect.

For this I give nearly full credit to the mother of Rutgers high energy Physicist Dan Friedan's mother: Betty Friedan, and the publication of The Feminine Mystique in 1962 or 3. It changed everything, though there are still many loose ends to tie up. Work never ends. :-)

Steven Colyer said...

Added Jim Simons. C'mon folks, there have to be more than 9 people in this category.

Steven Colyer said...

Added Robert Bigelow. I'm looking to add more. Anyone care to help?

Gail Dodona said...
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Gail Dodona said...
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Steven Colyer said...

Should add Tom Steyer and Nick Hannauer to this list.