[LB232323]

It wasn't just his thrift, it was his very standard knowledge of financial markets.

I agree that the economic gap has widened and that our most famous and moneyed capitalists of today "borrowed" large sums from their business owning parents.

However, Read was an outlier in many ways. His discipline likely stems from his military service, and without a basic value investing understanding of markets he would not have amassed his fortune.

He may have been humble, but he was anything but the average guy. What's most impressive is not the building of his fortune but his giving in death.

In a way he embodied both the old American work ethic and the American promise of economic opportunity.