Are you suggesting Edison would have invented everything he did if he wasn't allowed to get rich? You chose an extremely funny example if that's what you're trying to say.

Edison was famous for caring about money more than other inventors. One of his most famous quotes was “Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.” The guy helped found some of the largest companies of his era and died as one of the richest men in the world.

> Are you suggesting Edison would have invented everything he did if he wasn't allowed to get rich?

Who said anything about not being allowed to get rich? 10s of millions of dollars is rich by any measure.

So he would have stopped after 10% (random ratio) of his inventions. Or probably not started at all if there was a cap he knows he would reach very quickly.

And even so his net worth was not near billions in today's dollars. Seems like being uber rich isn't necessary to achieve those things.