Commencement Addresses by Billionaires

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Hereunder reproduced are the Commencement Adresses given by some of the most successful billionaires to the young college graduates of US Universities.

I adore all the speeches given here. Please find time to read the full texts thru the links.


Melinda Gates - Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Technology is just a tool. It's a powerful tool, but it's just a tool. Deep human connection is very different. It's not a tool. It's not a means to an end. It is the end -- the purpose and the result of a meaningful life -- and it will inspire the most amazing acts of love, generosity, and humanity.

... an excerpt from the address delivered during Duke University's 2013 Commencement ceremonies

Read Full Text @ http://today.duke.edu/2013/05/gatestalk

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Oprah Winfrey at Harvard University

Watch the full speech @

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GMWFieBGR7c&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGMWFieBGR7c%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded

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Steve Jobs - Cofounder, Apple

"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Read the full text of Steve Jobs' commencement speech to Stanford in 2005 @ http://www.businessinsider.com/the-full-text-of-steve-jobs-stanford-commencement-speech-2011-10

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Bill Gates - Founder, MicroSoft

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here – never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.

Read the full text of speech to Harvard Univeristy in 2007 @ http://www.networkworld.com/cgi-bin/mailto/x.cgi?pagetosend=/news/2007/060807-gates-commencement.html&pagename=/news/2007/060807-gates-commencement.html&pageurl=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/060807-gates-commencement.html&site=printpage&nsdr=n

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Michael S. Dell - Chairman and CEO, Dell Computer Corporation

Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people … or find a different room. In professional circles it’s called networking. In organizations it’s called team building. And in life it’s called family, friends, and community. We are all gifts to each other, and my own growth as a leader has shown me again and again that the most rewarding experiences come from my relationships.

Read the full text of Keynote Address at University of Texas in 2003 @ http://www.utexas.edu/commencement/2003/spring/speech.html

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Steve Ballmer - Microsoft CEO

Be tenacious. I actually prefer the word irrepressible, but everybody I ran the speech by says it’s too hard for people to get. But, irrepressible is kind of tenacious, but with optimism. You just have it in you. You keep going and going. You could say, isn’t that the same as passion. It’s not. Passion is the ability to get excited about something. Irrepressibility and tenacity is about the ability to stay with it. If you take a look at all of the companies that have been started in our business, most of them fail. If you take even a look at the companies that have succeeded, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, you name it, all of these companies went through times of hardship. You get some success. You run into some walls. You try a formula for a new idea, a new innovation, it doesn’t work. And it’s how tenacious you are, how irrepressible, how ultimately optimistic and tenacious you are about it that will determine your success.

Read the Full Text of commencement address at the University of Southern California in 2011 @ http://www.geekwire.com/2011/irrepressible-steve-ballmer-microsoft-ceos-usc-commencement-speech/

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Steve Case - AOL Founder

But no matter what you end up doing, no matter what path you choose to follow, there are a few things that I hope you’ll remember. Specifically, 3 things - what I like to call the 3 P’s. They are: people, passion and perseverance. I have found they are the keys to success in whatever you choose to do – so I wanted to share them with you this morning.

Read the full transcript of commencement speech to George Mason University's graduating class in 2009 @ http://casefoundation.org/blog/steve-case-george-mason-university-commencement-speech

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For further speeches @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2012/05/09/billionaires-advice-for-new-college-graduates-jobs-oprah-zuckerberg-and-more/


Courtesy: Forbes