Recently, I sat in several meetings with investment bankers who were eagerly pitching for our company's business. There was a lot of laughter in the room and after a while I began to feel I was an uncommonly humorous and well-liked person. Of course, what I was hearing was the mechanized, sycophantic laughter of the salesman. Billionaires get this all day long from everyone they talk to. The accumulation of one billion dollars is rarely accomplished without some talent, but it also involves a good deal of luck.
Humans being what they are, a humble billionaire is almost unknown on earth.
Billionaires tend to stop believing that the rules apply to them and start to think that they can do anything they want. Bill Gates is another example. This man, who was probably a somewhat nerdy, easy-going and friendly guy as a programmer, is a rapacious general today, rolling over the competition. That's what the money does. Billionaires don't acquire good habits for democratic leadership.