"I gave all my Apple wealth away because wealth and power are not what I live for. I have a lot of fun and happiness. I funded a lot of important museums and arts groups in San Jose, the city of my birth, and they named a street after me for being good. I now speak publicly and have risen to the top. I have no idea how much I have but after speaking for 20 years it might be $10M plus a couple of homes. I never look for any type of tax dodge. I earn money from my labor and pay something like 55% combined tax on it. I am the happiest person ever. Life to me was never about accomplishment, but about Happiness, which is Smiles minus Frowns. I developed these philosophies when I was 18-20 years old and I never sold out."
One of the joys of vast wealth and success is living your own life without anyone else telling you what to do. So from that sense, good on Woz. Money doesn't lead to happiness and if he wants happiness then his money wasn't the place to look.
That being said, what he is literally saying there is he made all his money young then coasted. I actually doubt that is what he did since he seems like one of those people who doesn't sit still, but the quote doesn't paint him in a great light. In simple terms, if good people don't take responsibility for deploying capital effectively, only bad people will make important decisions. There is no pride to be had in handing over large amount of money to a system that is, ultimately, controlled by the likes of Biden and Trump while upholding a teenage naivete that was buffered through life by vast wealth. Bill Gates sold out - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundat....
What part of earning your money, paying taxes, and giving to your own community doesn't paint him in a good light?
This is a quote from Woz who I think, clearly, has chosen a different path than Mr. Gates, whatever you think of him.
I know for a fact that Woz benefits San Jose because he was the key donor for the Children's Discovery Museum. I gave a tiny bit myself to get a "brick" when I worked at IBM because that museum in Los Angeles had inspired me as a child (and IBM matched my donation 100%). You needed a map to find my brick but Steve's was the entire back wall of the entrance.
> That being said, what he is literally saying there is he made all his money young then coasted. I actually doubt that is what he did since he seems like one of those people who doesn't sit still, but the quote doesn't paint him in a great light.
He comes off as an active person who enjoys what he does too much to consider his work labor.
"I gave all my Apple wealth away because wealth and power are not what I live for. I have a lot of fun and happiness. I funded a lot of important museums and arts groups in San Jose, the city of my birth, and they named a street after me for being good. I now speak publicly and have risen to the top. I have no idea how much I have but after speaking for 20 years it might be $10M plus a couple of homes. I never look for any type of tax dodge. I earn money from my labor and pay something like 55% combined tax on it. I am the happiest person ever. Life to me was never about accomplishment, but about Happiness, which is Smiles minus Frowns. I developed these philosophies when I was 18-20 years old and I never sold out."