There are two words that separate billionaires from the rest of us (including, perhaps, even millionaires) — abundance and ruthlessness.

Bill Gates made his fortune by a willingness to crush other (and often better) technology via backroom deals, and by revoking existing copyright entitlements through private licensing contracts. He stole Windows from Steve Jobs, who (in conjunction with Bill) got the idea originally from Xerox.

Jeff Bezos made his fortune by a willingness to operate at a loss until competitors were bankrupt, and then jacking the price.

Warren Buffett, ostensibly the most moral of the three, made his money via investments. At one time, investing meant supporting the financial base of a company. Now it means taking advantage of successes and failures of a company to make a profit — with disregard as to how the trade may effect the company.

The other thing these three all had in common, was certainly abundance. Although not resource abundance as you imply. Not even an abundance of intellect or innovation.

They had an abundance of personal resources and an abundance of access. The ability to invest thousands, to play with computers normally outside public availability, to make purchases on a hunch that would be greater than many household’s yearly income at the time.

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TL;DR

Were Bill, Steve, Jeff, and Warren innovators, outside the box thinkers, and (in a few cases) even geniuses?

Yes.

Is this the defining factor that separates billionaires, and millionaires from the rest of us?

It’s painfully obviously not.

Unfortunately, I find continuing to propagate the “Famous Amos” mythos to be disingenuous and naive at best and — at worst — manipulative.