Billionaire! How the Ultra-Rich Built Their Fortunes through Good and Evil
And What You Can Learn from Them
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In the final analysis, Netscape and Healtheon never made any money. Clark's wealth, although counted in the billions, was built atop the rubble of shareholders left holding stocks worth less than the ink on the paper. There's a reason why banks require eight quarters of financial information before considering an IPO; Jim Clark is a great example of why.

Jim Clark - Silicon Graphics, Netscape, Healtheon

As the founder of three billion-dollar silicon valley companies, Jim Clark was considered in the late 1990s to be the world's greatest entrepreneur. Clark started in 1981 when he left his job as computer science professor at Stanford University to found Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI). The company produced the high-speed graphics computers that generated the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

In 1994, Clark was forced out and joined forces with Marc Andreessen, the lead developer of NCSA Mosaic, the first popular web browser. The two formed Netscape Communications and the company's skyrocketing IPO in 1995 is considered the start of the dot-com bubble. Clark later founded Healtheon with the ambitious goal of revolutionizing the healthcare industry.

However, one major problem interferes with his title of World's Greatest Entrepreneur. Netscape and Healtheon never made a profit. Clark's billions, while they lasted, came at the expense of shareholders rather than as the rewards of the marketplace. So just how did Jim Clark earn his reputation for success—or failure, depending on your perspective?

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Wealthonomics - Pittenger