Image via WikipediaArthur Marx wrote a number of books about joys or otherwise of being the son of a celebrity and a rich celebrity at that. His Father, Groucho, could remember all too well the days in his youth and the early struggles of the Marx Brothers as they started in vaudeville. Of course, Arthur had a very different start in life but it is not easy when the rich parents hold the purse strings. It is not easy for the parents either – when to be generous and when to be kind.
It reminds me of the stories told by some of the founders of Benchmark. They rationalised their ambition by having a “grudge” against the rich kids at college and of course, now they are seriously rich and have “produced” a generation of seriously rich kids. People in the CambridgeCluster have the same problem. So is it better to be the kid of a very successful parent or to make your own way?
Interestingly, Arthur Marx has another twist to his life in that he fell in love with his wife’s brother’s wife before they married but the feelings never went away and they ended up setting up home together. A tough time for the spouse and kids.
But these things happen. The other day, I met a friend sitting by the Cam with a lovely lady. They had met when they were late teanagers but the girl’s father was suspicious of the boy from the USA. Twenty years later they met again and are now together. Nothing so strange as life as they say!
It is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world to build and start a busines but it does bring challenges. I wonder what stories are behind the few billionaire and over 10,000 millionaires created by Microsoft.
