Money is a fickle thing. Some people are born with it while others work their entire lives for more only to be disappointed. A few manage to stumble into money through some intervention of fate, luck, or the divine. But the backbone of business is built on the hard workers that were just lucky enough to avoid bad luck. With a bit of ingenuity and a lot of effort, these entrepreneurs showed us that great wealth is attainable. But only if you have the foresight and courage to pursue it.

Deviously Clever Entrepreneurs and The Moves that Made Them Rich

Putting together a list of entrepreneurs can be a little difficult when analyzing them through the lens of a role model. Some, undeniably brilliant, business maneuvers were excluded from this list for that exact reason. One example would be the fortune made by Nathan Mayer Rothschild in the 19th century. However, war profiteering isn’t something we wish to encourage at Lemonade Day.

Henry Ford Doubles His Workers Pay

Henry Ford is one of America’s great economic icons. Though his life story and views left much to be desired, Ford changed the American business landscape in numerous ways. From mass adoption of the assembly line to the introduction of the automobile, the Ford Motor Company was known as one of the most innovative, and profitable, companies in the world. But early in his company’s history, Henry Ford had a problem: his workers hated their jobs. The long and repetitive tasks assigned on the assembly line wore workers down to the point they simply quit. The turnover cost Ford too much and something needed to be done.

Henry Ford did something considered radical for the time and doubled his employees salary to nearly $5 a day. In 2015 terms, this daily wage amounts to nearly $120. At the time, the average American worker earned much less than Ford was offering. Hiring stabilized as employees reaped the benefits of a new middle class lifestyle. The policy, among others, paid off handsomely. By the end of his life, Henry Ford was worth more than $188 billion.

The Pet Rock: The Joke That Made A Million Dollars

It’s easy to think about the Pet Rock as one of the smartest dumb ideas in history. But a lot more thought went into this “dumb idea” than most people would ever imagine. Created by Gary Dahl, a California-based advertising executive, the Pet Rock is a collectible marketed as a “the perfect pet” with no mess, no feeding, and perfect obedience. Sourcing his rocks from Rosarito Beach in Mexico, Dahl sold well over a million Pet Rocks at $4 a piece. As a result, he became a millionaire.

This success story wasn’t overnight or a fluke. Dahl had spent years in marketing and advertising as a copywriter and copyeditor. (Those are the guys that get paid to come up with slogans and other text in advertisements.) When asked about the Pet Rock, he always said the real product was the 32 page “instruction manual” that was full of jokes and puns. With the proceeds he opened a bar and returned to his successful advertising agency.

Bill Gates: Changing QDOS to M-DOS Yields Billions

In the 21st century, Bill Gates is known as a philanthropist dedicated to giving away billions to improve the health, well-being, and economic mobility of billions around the world. Older readers will remember a time when Gates was not thought of so fondly. A big reason for this is that Bill Gates is an amazing businessman, even if he was a bit ruthless.

One of the most famous stories behind his rise to wealth and fame involves something called QDOS and the Seattle Computer Products (SCP). In 1981, IBM was preparing to launch its first personal computer and needed an operating system. They turned to Microsoft for the software but Gates and his burgeoning company had a problem. Microsoft hadn’t developed an operating system yet. Gates quickly found a solution with SCP who had just developed their own “Quick and Dirty Operating System”. Mircosoft secured the license for QDOS for only $75,000 and renamed it M-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System). The deal yielded millions for Microsoft while SCP made much, much less. Microsoft eventually went on to hire most of SCP’s talent. Within six years, SCP closed its doors, sued Mircosoft, and settled out of court for less than $1 million.

Somewhere along the way, Gates learned a bit about charity and empathy. Thousands of Microsoft employees became millionaires, including the employee that created QDOS/MDOS. Gates himself seems dedicated to giving away his share of Microsoft wealth. So far, he and his wife have donated more than $30 billion to worthy causes around the world.