Being part of a millionaire\u2014or even billionaire\u2014family might sound like a dream. But according to Malcolm Gladwell, extreme wealth can actually rob children of something important: the motivation to succeed on their own.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI would rather have a dad who made $100,000 than have than a billion,\u201d Gladwell said in a 2009 lecture at Microsoft that has recently resurfaced on social media. \u201cI think that having a father with a billion dollars would actually be quite crippling to your motivation, and so that\u2019s an advantage that\u2019s actually a disadvantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Gladwell, who has amassed an estimated $30 million net worth through his work as a journalist, best-selling author, and podcaster, the point isn\u2019t that every child needs to grow up struggling to make ends meet. Rather, there\u2019s a sweet spot between financial hardship and extreme abundance: enough money to provide stability and opportunity, but not so much that a child never has to experience the constraints, disappointments, and work that shape ambition.<\/p>\n
The 62-year-old expanded on that idea in his 2013 book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants<\/em>. In it, he interviewed one of the \u201cmost powerful people in Hollywood,\u201d whom he left unnamed\u2014and the executive made a similar argument.<\/p>\n\u201cMy own instinct is that it\u2019s much harder than anybody believes to bring up kids in a wealthy environment,\u201d the person said. \u201cPeople are ruined by challenged economic lives. But they\u2019re ruined by wealth as well because they lose their ambition and they lose their pride and they lose their sense of self-worth. It\u2019s difficult at both ends of the spectrum. There\u2019s some place in the middle which probably works best of all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paying thousands of dollars for elite education might backfire, according to Gladwell<\/h2>\n
Education more broadly offers another example of how an advantage can become a disadvantage, with Gladwell questioning whether elite schools always provide the educational advantage their price tags suggest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to know on a systematic analysis of why it is the case that you\u2019re better off going to that school than learning how to cope in a far more heterogeneous, rough and tumble public school environment,\u201d he said in the 2009 lecture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond price, he always has argued that success isn\u2019t always determined solely by raw ability. Relative standing matters, too\u2014which means surrounding yourself exclusively with high-achieving peers can sometimes work against you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re interested in succeeding in an educational institution, you never want to be in the bottom half of your class. It\u2019s too hard,\u201d Gladwell said on the Hasan Minhaj Doesn\u2019t Know<\/em> podcast last year. \u201cSo you should go to Harvard if you think you can be in the top quarter of your class at Harvard. That\u2019s fine. But don\u2019t go there if you\u2019re going to be at the bottom of class. Doing STEM? You\u2019re just gonna drop out.\u201d<\/p>\nThere is also evidence that extreme privilege can come with real pressures and pitfalls.<\/p>\n
Columbia University researchers found in a 2005 study that children from upper-class families can exhibit elevated likelihoods of substance use, anxiety, and depression in part thanks to excessive pressures to achieve and isolation from parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American dream spawns widespread beliefs that Ivy League educations and subsequently lucrative careers are critical for children\u2019s long-term happiness,\u201d the researchers wrote. \u201cIn the sometimes single-minded pursuit of these goals, let us not lose sight of the possible costs to mental health and well-being of all concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing up without wealth is often also a major motivator<\/h2>\n
On the opposite end, many business leaders have said coming from humble circumstances became a source of motivation rather than a limitation.<\/p>\n
Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman is one example. She previously told Fortune<\/em> that she grew up \u201cpoor, hungry and determined\u201d in rural Iowa. After getting pregnant as a teenager, she got a job as a floor associate at Target making $8 an hour and began climbing the retail ranks. Last year, she was named CEO of Ulta\u2014the country\u2019s largest beauty retailer with some 1,500 stores.<\/p>\n\u201cBeing really grounded and humble with my beginnings, I wouldn\u2019t change that,\u201d Steelman said.<\/p>\n
Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has similarly credited her upbringing and early struggles with shaping her work ethic. She arrived in the U.S. in the late 1970s to study graduate-level management at Yale University. To pay for her degree, Nooyi worked the midnight-to-5 a.m. shift as a dormitory receptionist before heading to class each morning.<\/p>\n
Looking back, Nooyi said the U.S. offered something that mattered more than an easy path to success: the possibility of creating one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember back in the old days people would say they thought the streets might be paved with gold,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe they weren\u2019t paved with gold, but they were paved with the possibility of ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has similarly argued that learning to endure a little struggle\u2014and developing the ability to work through challenges\u2014is part of what separates successful people from the rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet the suffering come to you a little bit at a time,\u201d Huang said last month at Y Combinator\u2019s Startup School 2026. \u201cDon\u2019t imagine how hard it\u2019s going to be and let all of that turn into anxiety and not doing something about it. You want to imagine in your head, \u2018How hard can it be?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Millionaire #Malcolm #Gladwell #dad #billion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Being part of a millionaire\u2014or… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[431,432,479,1574,1404,2758,2686,3108,4348,3109,4347,4346,4345,642,27,81],"class_list":["post-2237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-authors","tag-billion","tag-billionaires","tag-building-your-career","tag-career-advice","tag-career-development","tag-career-success","tag-colleges-and-universities","tag-dad","tag-education","tag-gladwell","tag-malcolm","tag-millionaire","tag-millionaires","tag-money","tag-wealth"],"yoast_head":"\n
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