Carnegie, Gould, JP Morgan & Rockefeller were all born in the 1830s Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Paul Allen & Steve Wozniak were all born in the 1950s Julian Robertson, Paul Tudor Jones, Stanley Druckenmiller, Seth Klarman & Jim Simons all started hedge funds in the early 1980s Blackstone & Bain Capital were founded in the mid-1980s These are all supremely talented individuals who worked hard but also had fortuitous timing Luck & timing - both good and bad - are part of life