shalab Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Another vote to select the most successful person among other favorites of this board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottHall Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Bezos > Musk >>> Trump >>>>>> Watsa >> Biglari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boilermaker75 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 It was between Musk and Bezos for me. They have both done things that have changed the world. I gave my nod to Musk because I think Tesla and SpaceX could eventually have significantly bigger impacts than AMZN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkbabang Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 It's amazing what politics does to people's minds. Had Trump never run for president there would absolutely be no one voting for him in this poll with this list of choices. Hillary should have been listed, I bet someone would have voted for her over Bezos and Musk as well. Politics really is mass delusionment, it takes over your brain and shuts down its reasoning capabilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardGibbons Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 It's amazing what politics does to people's minds. Had Trump never run for president there would absolutely be no one voting for him in this poll with this list of choices. Hillary should have been listed, I bet someone would have voted for her over Bezos and Musk as well. Politics really is mass delusionment, it takes over your brain and shuts down its reasoning capabilities. Well, I think becoming a major party's nominee for POTUS greatly supports the argument that one has been successful. I was thinking about Scott's ranking, and I think he's got it right. But if Trump hadn't won the nomination, I think I'd put Trump and Watsa on par (because Trump's success in business is questionable and he seems deeply unhappy, and I find it hard to consider anyone who's deeply unhappy to be successful.) Another interesting one to add to the list--in addition to HRC--would be Obama. I think it's tough finding someone that ranks higher than Bezos and Musk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Another interesting one to add to the list--in addition to HRC--would be Obama. I think it's tough finding someone that ranks higher than Bezos and Musk. I'd say Gates is pretty successful. Build huge company. Build huge wealth. Build huge foundation. Help cure disease all over the world. Improve millions of lives. Not bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Wiedower Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I'd say Gates is pretty successful. Build huge company. Build huge wealth. Build huge foundation. Help cure disease all over the world. Improve millions of lives. Not bad. I've said on here before that Gates doesn't get as much respect as he deserves. His foundation is incredible. Whether you define "most successful" by wealth, business success, or lives impacted/improved, he's right up there with anybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I agree with rkbang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardGibbons Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Yeah, Gates should would certainly be in the running for the top of the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalab Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 Surprised Bezos polled as highly as he did and Watsa/Trump as lowly as they did. Looks to me that there is a recency bias as Amazon is crossing 400B in market cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racemize Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Surprised Bezos polled as highly as he did and Watsa/Trump as lowly as they did. Looks to me that there is a recency bias as Amazon is crossing 400B in market cap. Bezos created something that affects virtually every person in the U.S. in a positive way. No one else on the list has really done anything on that level. E.g., I respect Watsa, but he's just doing his investment thing, and that mostly only impacts shareholders. I would also have put Gates ahead of Bezos if I had the choice, echoing some others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalab Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 Bezos has been brilliant with his business model - e-shopping would have happened with/without him. Trump's achievement is not a small one - not very many people qualify to run to be the president of the USA from a major party. In addition, he is a well known businessman and male socialite. Watsa is an iconic figure of Canada and he supports the University of Waterloo as Chancellor. Musk's achievements are ground breaking - he deserves credit for making electric cars main stream, SpaceX and of course hyperloop. He also did paypal. Biglari is the new comer - relatively young compared to Watsa and Trump. He may have a huge impact in due course. Surprised Bezos polled as highly as he did and Watsa/Trump as lowly as they did. Looks to me that there is a recency bias as Amazon is crossing 400B in market cap. Bezos created something that affects virtually every person in the U.S. in a positive way. No one else on the list has really done anything on that level. E.g., I respect Watsa, but he's just doing his investment thing, and that mostly only impacts shareholders. I would also have put Gates ahead of Bezos if I had the choice, echoing some others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkbabang Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 If the poll was Gates, Jobs, Musk, Bezos, I would have a hard time deciding. The other names don't belong on the same list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wachtwoord Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 If the poll was Gates, Jobs, Musk, Bezos, I would have a hard time deciding. The other names don't belong on the same list. Jobs is so overrated. His accomplishment was mainly making a huge marketing machine (while most people believe him to be an innovator, he's not in the slightest). Gates, Musk and Bezos are indeed close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombgrt Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Biglari is the new comer - relatively young compared to Watsa and Trump. He may have a huge impact in due course. You mean a negative impact right? ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Another interesting one to add to the list--in addition to HRC--would be Obama. I think it's tough finding someone that ranks higher than Bezos and Musk. I'd say Gates is pretty successful. Build huge company. Build huge wealth. Build huge foundation. Help cure disease all over the world. Improve millions of lives. Not bad. Without a doubt, Bill Gates would be above all of those guys...and not by a little bit. Sam Walton would even rank higher than all of them! And Prem ranks below Donald Trump...c'mon, you've got to be kidding me. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Bezos has been brilliant with his business model - e-shopping would have happened with/without him. Trump's achievement is not a small one - not very many people qualify to run to be the president of the USA from a major party. In addition, he is a well known businessman and male socialite. Watsa is an iconic figure of Canada and he supports the University of Waterloo as Chancellor. Musk's achievements are ground breaking - he deserves credit for making electric cars main stream, SpaceX and of course hyperloop. He also did paypal. Biglari is the new comer - relatively young compared to Watsa and Trump. He may have a huge impact in due course. Surprised Bezos polled as highly as he did and Watsa/Trump as lowly as they did. Looks to me that there is a recency bias as Amazon is crossing 400B in market cap. Bezos created something that affects virtually every person in the U.S. in a positive way. No one else on the list has really done anything on that level. E.g., I respect Watsa, but he's just doing his investment thing, and that mostly only impacts shareholders. I would also have put Gates ahead of Bezos if I had the choice, echoing some others. Biglari should not even be on the list! If you include Biglari, then you should be including Mohnish or Allan Meecham...both haven't screwed over their partners either...so they would be well ahead of Biglari. Actually Trump and Biglari should be on the same list...not on this one. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 If the poll was Gates, Jobs, Musk, Bezos, I would have a hard time deciding. The other names don't belong on the same list. Jobs is so overrated. His accomplishment was mainly making a huge marketing machine (while most people believe him to be an innovator, he's not in the slightest). Gates, Musk and Bezos are indeed close. The only reason smartphones and tablets are as ubiquitous as they are is because of Jobs. The design, utility and functionality of the iPhone is what forced other manufacturers to step up their game. When I first used the original iPhone, it was light years ahead of the competition...only now, 9 years later have other manufacturers started producing comparable devices...and the best competitor, the Samsung 7, was recalled for exploding and catching fire! Jobs was not an engineer, but he understood design better than one. Today, his company is the most profitable company in the world, with arguably the strongest balance sheet...how over-rated is he again? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wachtwoord Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 If the poll was Gates, Jobs, Musk, Bezos, I would have a hard time deciding. The other names don't belong on the same list. Jobs is so overrated. His accomplishment was mainly making a huge marketing machine (while most people believe him to be an innovator, he's not in the slightest). Gates, Musk and Bezos are indeed close. The only reason smartphones and tablets are as ubiquitous as they are is because of Jobs. The design, utility and functionality of the iPhone is what forced other manufacturers to step up their game. When I first used the original iPhone, it was light years ahead of the competition...only now, 9 years later have other manufacturers started producing comparable devices...and the best competitor, the Samsung 7, was recalled for exploding and catching fire! Jobs was not an engineer, but he understood design better than one. Today, his company is the most profitable company in the world, with arguably the strongest balance sheet...how over-rated is he again? Cheers! Because the above is false. Ipod wasn't new and Iphone wasn't either. Similar devices were on the market years before. With some combination of skill and luck Jobs got people to buy it by the millions. I wonder who will take Google glasses, rebrand it and pretend to be an innovator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfp Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 wachtwoord, can you point me to this iPhone predecessor - the one that apple copied? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinAlberta Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 What are you folks debating? Gates and Jobs are even on the list provided. I'd rate Musk as the most successful as I think he'll go down in history as bringing forth the most inspiring positive changes. The others are closer to those seen as riding this or that technological, political, financial or other trend. Musk has done this too but through considerable more creative innovation. Bezos won't get much credit for 'just being faster off the mark' on retail innovation, even if it could have taken years before someone else saw the opportunity he saw early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wachtwoord Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 wachtwoord, can you point me to this iPhone predecessor - the one that apple copied? See this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTShine Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 As for the Google Glasses, Snapchat Spectacles are one potential copycat/winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballinvarosig Investors Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 I would have thought Biglari was the most successful one out of any of them. With very little money down, he has effectively managed to make a $1bn company his own personal piggy bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkbabang Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Inventing something entirely new that no one wants or is willing to buy does not make you great. Creating a product that millions (billions?) of people want and are willing to buy does make you great. Sorry. That is why patents and copyrights shouldn't exist. Having an idea isn't even close to being all that is needed for a successful product. Ideas are a dime/dozen. The ability to take an idea and execute in a way that changes the world is a rare talent that few possess. I put "Apple stole other companies ideas" in the same category as "Led Zeppelin stole the riffs for all of their popular songs from others". It doesn't matter. They took something that sucked and nobody wanted and made it great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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