Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Bill Gates.... and the Richest Person position!

Check this out! Warren Buffet is the richest person in the world!
Bill Gates was the world's richest man for thirteen straight years! A position that 99.9% of the world dreams of achieving, a single man has held it for 13 years! 13 years ago, I was in primary school still grappling with Math 1 and Math 2(from simple Math), Geography and History(from the simple social studies) changes. Now, when I'm all set to making a mark for myself(ok! a teeny weeny mark, but a mark nonetheless) in the world, here comes a change. I won't say it is mind blowing or something, but I've always taken for granted that he will be the richest man in the world(like the time I took for granted that DRC would get the first rank as long as she was in our class and she did! One of my mom's favorite stories to embarrass me is to say this: Once when she asked why I always got the second or third rank but never the first, I was quoted as saying "DRC is there to get it!". It seems I was so sure about the fact and didn't think anything contradictory would happen... And this was in 8th standard!!) Similarly, it got firmly imprinted in my mind that Gates is the richest person and its still hard to believe that it is not so. But, as my friend put it, this comes only after he took a voluntary step down from Microsoft's CEO post. Had he been going on in the industry with all guns blasting, he would have still held that position. I guess, beyond a point, all this seems meaningless. Ahem to that!

11 comments:

Arun said...

pretty soon with weakening dolalr and strengthening global economy, proportion of billionaires outside US is going to keep increasing.
although imo, i might Bill Gates wudnt like to be identified as the world's richest man(im sure this wud have satisifed his ego for maybe 1st 2 years, not longer). he would rather like to be identified to the pioneer who brought computer to the masses. as always missed hero is paul allen and prasied-not-worthy $%#%# is ballmer.

Arun said...

btw, not sure if u had seen this,
pretty instersting movie to watch. mostly abt beginnings of apple but ms too.
http://www.teenwag.com/playvideo/4294

Alpine Path said...

Arun, yup! Because more than the position, its fame that is more powerful and satisfying to the human ego. And the video is great! How do you think Microsoft would've changed had Paul Allen been there? One of the questions of the cosmos that have no answer.

Vijay Krishna Narayanan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vijay Krishna Narayanan said...

Your post seems to suggest that Mr. Buffet is not a worthy No. 1 on the list of the richest people in the world. Whereas Mr. Gates' impact cannot be questioned, it is sacrilege to even hint at doubting the significance of Oracle of Omaha.

Alpine Path said...

Vijay, I don't say anything against Mr.Buffet. Its only that, I've become so accustomed to Mr.Gates being the world's richest person that I couldn't accept it at first that he no longer held that position. I'm one of the ardent fans of Mr.Buffet and his financial genius :) And wish him all luck to be at that position for years to come!

KB said...

well.. all said and done.. but take a bow for mr.gates. i believe his steppin down threw him off the crown but what the heck - #1 or nomore #1, he still serves as a great source of inspiration for a load of this gen CS freaks!

-Balaji

KB said...

ah! a typo in my last comment..
do a str_replace("crown", "throne") on it :-)

Alpine Path said...

KB, I'm not for or against Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. Its just my observation of the fact. Also, if Bill Gates can give you the inspiration, well and good. There are loads of people for whom Mr.Buffet is the inspiration. Btw, its a typical CS comment :D lol!! Good one!

KB said...

alpZ, easy on it :-)
neither do i wish to turn a "observation" into a contentious debate ( thats left for the management freaks to do it - pun intended ;-) )

Alpine Path said...

KB, good :)