FIRST & Fortune's 400 Billionaires

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

Fortune just came out with their annual 400 Richest Americans List.

I was struck by how many of them had a pretty solid connection to FIRST.

Here are 5 without even thinking hard:

#12 Sergey Brin
#13 Larry E Page
#70 Jeffrey P Bezos
#140 John E Abele
#374 L John Doerr

Beyond the obvious connection to Abele, FIRST's Chairman, each of these guys have actually spoken at the Championship at one time or another. So the connection is pretty strong.

I am sure that there are more connections (perhaps Bill Gates? How about DeVos? Steve Jobs?)

If you can make a connection to these folks and FIRST, let's hear it.

Joe J.

Steve Jobs reminds me that Wozniack was a judge at the LV regional. On another note, How is DeVos connected to FIRST(just wondering)?

[GaryVoshol]

Not FIRST related, but this one struck me as funny:

80 John Richard Simplot & family 3.2 97 Boise, ID potatoes, microchips

I'm envisioning little bitty Pringles ...

[Brandon Martus]

Hahah. I just thought it was weird someone made money on potatoes .. and technology. I didn't even make the chip/potato connection -- nice.

[Cory]

Either Wozniak or Jobs was a sponsor of the now defunct team 972.

Wozniak has judged at west coast regionals for at least 3 or 4 years now.

Frederick Wallace Smith (FedEx)

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by Cory

Either Wozniak or Jobs was a sponsor of the now defunct team 972.

Wozniak has judged at west coast regionals for at least 3 or 4 years now.

Frederick Wallace Smith (FedEx)

Woz also has been a judge at the Championship at least twice, maybe more. He's just so much a techhead, I don't think he can help it when opportunities like FIRST come along. (Segway Polo, anyone?)

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

...How is DeVos connected to FIRST(just wondering)?

I am not saying he IS connected but it would not surprise me because DeVos is part of the Amyway fortune and they are huge over near the Grand Rapids area. AND... ...Grand Rapids, MI is a hotbed of FIRST activity -- If I recall, at one point the nearby town of Holland had more willing sponsors than they had high schools.. But... ...I am just speculating. Anybody from Grand Rapids way know of any FIRST connection to DeVos?

Joe J.

[Joe Johnson]

Speaking of Billionaires that are likely to support FIRST, has anybody tried to get this guy involved?

#64 James H Simons

I have never heard about him until this article came up on reddit.com
PUTTING HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MATH IS

From the article, it is clear that if he knew about FIRST, he's likely to become a supporter. Look at this quote from the final paragraph of the article:

His insouciance reminded me of something his friend Shelly Wenig had said: "Here's a guy with the privilege of doing anything he wants, and he chooses to do the tough one."

Reminds me of Dean.

Now how do we get to this guy????

Joe J.

[Mark McLeod]

Simons is on the radar of the local Regional Committee. Several business leaders are assigned to getting him on-board in some capacity with FIRST.

We can only hope.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Simons is on the radar of the local Regional Committee. Several business leaders are assigned to getting him on-board in some capacity with FIRST.

We can only hope.

Sounds great. Is anybody from the Western Michigan regional working on DeVos?

I would think that each regional commitee should take a look at this Map and see if they can get their local billionaire to the regional one way or another.

Joe J.

[Luckyfish05]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

Sounds great. Is anybody from the Western Michigan regional working on DeVos?

Joe J.

I can't be postive that this is the case, and my roomate who was up there with me isn't postive either, but I'm like 85-90% percent postive that Devos was at the Western Michigan Regional at Grand Valley State University and spoke Saturday morning. I don't know though if he's helping to support any of the local teams or not though.

Andrea

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

Sounds great. Is anybody from the Western Michigan regional working on DeVos?

I would think that each regional commitee should take a look at this Map and see if they can get their local billionaire to the regional one way or another.

Joe J.

If billionaires like DeVos offer some help in the infrastructure and the overall system of FIRST, we would benefit more than any amount of money they can offer. I read somewhere that Microsoft has created the highest amount of millionaires around the world and Alticore has created the second most. With the growth FIRST is experiencing right now, it is vital for us to seek more help from successful figures.

[Mark Pierce]

Mr. DeVos did come to the West Michigan regional last year. He seemed to enjoy the event and spoke briefly to the crowd. As far as I know that was his first involvement in FIRST. Of course, at the moment he's concentrating more on running for Governor than his roles as businessman and philanthropist.

[josh s]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

Steve Jobs reminds me that Wozniack was a judge at the LV regional. On another note, How is DeVos connected to FIRST(just wondering)?

I believe DeVos used to own the Grand Center where the W MI Regional was held until the building was torn down and the regional was moved to GVSU.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by josh s

I believe DeVos used to own the Grand Center where the W MI Regional was held until the building was torn down and the regional was moved to GVSU.

No, the Grand Center, formerly called the Civic Auditorium, was/is owned by the City. I didn't realize the WMR was held there - that would have been an awesome venue for watching the competition.

The concert hall built ~24 years ago (I was in the choir for the dedication - am I that old?) is named for DeVos (not the gov candidate, but his father) because of his contributions and fundraising.

Amway does own the hotel ("Amway Grand", duh) across the street, both the old former Pantlind and the "new" tower - new meaning 20+ years.