"..The thing to remember about these Tech Billionaires is that they’ve been rich out of touch elites for 20+ years at this point. Unlike say Wall Street types who have an internal cultural political system of power and prestige the Tech “entrepreneurs” sit within individual ecosystems. Like feudal lords they interact solely with people in their own orbits.
A Billionaire Banker for example still has to rub elbows with other Bankers, to stay on top they have to be seen to be on top. They have to have to be seen to hire the newest and smartest. If they’re perceived as out of touch they could be isolated and pushed off.
Tech money doesn’t require that, they’ve become fabulously rich through almost sheer luck. A million other aspiring people tried it but these handful were first to market so they rake in 99% of the profit. Thiel doesn’t have any personal talents that makes him especially suited to run a tech company. He was in the right place at the right time and won the biggest lotto prize ever.
Now he’s had 20 years of being surrounded by sycophants and grifters. Not to mention the money, drugs, etc…
What we need to recognize is these guys are fundamentally morons. The closest they come to self awareness is the preparation they do for the podcast circuit.
People wonder how Warren Buffett stayed so ridiculously successful. It seems obvious to me; he made an effort to stay in touch with reality. Having immense amounts of capital and yet also being relatively normal is a profound enough advantage that it made him one of the best investors of all time.
Thiel, Musk, Ellison, Zuckerberg… they’re all the same. They’ve had the normally steamed out of them by decades of bs.."