It is a well versed adage in my family, my father probably lifted the saying from somewhere, that it is not news until you read it. I just read the Friday USA Today and they had a story about the Forbes 400. The writer made a big part of the story that 270 of the 400 are self made men. It then mentions as persons who were self made, Sheldon Adelson the son of poor immigrants and the Google boys. The next name shocked me: Bill Gates.
I guess the writer did not research their story very well. I remembered from reading the Gates biography like 10 years ago that his father was a big shot lawyer in Seattle. So I begin my research on wikapedia. The first two sentences are provided below.
William Henry Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington to William H. Gates, Jr. (now Sr.) and Mary Maxwell Gates. His family was wealthy; his father was a prominent lawyer, his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate Bank and the United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a national bank president.
Sounds like a real Horatio Alger story to me. I now remember the story were Bill put himself through Harvard by sweeping floors and cleaning toilets and working nights at Dunkin Donuts.
Big H
P.S. This story is not intended to be a slam on Bill Gates. Mr. Gates may be the worlds greatest philanthropist and I salute his efforts to held rid the world of childhood diseases.
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