He still would have been successful without all of those things together, but not at the same level.
You can't do much about your inherited or birth situation, but the extremely successful people I know usually have a very fortunate background and also worked hard to expand their future luck surface so that when outrageous opportunity lightning was looking to strike somewhere, they had an outsized chance to be the spot.
Listening lately news about Bill and he's circles of friends.. I can honestly say I am not surprised why these certain billionaires are never prosecuted of anything..
Microsoft paid hefty fines for its monopolistic behavior...
GP shouldn't insinuate vaguely, IMO.
> A lot of his science breakthroughs went on unknown
I suppose if one's goal is solipsistic research, that would be fine. (We know that wasn't Da Vinci's goal, though.)
To put it a different way, suppose I have solved AGI and never told anyone.
... What good have I done?
Some might say the ability to focus to that extent is a talent too.
I personally think it's all a mix of nature and nurture, and you can't put anything 100% in one category or the other.
> No level of hard work or organization will substitute for talent and opportunity
I find that very doubtful. A certain level of talent is needed, there is no doubt about that. Beyond that level, though, it seems to me that focus and continuous dedication (aka, hard work) in combination with being at the right place with right people at the right time are the most decisive success factors in any endeavour. Bill Gates is the perfect example. He has been working like crazy in his early years, was basically on the job all the time.