>Out of all of the examples of "Wealth begets Wealth" the Gates are probably the worst one I can think off.

On his Reddit ama he himself said that his upbringing contributed a lot to his success.

Also this doesn't say more about US but more about confidence and ' smoke and mirrors show' while starting out.

Of course his up bringing contributed to his success but that doesn’t mean it was the money. His parents were exceptionally successful and not just financially this can have a huge impact on the value system of the child especially if the parents are involved in education and parenting which in Bill’s case they were.

I mean Bill went to an exclusive private school (last year ranked 6th in the US) where he met Paul Allen and Ric Weiland. And all three had the opportunity to play around with a computer long before someone not of their means would be able to. I think we can pretty confidently say that Bill Gates would not have been 'Bill Gates' had he not been able to afford Lakeside.

No but Lakeside is also affordable to upper middle class today, and likely was even more affordable back then.

Don't get me wrong no one is arguing that money doesn't affect your future of course it does but it's only one factor and a factor with a lot of diminishing returns.

I don't personally see that Bill got where he did due to some exceptional wealth both because I don't consider the Gates pre-Microsoft exceptionally wealthy by US standards and that wealth can only grant you opportunities.

Considering who his parents were in terms of their achievements I'm also not so sure we can claim that Bill Gates without Lakeside would've not have been 'Bill Gates' sure it's nearly impossible to estimate the effect of each individual moment in ones life but if we take it on a macro level I think the character of his parents influenced him considerably more than their wealth.

To make my point even clearer at some point say magically $250,000 a year I don't think wealth is a factor in your success unless you completely inherit it (e.g. inheriting a business). At the point when you can live in a good and stable home, receive good education and discipline both at school and at home money isn't going to be the deciding factor in your success if it's your success.

There is a major difference between a good school and private school with all rich connections. (Especially at this high level.)

It is also true that having money makes it much easier to be more involved in your child’s life.