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Comment by gizi | Hacker News Reader

Google and Facebook are factor-11 dollar values (11-zero decimals, aka, hundreds of billions of dollars). The typical programmer will make a 6-zero revenue in his life time. You can create 11-digit value, only if you pick the subject by yourself. A non-programmer has never in history been able to pick an 11-digit subject. Only programmers can create half a trillion dollars in value.

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> A non-programmer has never in history been able to pick an 11-digit subject.

Yeah, no:

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

To add on to that:

> By the time Rockefeller died in 1937, his assets equaled 1.5% of America's total economic output. To control an equivalent share today would require a net worth of about $340 billion dollars, more than four times that of Bill Gates, currently the world's richest man.

Yeah, piling on: While some tech companies have huge market caps, there are plenty of non-tech companies above the $100B mark. Current top ten includes Exxon Mobil, Berkshire Hathaway, Petro China, Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson, ICBC, and Novartis alongside Apple, Google, and Microsoft. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_corporations_by...)

That was before the year 2000. Ever since, you will no longer get above the $100B unless you are a programmer. Non-programmers no longer stand a chance. You need to eat, sleep, and breathe technology these days. We will soon see the very last non-technology billionaire. Of course, it is a matter of principle for programmers not to turn any non-programmer into a billionaire by doing all the hard work for him. Let him do it instead!

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