Nope, Jeff Bezos is not a Stoic

I don’t like billionaires. Not individually, of course, I’m sure some of them are reasonably decent human beings with whom it would be pleasant to share a double shot of top notch 18-yr old Scotch (at their expense, of course). But I simply can’t shake the notion that in order to become a billionaire one has to exploit people, and that therefore their wealth is ill gotten, morally (if not legally) speaking. Call me a socialist, if you’d like, but I think a 90% taxation rate on wealth over a billion is a good beginning.

Now that I’ve turned away half my audience, I can tell you the real reason for this post: billionaires are not Stoics, despite repeated claims that at least some of them “live by” ancient Stoic philosophy, as in this article by Sam Barry, published in (surprise, surprise!) Entrepreneur magazine.

Barry begins by mentioning investor and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, who claims that Stoic philosophy is “a simple and immensely practical set of rules for better results with less effort,” a caricature of Stoicism that would have Seneca turn in his tomb, many times over.

Alleged “stoic” billionaires, according to Barry, include Warren Buffett, Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad, and Mark Zuckerberg. Why? Well, Buffett famously still lives in the same house he bought in 1958, Kamprad drives a 1993 Volvo, and Zuckerberg drives a black Acura…