March 25,
2025
Modern Entrepreneurs
Many still hold onto the image of the 19th-century wealthy landowner who produced nothing and whose wealth came from his lands—that is, from a portion of what farmers produced.
The modern entrepreneur, however, is someone who enables the masses to access the products of progress. Ford and Agnelli did not invent automobiles, but they made them available to an ever-growing number of people. Likewise, Musk has not invented anything new, but he has ensured that everyone can benefit from technological products.
Their wealth (not to be confused with income) is not simply their bank account balance (which might even be in the red), but rather the fact that they have built and control large enterprises that generate prosperity and employment for all. Large industrial companies (like FIAT in the past) do not truly belong to the owner who manages them, but to the entire nation.