They are some of the richest people in the world, but at home they’re just mom and dad. When your parents are tech billionaires life is anything but ordinary, now some offspring of the very rich are finding their own paths to success.
For example, the children of Bill and Melinda Gates say that despite their father co-founding Microsoft they grew up with limited technology. And they’re fine with their parents decision to give most of their fortune to charity instead of trust funds. Now their oldest daughter is a student at Stanford while the others finish high school.
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle says when his children were young his wife instituted weekly chores and gave them an allowance of five dollars a week. Now both are successful film producers with movie titles that include “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Star Trek: Beyond.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is worth more than one hundred billion dollars, says he and his wife use off-season travel, mandarin lessons and sports with neighborhood kids to keep them grounded.
I guess not every spoon has to be silver.
About Brian
CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.
