Most successful among Trump, Watsa, Biglari, Bezos and Musk

[Travis Wiedower]

Big +1 to rkbabang.

 

Also, I must rank integrity as a bigger contributing factor to success than some of y'all. I don't care how much money Biglari or Trump have made, they aren't successful human beings in my book.

[Parsad]

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.

 

Did I say that the smartphone didn't exist before jobs, or did I say that he took the smartphone and made it relevant through design, utility and functionality?  Think of the products that he created that forged the environment we are now in:

 

- The Apple Computer

- The Apple II

- The Mac

- Macbook

- Ipod

- Iphone

- Ipad

- Itunes

- Applepay...yes on Cook's watch, but you knew this was coming and was thought of at Apple long ago.  Not too mention all of the other Apple products, the insane cash flow at the company or the culture created there.  Cheers!

[rkbabang]

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.

 

Did I say that the smartphone didn't exist before jobs, or did I say that he took the smartphone and made it relevant through design, utility and functionality?  Think of the products that he created that forged the environment we are now in:

 

- The Apple Computer

- The Apple II

- The Mac

- Macbook

- Ipod

- Iphone

- Ipad

- Itunes

- Applepay...yes on Cook's watch, but you knew this was coming and was thought of at Apple long ago.  Not too mention all of the other Apple products, the insane cash flow at the company or the culture created there.  Cheers!

 

+1. 

 

Being first to market can get you a first mover advantage, but only if you do it right.  If your product isn't ready for primetime, someone else is going to take the idea and run with it, and it may be them or the 3rd or 4th company to try which gets it right.  Ford didn't invent the automobile, Tesla didn't invent the electric car, Microsoft didn't invent the computer operating system (they didn't even write the first version of MS DOS), the list is endless.  Invention is overrated.  Steve Jobs understood this well.

 

EDIT: It baffles me as to why some people think that a company which ultimately succeeds where all others have failed is somehow less worthy of praise rather than more simply because they weren't the first to try.

 

[arcube]

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.

 

Did I say that the smartphone didn't exist before jobs, or did I say that he took the smartphone and made it relevant through design, utility and functionality?  Think of the products that he created that forged the environment we are now in:

 

- The Apple Computer

- The Apple II

- The Mac

- Macbook

- Ipod

- Iphone

- Ipad

- Itunes

- Applepay...yes on Cook's watch, but you knew this was coming and was thought of at Apple long ago.  Not too mention all of the other Apple products, the insane cash flow at the company or the culture created there.  Cheers!

 

+1. Let's not forget how he changed retail! Also significant influence on what Pixar became. Cheers to you Sanjeev.

[EliG]

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-10-03/searching-for-the-truth-in-trump-s-1995-tax-return

 

As I’ve noted before, I’ve seen Trump’s tax returns -- in conjunction with an unsuccessful libel suit he filed against me in 2006 for my book “TrumpNation.” While I can’t write specifically about what I saw, I can say that the returns would give voters useful and tangible insights into Trump’s actual track record as a businessman, philanthropist and taxpayer.

 

But Trump has chosen not to release his returns. And I doubt he ever will, because they would reveal that the career he boasts so much about is built on sand.

[wachtwoord]

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.

 

Did I say that the smartphone didn't exist before jobs, or did I say that he took the smartphone and made it relevant through design, utility and functionality?  Think of the products that he created that forged the environment we are now in:

 

- The Apple Computer

- The Apple II

- The Mac

- Macbook

- Ipod

- Iphone

- Ipad

- Itunes

- Applepay...yes on Cook's watch, but you knew this was coming and was thought of at Apple long ago.  Not too mention all of the other Apple products, the insane cash flow at the company or the culture created there.  Cheers!

 

I'm not saying he's not a very bright businessman (he is!). I'm just saying he's not an innovator. He took existing things, made then white and shiny, added an i in front of the name and upped the price 40-100%. For some reason he knew people would swallow that crap in large numbers.

 

I personally very much dislike their purposefully isolated and disconnected eco-system and for example they make 3rd party is cables not work on purpose (so they can sell theirs at 1000%+ markup). They also push SW updates that slow old devices so owners replace them (this has been proven). Personally I consider AAPL an unethitcal company as they still consider HW you bought from them theirs and act accordingly. This is all besides the point that I dont consider Jobs to be an innovator of any kind but marketing simply because none of his profucts are new (maybe the smart Watch was, not sure about that one).

[Travis Wiedower]

I'm not saying he's not a very bright businessman (he is!). I'm just saying he's not an innovator. He took existing things, made then white and shiny, added an i in front of the name and upped the price 40-100%. For some reason he knew people would swallow that crap in large numbers.

 

I think there was a little more to it than that! But either way, serious question, who do you consider the most successful businessmen since you think innovation is such a key part of that title? I feel like every super successful businessman that I've ever looked into inevitably "copied" their idea from somewhere else.

 

PS. I'd argue Jobs was an innovator, but we must have different interpretations of that word.

[augustabound]

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.

 

I was thinking the same thing.  ;D

[wachtwoord]

I'm not saying he's not a very bright businessman (he is!). I'm just saying he's not an innovator. He took existing things, made then white and shiny, added an i in front of the name and upped the price 40-100%. For some reason he knew people would swallow that crap in large numbers.

 

I think there was a little more to it than that! But either way, serious question, who do you consider the most successful businessmen since you think innovation is such a key part of that title? I feel like every super successful businessman that I've ever looked into inevitably "copied" their idea from somewhere else.

 

 

Very good point. I feel the others are successful businessmen as well as innovators, while he's only successful in business. I wasn't calling him a failure. Simply overrated (and he's rated very highly in general, so overrated is not as much as an insult as it may appear).

[Parsad]

I'm not saying he's not a very bright businessman (he is!). I'm just saying he's not an innovator. He took existing things, made then white and shiny, added an i in front of the name and upped the price 40-100%. For some reason he knew people would swallow that crap in large numbers.

 

I think there was a little more to it than that! But either way, serious question, who do you consider the most successful businessmen since you think innovation is such a key part of that title? I feel like every super successful businessman that I've ever looked into inevitably "copied" their idea from somewhere else.

 

 

Very good point. I feel the others are successful businessmen as well as innovators, while he's only successful in business. I wasn't calling him a failure. Simply overrated (and he's rated very highly in general, so overrated is not as much as an insult as it may appear).

 

I'm not sure how Musk is any more of an innovator than Jobs.  The electric car existed long before Musk came along...in fact electric cars have been around since the late 1800's!  SpaceX and Solar City aren't new ideas...he's just executing in a different way than others in the past. 

 

Bezos did not invent online retailing...there were many online retailers before Amazon. 

 

Even Bill Gates stole Windows from Jobs' NEXT operating system to forge Windows dominance in the PC OS market.

 

I have a hard time understanding how someone who created arguably the most profitable company in the world today is not innovative when his products are ubiquitous and user-friendly.  Cheers! 

[beerbaron]

I'm not saying he's not a very bright businessman (he is!). I'm just saying he's not an innovator. He took existing things, made then white and shiny, added an i in front of the name and upped the price 40-100%. For some reason he knew people would swallow that crap in large numbers.

 

I think there was a little more to it than that! But either way, serious question, who do you consider the most successful businessmen since you think innovation is such a key part of that title? I feel like every super successful businessman that I've ever looked into inevitably "copied" their idea from somewhere else.

 

 

Very good point. I feel the others are successful businessmen as well as innovators, while he's only successful in business. I wasn't calling him a failure. Simply overrated (and he's rated very highly in general, so overrated is not as much as an insult as it may appear).

 

I'm not sure how Musk is any more of an innovator than Jobs.  The electric car existed long before Musk came along...in fact electric cars have been around since the late 1800's!  SpaceX and Solar City aren't new ideas...he's just executing in a different way than others in the past. 

 

Bezos did not invent online retailing...there were many online retailers before Amazon. 

 

Even Bill Gates stole Windows from Jobs' NEXT operating system to forge Windows dominance in the PC OS market.

 

I have a hard time understanding how someone who created arguably the most profitable company in the world today is not innovative when his products are ubiquitous and user-friendly.  Cheers!

 

Agreed, I recommend reading the Job's Playboy interview from something like 1984. The guy had a vision of what was coming 20 years ahead of time. Just amazing...

 

BeerBaron

[rb]

Yea I think the ideological points here are a bit murky. I don't have a particularly high opinion of Jobs as a person and I'm not that crazy about Apple products. But the fact is that he's done the things he's done and people responded very positively to that. The people have spoken! Who am I to disagree with that? I'm not Don Quijote. The fact is that Jobs did these things and they weren't easy otherwise someone else would have done them.

 

On one hand there are some ideological purists around here. They claim that Jobs didn't do anything because he didn't invent the microchip or the radio or whatever. On the other hand you there are a bunch of dudes who claim that Trump is the greatest being that ever walked the Earth because he's rich. Like he invented leveraged real estate investing while stiffing your shareholders and stakeholders. At the same time they take a shit on Prem cause he's not as rich as Trump (disputable fact) because he was an emigrant not a trust fund baby who slugged it out through thick and thin to build a company larger than Trump's without stealing from his partners.

 

I've had several conversations with Prem and while we didn't touch on wealth levels I got the feeling that the man doesn't give a single flyer whether he's richer or poorer than Trump and if you tried to force him to operate the way Trump does he'd go back to selling air conditioners.

 

 

[EricSchleien]

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.

 

rkbabang - Just look to see who is buying IDB's. That will show you who is the best.

[rkbabang]

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.

 

rkbabang - Just look to see who is buying IDB's. That will show you who is the best.

 

Prem is the expert in India, so he'd be my guess.

[EricSchleien]

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.

 

rkbabang - Just look to see who is buying IDB's. That will show you who is the best.

 

 

Prem is the expert in India, so he'd be my guess.

 

Exactly rkbabang. I wasn't going to say anything because Prem doesn't talk about it in the shareholder letters so figured it could be just something they don't report. Anyway they're still trading at pennies on the dollar. Maybe I should just delete this post so the word doesn't get out. They are very thinly traded.