Yes, Elon Musk was a self-taught programmer, learning at age 10 and creating his first video game, Blastar, by age 12, which he sold for $500; he used programming skills in his early ventures like Zip2, though he's more known as an entrepreneur and innovator today rather than a hands-on coder in his current roles at companies like Tesla and SpaceX.
Elon Musk disclosed he has Asperger's syndrome (now considered part of Autism Spectrum Disorder) during his May 2021 Saturday Night Live monologue, noting it explains his sometimes unusual behavior and intense focus, with his mother also confirming his traits since childhood. While Asperger's isn't a formal diagnosis anymore, it highlights his challenges with social cues and literal thinking, which he frames as strengths in his work, alongside potentially related mood shifts mentioned in biographies, though he tweeted about bipolarity without a formal diagnosis.
While other kids were busy with video games, Mark was learning multiple programming languages including Atari BASIC, C++, and later, Python. By the time he entered high school, he was already considered a programming prodigy.
Also, Bezos was a Computer Science major and a developer for 4 years after graduation. Jeff's original request for S3 was, as I recall, along the lines of "We need malloc() for the Internet."
Gates wrote his first software program at age 13. In high school he helped form a group of programmers who computerized their school's payroll system and founded Traf-O-Data, a company that sold traffic-counting systems to local governments.
Jeff Bezos's 1-Hour Rule is a morning routine focused on avoiding screens (phones, laptops) for the first hour of the day, allowing for slow, deliberate activities like reading, having coffee, exercising, or spending time with family, which he claims enhances focus, energy, and decision-making, a practice supported by neuroscience for promoting clearer thinking and reducing digital fatigue.
In answer to a question from a member of the public: 'Does Steve Jobs know how to code? ', Woz responded: 'Steve didn't ever code. He wasn't an engineer and he didn't do any original design. ' He was, however: 'technical enough to alter and change and add to other designs.
Googlers call Zuckerberg's approach the 80 percent rule
She calls this idea the 80 percent rule. It states you should schedule only about 80 percent of your days. Leave 20 percent open to absorb whatever craziness comes up.
Not really. I would guess that average programmer has an IQ barely above average— e.g., perhaps ~105. But they are likely to be also somewhat above average in their ability to think logically.
While the difficulty of a job can be subjective based on individual strengths and interests, here are some of the toughest roles in software engineering:
As of 2021, the Richest Programmer in the World is Elon Musk with a worth $158 Billion.
As Gates became more proficient at coding, he began thinking about possible real-world applications of his new skills — like writing software for personal computers, the idea that launched Microsoft — an epiphany he might have never experienced, if he'd stayed in his bedroom each night, he says.
Steve Jobs' "80/20" rule refers to his Signal-to-Noise Ratio, where he dedicated 80% of his focus and energy to critical tasks (signal) and only 20% to distractions or less important things (noise), flipping the common 80% noise/20% signal approach, to achieve extraordinary results by ruthlessly saying "no" to non-essential activities, meetings, and emails that didn't move his mission forward, thereby creating clarity and focus.
While most people think successful entrepreneurs stay up late and sacrifice rest, Bezos makes sure to get eight hours of sleep every night. He believes it helps him think better, make better decisions, and stay energized.
Musk wakes up around 9 a.m. and says he starts every morning with steak and eggs. Musk told The Wall Street Journal in 2023 that he usually goes to bed around 3 a.m. and sleeps for six hours. So, he's typically waking up around 9 a.m. each day.
Jeff Bezos always had an interest to understand how things worked and as a child, he turned his parent's garage into a laboratory. He graduated from Princeton University with a dual degree in computer science and electrical engineering.