Yet somehow people like this manage to employ and fund the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, established an ecosystem of skilled engineers, and deliver products that run huge swathes of the economy. I’m no particular fan of Ellison, but I’ve worked for a billionaire when he made his money, Mo Ibrahim. Just the nicest guy. His technical smarts and business sense helped launch a key stage in my career and I’ll always be grateful. He deserved every penny he made and everyone I know that worked for any of his companies, and his customers, did very well out of his hard work.
How many careers have you supported? How many products did you conceive and design that transformed an industry? How many families were fed and clothed by wages from your companies? I doubt you’ve done as much good for as many people in your whole life as Mo Ibrahim did in a day at the office. Now he’s off working to transform political culture in Africa.
