Self-made wealth in America Robber barons and silicon sultans Today’s tech billionaires have a lot in common with a previous generation of capitalist titans—perhaps too much for their own good In the 50 years between the end of the American civil war in 1865 and the outbreak of the first world war in 1914, a group of entrepreneurs spearheaded America’s transformation from an agricultural into an industrial society, built gigantic business empires and amassed huge fortunes. In 1848 John J. Astor, a merchant trader, was America’s richest man with $20m (now $545m). By the time the United States entered the first world war, John D. Rockefeller had become its first billionaire. In the 50 years since Data General introduced the first mini-computers in the late 1960s, a group of entrepreneurs have spearheaded the transformation of an industrial age into an information society, built gigantic business empires and acquired huge fortunes. When he died in 1992, Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, was probably America’s richest man with $8 billion. Today Bill Gates occupies that position with $82.3 billion. The first group is now known as the robber barons. The second lot—call them the silicon sultans—could face a similar fate. continua qui: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21637338-todays-tech-billionaires-hav... -- Alessandro Mantelero Aggregate Professor, Politecnico di Torino Director of Privacy and Faculty Fellow, Nexa Center for Internet and Society http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero