Home » US business news » The shockingly ruthless behavior of world’s billionaires
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/usa/us-business-news/steve-jobs-bill-gates-and-elon-musk-the-shockingly-ruthless-behavior-of-worlds-billionaires
The most successful people have an incredible drive many other people lack.
Some say it's an addiction to success that drives them towards more milestones and mega-wealth the rest of us can't even imagine.
What comes with this drive is a sense of complete and total ruthlessness.
A lot of household names have behaved in very dubious ways to ensure their personal success and that of their business.
READ MORE: DUBIOUS TRICKS AND SECRETS BUSINESSES DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW
Everyone has heard of him.
He's the man who made the world's most extensive communication app, Facebook, from his Harvard room.
But when you look at the success of Facebook, it's not all about Zuckerberg.
In an example of the ruthlessness the elites of business have, Zuckerberg was clever enough to work out how to make money from the idea.
He stole the idea from two brothers and publicized it as his own.
He has never denied the allegations and says he was more innovative in enhancing this idea, which can be seen as unethical.
Unfortunately, he took the credit - and the cash - and not many people can even name the brothers who helped come up with the idea.
He told CNN:
"If you count the time I'm in the office, it's probably no more than 50-60 hours a week.
"But if you count all the time I'm focused on our mission, that's basically my whole life."
"I take a lot of time just to read and think about things by myself."
Apple creator Steve Jobs is regarded as being a genius.
However, he's had to stoop low to ensure his own success, leading to people working with him to call him "the Devil's advocate."
As a developer for Atari in the 1970s, the deadline was fast approaching for the game "Breakout."
He brought in another man to help.
That man was Steve Wozniak.
The two worked day and night to finish the game, and Jobs gave Wozniak half the $700 fee he was paid by the company.
It turned out he was paid $5,000.
This led to a rift between the two as Wozniak was shocked at how Jobs could betray him in that way.
However, they patched things up fairly quickly as the two started Apple together in 1976.
Looking to boost your online brand? Create your FREE business profile atWhatBiz? Here
This man gave us the fast food we know and love, McDonald's, but he is considered a thief.
He stole McDonald's from the actual owners, two brothers, and deliberately breached the contract he signed with them.
He claimed McDonald's was his restaurant and filed a lawsuit.
However, the brothers were not financially strong enough to fight a lawsuit against the company, so they had no choice but to surrender their rights and sell them at a discount.
An alleged agreement was made to give the brothers one percent of sales.
This case is known worldwide, and you can find a movie called The Founder.
The brothers genuinely cared about authenticity, such as adding natural milk to milkshakes.
Whereas Ray believed milk was an extra expense the company didn't need, he swapped it out for powdered milk.
Bill Gates' success story is admired by all, but he has some dark secrets in his success story.
He is unbelievably wealthy, with his assets worth roughly $79 billion.
He's carried the title of "world's wealthiest individual" for 16 of the last 21 years.
But he has had to get his hands dirty on occasion to achieve this success.
For example, he tried to renegotiate his business partnership with co-founder Paul Allen while he was battling cancer, thinking he wouldn't survive.
Gates also pushed Apple into selling him the Macintosh for $1, threatening to stop producing software for the machine, only to stop the project.
There are numerous stories about Microsoft close to buying a company, gaining access to their source code, and then canceling the deal only to produce almost identical apps afterward.
Bill Gates stole many ideas from entrepreneurs and sold them as his own.
Steve Jobs stole the mouse concept from Xerox, and Bill then stole it from him.
Paul Allen's memoir "Idea Man" exposed many stories about Bill Gates: "Gates loved to stay up all night working. One time, a new secretary came in on Monday morning to find him sprawled out on the floor.
"She thought he was unconscious, but he'd just been up all weekend and was taking a quick catnap."
Need Career Advice? Get employment skills advice at all levels of your career
Musk is another successful entrepreneur who has changed the definition of success.
He has given us PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, which we are thankful for.
Unfortunately, he is a power junkie and always needs to be the leader.
Musk is the true definition of power and an alpha male.
He allegedly told his wife on their wedding night, "He is going to be the charge of this relationship," revealed by his wife in her book. He always chose power and rules over his workers and wanted everyone in the office to work precisely as he wanted them to.
His alleged dark story is not confirmed, but rumors say that Mary Beth Brown, an assistant to Musk, worked with him since the beginning of SpaceX, was treated particularly badly.
She was a hard-working member of staff, who asked Musk for a raise.
Musk is said to have then told her to take some time off for a holiday.
When she returned, she was allegedly fired, with Musk saying everything ran smoothly without her.
Follow us on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook
