Professionally successful, or successful as people?

As people.

Granted, none of those people are grinding away working for The Man. Instead, they are running their own organizations.

Is that not your experience?

Working for yourself versus working for "The Man" makes a huge difference because you know every second of that 60 hour week you're putting in is to your direct benefit.

Talk to someone who owns their own business working 60 hours and then someone who's being forced to work 60 hours for their company and you'll be talking to two people with vastly different outlooks.

Well, you either are The Man, or you work for The Man. The choice is yours to make.

I agree with you, but the point stands. They're able to be productive and happy while working more than 40 hours per week.

Thats probably the most important differential in their drive and success.

I wonder how many hours leaders like Gates, Bezos, and Musk work each week.

Gates at least was notorious for working non-stop.

Yeah, my experience is the opposite. Sounds like you hang out with people in a higher tax bracket than I do, and that could explain some of the difference in experience.

Their behavior certainly has a causal relationship with their tax bracket, yes.

The attitude pervades their life.

* You know how most folks sleep and drink when they fly? They work on their laptop.

* You know how most people come home from work exhausted? They come home energized by the things they worked on, filled with new ideas.

I appreciate the perspective. Do you know if these people have similar backgrounds (rags-to-riches vs born into money)?

Most, but not all, grew up very poor. Why do you ask?

Just trying to get a more rounded view. Again, I appreciate it.

Reminds of a bit by Chris Rock. Paraphrasing: "If you have a job, the clock is your enemy and you can't wait for the shift to end. If you have a career, there are not enough hours in the day." In his world, having a career means working 100% for yourself.