Or India? Well, the odds are in its favor anyway. But just not the odds, the atmosphere. I was astonished [Don't exaggerate. You know that's where things are headed.-ed.] to read this Forbes article on Wang Chuan-Fu, the CEO of Chinese company BYD. The Shenzen battery makers are on track to lead the world in the electric car category. You will note, in the article, that Wang isn’t interested in a bailout:
One more thing reassured him. Berkshire Hathaway first tried to buy 25% of BYD, but Wang turned down the offer. He wanted to be in business with Buffett – to enhance his brand and open doors in the U.S., he says – but he would not let go of more than 10% of BYD’s stock. “This was a man who didn’t want to sell his company,” Buffett says. “That was a good sign.”
He’s also not interested in a bonus, from the government or anybody else:
As for accumulating wealth? “I’m not interested in it,” he claims. He certainly doesn’t live a very lavish lifestyle. He was paid about $265,000 in 2008, and he lives in a BYD-owned apartment complex with other engineers. His only indulgences are a Mercedes and a Lexus, and they have a practical purpose: He takes their engines apart to see how they work. On a trip to the U.S., he once tried to disassemble the seat of a Toyota owned by Fred Ni, an executive who was driving him around. Shortly after BYD went public, Wang did something extraordinary: He took approximately 15% of his holdings in BYD and distributed the shares to about 20 other executives and engineers at the company. He still owns roughly 28% of the shares, worth about $1 billion.
For those interested in capitalism… go East, young man. Far East.
Well, good for them. And good for us too.
Good for us?
The US govt. is controlling 40% of the US GDP and is planning on more, such as the health care system, while the communist govt. in China controls 10%.
The Chinese fought a bloody civil war before they were taken over by the communists, their economy socialized. After a recession, the milder version of which comes every 5 to 10 years, Obie and Pelosi are able to socialize our economy without firing a shot. Are they efficient or are we stupid?
Edison, remember, did original research and invented new technologies. China, as far as we know, is still a deeply traditional culture, and may well copy Toyota seats (themselves a copy of earlier designs), but won’t produce any Edisons for a long time to come. I’m ready to be surprised.
I said good for us if China and India turn towards the modern technological society. India has been relatively democratic for a long time now, but China is different. Much more pleasant to deal with China as it is now than the red China of the past.
As far as the US, it may yet happen that the US will have to learn something from China. There is always room for growth. Americans are a resourceful people, on the whole.
His salary and tax bracket still put him well above and formly into the “filthy stinking greedy rich ioncome bracket” as far as 0bama/Biden’s vague and shifting benchmarks go [$100,000 -$250,000] though
Good thing he lives in China where there might not be such a hostile climate for the achievers there.
Class Warfare Rules!!!
ribrock…people used to say the same thing about Japan. And although Japan may not yet be quite on a par with the U.S. as a *product* innovator, it may well be equal or ahead as a *process* innovator (viz the Toyota Production System.) And process matters a lot in manufacturing.
I wouldn’t be too impressed by BYD just yet. They are not known for their original design:
http://gemssty.com/2006/10/29/top-10-copycat-cars/
Be sure to compare its logo to BMW. There are also claims their batteries are a knock off of an A123 design out of Cambridge MA.
Speaking of A123, GE just put some more money into this company….
We already have “the next Edison”: Elwood “Woody” Norris. Go Google.
But in the up-and-coming ranks? I don’t think we’ll see any more. For one thing, our education system’s goal is to prevent such occurrences. For another, the next big breakthroughs will be in areas of science that are way beyond the reach of the independent inventor.
I don’t have much hope for Academia (universities). Their reseach is hog-tied to grants. If they go off-topic (like questioning Global Warming), their grants dry up and their tenure disappears.
As for China, just look at the number of Nobel Prizes (real ones, not Peace) they’ve brought in.
The dismal forecast is “no more Edisons – ever”.
The closest things we have (besides Norris) are the entrepreneurs working on space flight, like Burt Rutan, Elon Musk, and a few others.