Thread by @Bigbounce01

A #thread on some unusual ways by which people got rich.

1. Richard James and his flash of inspiration.

The picture above is of Richard James. He worked as a mechanical engineer for the U.S Navy.

In 1943 James was trying to develop a means for suspending sensitive shipboard instruments aboard

...naval vessels, even in rough seas, and was working with tension springs when he accidentally dropped one. As he watched it bounce away, he had a flash of inspiration for a new toy. And thus the slinky was born.

The toy was released into shops in 1945 and sold out the first 400 units within 90 minutes. He has personally earned around $250M from it since 1945.

2. Michael Buffer

If you have ever heard the phrase "Let's get reaaadyyyy to ruuummmble" then you're familiar with his work.

Michael Buffer is an American ring announcer or "MC" for boxing and professional wrestling matches. 

In 1992, Michael Buffer secured a legal copyright on the phrase “Let's get ready to rumble.”

Every time it is used in a Movie, commercial, video game or if he performs it live for your fight, he gets paid mega bucks.

Michael Buffer, by coining, popularizing and legally securing the phrase “let's get ready to rumble.” has earned in excess of 100 million dollars.

3. David Choe

When Facebook was starting out, they needed a painter to spray paint the walls of their new offices. Dave Choe got the job.

When the mural was finished, Sean Parker who was president of Facebook at the time gave Choe the option of taking cash or stock options. At the time, Facebook was only a year old and only open to college and high school students. There was no "like" button,

...no revenue from advertising and no hype of a $5 billion dollar IPO.

Instead of taking cash, Choe took a chance and opted for the stock options.

Choe was added on as an "adviser" and received 0.1 to 0.25 percent of the company.

Shortly after Facebook went public and Choe's share became worth around $200 million. It made him a millionaire.

4. Gary Dahl

Gary Ross Dahl was an American copywriter, creative director and advertising agency owner.

He invented something called 'pet rocks'.

Gary went to the local gardening store, bought a ton of rocks, packaged them using cardboard with holes (to allow the rocks to breathe) and sold them for $3.95.

It costed him less then a dollar to produce each unit.

His sales pitch was simple: "You don't have to feed them, or take good care of them in any way. It just sits there available for viewing".

By the mid 1970’s, pet rocks were the rage with owners across the country showing off their “pets”.

This guy made 15 million dollars off selling packaged stones to people.

Pure genius!

Unfortunately, he passed away on the 23rd of March 2015, at the age of 78.

May he rest in peace.

5. Scott Stillinger and his playful fortune

In 1986, engineer Scott Stillinger was having trouble teaching his two young kids how to play catch. Regular balls were too bouncy, and bean bags too heavy. So he brainstormed about a toy that could be half as bouncy as a regular ball and lighter than a bean bag.

...and the Koosh ball was born.

The toy was so succesful that Hasbro, the mega toy and board game company bought the rights to it for $100m in 1997.

6. Smiling to the bank: The story of the Billy Bob teeth.

Billy Bob Teeth was created when dental student Rich Bailey met Jonah White, an aspiring entrepreneur, in 1993.

The two met at a Missouri State University football game in Springfield, Missouri. Bailey, at the time, had only made a few pairs of the teeth

...in his school's lab and was wearing them at the game while flirting with cheerleaders. Once the two became friends, Bailey taught White how to make the teeth. 

That gag product went on to be a massive hit. The product has made $50M in revenue so far since 1993.