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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 358 Vivek Chaand Sehgal|# 360 Scott Duncan ➡

# 359 Charles Simonyi 

$7.95B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 10/28/2024
$61.9M (0.78%)

# 359 Charles Simonyi 

$7.95B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 10/28/2024
$61.9M (0.78%)
OccupationDeveloper, Microsoft Office
Source of WealthMicrosoft
Age76
ResidenceMedina, Washington
Marital StatusMarried
Children2
EducationDoctorate, Stanford University; BS, University of California, Berkeley
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$2.69B
Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi
United States
Net worth: $7.95B

Self-Made Score 

Ternos Automatic Illuminated Analog Display with GMT Dual Time

Wealth History

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Biography

Early Life

Born on September 10, 1948, in Budapest, Hungary to Károly Simonyi, a noted electrical engineering professor at the Technical University of Budapest.
Began working part-time as a night watchman at a computer lab during secondary school, where he learned programming and developed compilers.
Left Hungary at 17 and joined Denmark's A/S Regnecentralen in 1966, working on the RC 4000 minicomputer's Real-time Control System.
Earned his BS in Engineering Mathematics & Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1972, and later received a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University in 1977.
Contributed to the development of the Xerox Alto, one of the first personal computers, at Xerox PARC during the 1970s.
Received honorary doctorate degrees from the Juilliard School and the University of Pecs in Hungary.

Career

Joined Microsoft in 1981, where he led the applications group and built Word and Excel, pioneering object-oriented programming techniques.
Introduced the concept of metaprogramming and developed Hungarian notation convention for naming variables, both of which were widely adopted within Microsoft.
Co-founded Intentional Software in 2002, focusing on intentional programming concepts, and later sold the company to Microsoft in 2017.
Received numerous awards and honors, including being elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Holds 11 patents related to software development.
Founded the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences in 2003, supporting various arts, science, and education initiatives.

Philanthropy

Established professorships at Oxford University, Stanford University, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
Founded the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences in 2003, supporting arts, sciences, and education.
Donated $5 million to the University of Washington for a computer science building in 2017.
Supported organizations such as the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Public Library, Metropolitan Opera, and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

Personal Life

Dated Martha Stewart for 15 years before marrying Lisa Persdotter in 2008, with whom he has two daughters.
Became a United States citizen in 1982.
Owns a custom-built 295-foot long yacht named NORN, designed by Espen Oeino.
Resides in Medina, Washington, in a modern house named 'Villa Simonyi,' featuring his collection of paintings by Roy Lichtenstein and Victor Vasarely.

Spaceflights

Became the fifth space tourist and the second Hungarian in space, undertaking his first mission to the International Space Station in April 2007.
Made a second trip to the ISS in March 2009, becoming the only space tourist to visit twice, and the second Hungarian in space.
Used his amateur radio operator skills to communicate with schools from space during his missions, supporting educational initiatives.
Supports The Museum of Flight in Seattle, funding the Space Gallery housing NASA Shuttle Trainer and space artifacts.

Charles Simonyi's Wealth is Equivalent to:

6,122,402 Herman Miller Aeron Chairs

Herman Miller Aeron Chair

1,504,825 Gold Bars (50 gram)

24K Solid 50g Gold Ingot

81,282 Tiny Homes

Tiny House, Two Bedroom Solar Prefab Home

How long would it take you to become as rich as Charles Simonyi?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 43.72% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Charles Simonyi's net worth of $7.95B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 60.38% compared to 22.68% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

Charles Simonyi is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Charles Simonyi, Microsoft is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. We only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.

Edited by: Lee Bailey