Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 and stepped down as CEO in 2000. In the intervening 25 years, he built the company into the most profitable firm in human history and grew very, very rich. This is Market Lore Canon: found a successful company, grow rich.
Now, Gates started with a bunch of money - he comes from a wealthy family - but he grew his personal fortune over those years in extraordinary ways, and not by investing it, but rather, by founding a company and working at it.
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