www.lesswrong.com/posts/a3K9LEW7WZhr2nHMh/status-is-the-game-of-the-losers-brack...
1 correction found
Nobody gets on Forbes’ list of richest people by climbing the hierarchy at a big company. They get on that list by founding a company, inheriting, or both.
This is too absolute. Forbes’ own rankings include Steve Ballmer, who became one of the world’s richest people after joining Microsoft as an employee and rising to CEO, not by founding the company or inheriting it.
Full reasoning
A single clear counterexample is enough to make this universal claim incorrect.
Forbes’ 2025 World’s Billionaires top-200 list includes Steve Ballmer at No. 10. Forbes also describes Ballmer as the former CEO of Microsoft and says he joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30. Microsoft’s own historical page likewise says Bill Gates hired Ballmer in 1980 as the company’s first business manager.
That means Ballmer reached Forbes’ list of richest people without founding Microsoft and without inheriting the fortune. He is therefore a direct contradiction to the statement that nobody gets onto Forbes’ rich lists by climbing the hierarchy at a big company, and to the follow-on claim that such people get there only by founding a company, inheriting, or both.
3 sources
- Forbes World's Billionaires List 2025: The Top 200
Here are the 206 richest people in the world on the 2025 Forbes list... 10. Steve Ballmer | Net worth: $118 Billion ... Steve Ballmer is the high-wattage former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014.
- Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer is the high-energy former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014. He joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30 after dropping out of Stanford's MBA program.
- Steve Ballmer named CEO - Stories
Steve Ballmer became Microsoft's second CEO, succeeding Bill Gates, who hired him in 1980 as the company's first business manager.