The Indelible Bonobo Experience

Thomas Peterffy - Freedom To Succeed

• the handiwork of Thomas Peterffy, 68, an emigre from socialist Hungary who founded Interactive Brokers, the world’s largest online broker, and built a fortune of $7.6 billion
• It seemed to me, I told him, that there were still plenty of entrepreneurs around. Was it really so bad? “But they’re losing their mojo!” he replied. “It takes mojo to take the risk to start to grow a business. When you trash the leaders, they don’t invest. I used to be very active. I liked coming to work in the morning. But not anymore.” Oh, c’mon, I said. Was he really saying that he, a self-made billionaire, was so depressed by Obama’s policies that he had given up? Peterffy laughed. “That’s right,” he said. “I came here when I was 21. I’ve paid $1.9 billion of taxes in my lifetime. And now I’m being told that I’m not paying my fair share, that I’m playing by different rules.”
• Peterffy, though, cheerfully added that he would be happy to pay a higher rate of tax. His complaint, beyond the badmouthing, is that he fears Obama and the Democrats are pushing the country toward equality in a way that will sap capitalist enterprise and lead to ruin. “If all are equal,” he said, “then why strive?” Well, OK. But isn’t Obama really pushing for equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome? “Opportunity is good, but that’s not what I see.” .. (He’s a reader of Friedrich Hayek.)
• Four years ago, he voted for the Libertarian candidate: “What’s his name? I forgot.” Peterffy’s fondness for freedom extends to his political strategy. He isn’t giving to any super PAC and says he didn’t consult with the Romney campaign before cutting and airing his own ads. So far, he’s spent $2.5 million on them. “By Election Day,” he said, “I’ll spend $5 million to $10 million.”

via bb. there’s also a Spanish version :)