Adam Smith literally hired James Watt, inventor of the eponymous Watt Steam Engine, and created a position for him, at the University of Glasgow. Literally bankrolled the guy who launched the Industrial Revolution.

And ... managed to scarcely mention his invention at all in Wealth of Nations. For a book that's considered to be the foundation of modern economics, he utterly misses the major factor driving growth through the 19th and much of the 20th century: coal-fired steam power. Even today, coal-fired steam (through turbines rather than pistons) drives much electrical generation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt

So? Did James Watt generate more value than he cost?

Kirkcaldy. I grew up there. Not so different from Sunnyvale..

E.g. http://www.xnumber.com/xnumber/microprocessor_history.htm