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Are There Any Tech Billionaires Who Weren't 'Nerds' Growing Up?

5 points by moneyhungry ↗ HN
I’m doing a school research project on tech billionaires for a class, and I have a question. It seems like most successful tech entrepreneurs were into tech or coding from a young age, but I’m curious—are there any who were just regular kids growing up? Maybe ones who weren’t coding at 10 or didn’t grow up as ‘geeks’ but still made it big in tech? I’m looking for examples of people who might have been considered ‘cool’ or ‘normal’ as kids and still became successful in the tech world. Are there any exceptions to the stereotype of the ‘tech geek’?

17 comments

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taeric
I find this a more fun question than I would expect.

It would be like being surprised that a famous athlete was into athletics as a kid. It seems somewhat expected?

That said, I can't help but find myself trying to think of counter examples. To both the successful athlete and the tech person. :D

GianFabien
The Venn Diagram of jocks and nerds in high school has as intersection the null set.
taeric
Add a circle for bullies, sadly...
sandra_vu
look at the story of Evan Spiegel, Snapchat. Also his mentor, Scott Cook.
sargstuff
Not sure if 'strong passion / entrepeneurial drive' would be considered "normal" but:

Jack Dorsey; Richard Branson; Evan Williams

Depends on how 'tech/coding'nerd defined: Michael Dell; Jan Koum; Mark Zuckerberg

jleyank
I would suspect the best (proto) coders end up being employed by the (proto) business people. Internal vs external interests, Woz vs Steve.

The money and the status-in-field really differ, though.

helveticabold48
John McAfee was probably as far away from a nerd as you can get? I could be wrong.
GianFabien
Jeff Bezos ? I believe he worked in finance and saw an opportunity selling books online.
claudiulodro
Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison didn't even get into tech until their 20s, but they definitely were/are not 'cool' or 'normal' people. The tricky part about your question is if you're looking at billionaires, you're not going to find a ton of relatable people.
moneyhungry
Billionaires in real estates, finance etcetera all seem more normal