In the years roughly coincidental with the Netscape IPO, humans began animating inert objects with tiny slivers of intelligence, connecting them into a global field, and linking their own minds into a single thing. This will be recognized as the largest, most complex, and most surprising event on the planet. Weaving nerves out of glass and radio waves, our species began wiring up all regions, all processes, all facts and notions into a grand network. From this embryonic neural net was born a collaborative interface for our civilization, a sensing, cognitive device with power that exceeded any previous invention. The Machine provided a new way of thinking (perfect search, total recall) and a new mind for an old species. It was the Beginning.
"Private Company Investments: Over centuries, the most reliable way to create more wealth is the same way most families created wealth in the first instance: starting and investing in private companies. Starting with the Medici and Rothschild families and continuing to Bezos and Walton and Buffett, the greatest dynastic fortunes have been the product of repeatedly starting or investing in private companies. Apart from their proven ability to create wealth, private company investments have added advantages related to taxation and generational wealth transfer - thereby extending the life of the new wealth they create."
