The need for super-rich visionaries

Personalities such as Elon Musk and big-tech founders are on the frontlines. The infrastructure, communication and disruptive technologies they create are revolutionizing the economy and society. Although in general beneficial and exciting, the developments also create envy and anxieties.

Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon and publishes The Washington Post, is also reaching for the stars with his Blue Origin space company. Working with NASA, his team is developing massive rockets as part of the Artemis program to inhabit the moon. The company suffered a setback at Cape Canaveral last week when its massive New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad. But failures are part of progress and he will continue.

This is a time when the media, special interest groups and NGOs put super-rich visionaries under pressure. They ignore the huge input in time, creativity and risk-taking and are envious about profits. We should try to be realistic, respect them and understand the need for such individuals.

Visionaries have great ideas and can motivate inventors, technicians, specialists and others to do the necessary work to drive positive developments. Many fail. However, those who succeed should be rewarded as they continue with innovations. This has always been the case; positive developments are rarely the result of government or broader society. In free societies, it is rightfully understood that such advancements should not be the role of the government.

The real backers of progress are the risk-taking personalities, visionaries and especially entrepreneurs who build the backbone of any successful economy.

 

In dictatorships, visionary leaders have existed, or the survival of the system required the enforcement of certain foresight. However, they were not necessarily beneficial for society, nor sustainable.

The advantage in free societies is that a visionary super-rich person has the means to eventually finance the innovation, and they can mobilize public money and other investors. Successful new breakthrough developments typically need a long runway. They do not become profitable right away and therefore require capital perseverance.

Good money − not in the amount generated by the tech giants now or the railway tycoons and the Rockefellers with oil in the past − can be made in the short term, but this is normally not through breakthrough technologies, rather it is thanks to ideas that are attractive to consumers, like Facebook.

The real backers of progress are the risk-taking personalities, visionaries and especially entrepreneurs who build the backbone of any successful economy. The United States offers an ecosystem for breakthrough visionaries. Entrepreneurial spirit, deep capital markets and public interest in technological and scientific leadership build the necessary framework.

Visionaries then and now

For centuries, the role and responsibilities of rich visionaries have been important. Since before the industrial revolution until now, prominent personalities like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos have been revolutionizing retail markets and technological development.

In the 18th century, the Habsburg-Austrian empire − then the strongest power in Europe − was protecting the continent against a still-aggressive Ottoman Empire, a newly assertive Russian Empire and the developing Prussian military state. It was crucial to have an effective war power.

Then Prince Josef Wenzel of Liechtenstein was economically very successful because the family had developed new measures in agriculture and manufacturing, and so was one of the richest individuals in Europe. He saw that if Austria wanted to play its role, it would need a breakthrough in modern, scientifically based artillery. He created a project and financed it. Austria had an unsurpassed artillery. He also had the necessary contact with the public services, especially the empress, who incorporated the systems developed into the Austrian military. Without this new technology − of which ballistics was a key breakthrough – being used in other disciplines, Europe would have looked different.

The history of industrialization was similar. Without visionaries in the 19th century in the United Kingdom, the U.S., Germany and other countries, progress in railways, electricity, chemistry and automotive technologies would not have taken place. Thanks to this work, people in Europe and North America can now live in a way that, 100 years ago, was possible only for the most affluent.

Delivering breakthroughs

We are now entering an entirely new phase with personalities like Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and especially Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos changed commerce totally, and it required sweat and hard work to do so. Distribution is getting less costly and more efficient. Especially striking is Elon Musk; without his systems, Ukraine would not have been able to resist the Russian attacks. Now he is looking further, into space, and forcing the public sector to do more in this direction. It is very interesting to see how tycoons like Mr. Musk use their own resources and encourage public funds to be used in an efficient way for innovation.

Our politicians today do not lead us on a path toward improved prosperity, rather they foster mediocrity, disguised as stability, experience and protection. This only serves the interests of parties seeking to stay in power.

We can be happy that visionaries are with us, delivering breakthroughs and using their fresh thinking and wealth to bring real progress.