This is Marcus Licinius Crassus.

He was one of the richest men in Ancient Rome and worth $220 billion today with inflation adjusted.

Yet history has forgotten his shadiest wealth generating methods (that feels too illegal to know.)

Here's his wild story: Born in 115 BC to an average Roman family, Crassus seemed destined for a simple life.

But through questionable tactics, he built Rome's biggest fortune by age 32...

• Exploiting disasters for profit
• Building a slave trade empire
• Becoming a snake oil salesman to gain influence

Let's explore:

This is Charles Ingram.

In 2001, he found a genius way to cheat Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and almost escaped with £1 million.

Investigation found him guilty.

But what the police found next told a very different and sinister story (behind the biggest fraud on TV): 🧵 This is Charles Ingram's final 1,000,000 pounds question.

Watch this video very carefully, and tell me if something seems off:

John Von Neumann created the future we live in today.

Other geniuses could not keep up with him.

They were on tricycles trying to chase a racing car.

Let's explore his past life which led him to such excellence... 🧵 Born in Budapest in 1903, John grew up in an intellectual environment.

He could divide 8 digit numbers in his head by age 6.

His mind was so brilliant that his tutor cried after their first encounter.

Yet, his father was not happy with his love for mathematics.

Pythagoras built the weirdest cult in history.

Yes the Pythagoras who created that Pythagorean theorem you studied in 6th grade.

Read this story, and you'll never see him nor a triangle the same again... 🧵 Pythagoras is famous for his theorem on right triangles.

But his fascination with numbers started young.

As a teen, he traveled to Egypt and spent 22 years learning secret wisdom from priests.

He became convinced numbers were the key to understanding the universe.

I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

Then I found the father of analytical psychology, who said: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

5 ideas from one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: 🧵 "When one imagines a psychologist, they may bring forth images of an old man in a lab coat injecting rats with drugs."

Carl Jung loved alchemy, studied seances & the paranormal and listened to the ramblings of schizophrenic patients

This gave Jung a unique to life around him.

I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

Then I found the father of analytical psychology, who said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

5 ideas from one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: 🧵 "When one imagines a psychologist, they may bring forth images of an old man in a lab coat injecting rats with drugs."

Carl Jung loved alchemy, studied seances & the paranormal and listened to the ramblings of schizophrenic patients

This gave Jung a unique to life around him.

Elon Musk is a different breed.

He runs 6 billion dollar companies simultaneously, has 12 kids, and sh*tposts on 𝕏 24/7.

Here is his productivity and management philosophy that took me forever to understand:🧵 Elon's relentless drive was forged in a challenging South African childhood.

On the autism spectrum, he endured abuse from his engineer father Errol.

Musk escaped into books, reading encyclopedia volumes cover to cover.

This man solved one of the hardest puzzles of the century.

Rejected his $1 million award and vanished into Russia.

Everyone called him crazy.

Here's the forgotten story of Grigori Perelman—the craziest genius mathematician everyone should know: 🧵 Born in 1966 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Grigori Perelman won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad at 16.

With a perfect score, his feat is still unmatched today.

His genius granted him a bypass of Soviet antisemitism, allowing him to study at the top university in Leningrad.

This man solved one of the hardest puzzles of the century.

Rejected his $1 million award and vanished into Russia.

Everyone called him crazy.

Here's the forgotten story of Grigori Perelman—the craziest genius mathematician everyone should know: 🧵 Born in 1966 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Grigori Perelman won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad at 16.

With a perfect score, his feat is still unmatched today.

His genius granted him a bypass of Soviet antisemitism, allowing him to study at the top university in Leningrad.

This man was Nikola Tesla's "mentor" and called the Da Vinci of his time.

His ideas influenced Einstein, Hawking, Terrence Howard, and the New Age Movements.

Sadly, his forgotten legacy is a heartbreaking tragedy. Here's his story... 🧵 Meet Walter Russel.

At 7, Russell had his first illumination experience.

At 14, he survived diphtheria & claimed to have an out-of-body journey.

These experiences were nothing compared to what happened next...

A philosopher ordered to commit suicide left behind letters so powerful, they're still changing lives today.

Meet Seneca, the Stoic who advised emperors and faced death with unshakeable calm.

His "Letters to Lucilius" aren't just philosophy—they're a master class in resilience: But first...who was Seneca?

Seneca was born in the same year as Christ & became Rome's greatest Stoic thinker.

He faced banishment, attempted murder, and was ultimately ordered to commit suicide by Emperor Nero.

Let's understand Seneca's not-so-discussed philosophy 👇

This man was the genius behind the atomic bomb.

But after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you would never believe how the US government treated him…

The story of how the Atomic Bomb killed J. Robert Oppenheimer... (thread)🧵
Oppenheimer was a prodigy born in New York City in 1904 to wealthy German Jewish immigrants.

• He spoke 8 languages fluently.
• At Harvard, he graduated in just 3 years.
• He earned a PhD in physics at age 23.

In 1997, Steve Jobs fired 4100 people, cut 70% of products, and simplified to 4 items on a 2x2 matrix.

Everyone thought Apple was doomed. But this was the turnaround of the century.

Every entrepreneur needs to understand why it worked & how Steve saved Apple from bankruptcy 🧵:
Most people think Steve Jobs was ousted by Apple due to internal conflicts, but it wasn't just that.

When Macintosh failed, Steve went into a deep depression.

Here's John Scully talking about it 👇

He is one of the most influential thinkers ever.

Ruled the Roman Emperor for 19 years and called "Philosopher-King"...

His private notes influenced Roosevelt, Washington, Ralph Waldo Emerson and millions over centuries.

His 5 warnings for modern Western society:🧵 At 40, Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world.

• Wine • Women • Wealth

For 19 years of his reign, Aurelius chose to be a MAN...

I think Leonardo da Vinci is the most creative person ever alive.

He left us over 7000 pages of sketches and notes that 500 yrs later, historians yet to decode.

6 times Da Vinci predicted and invented the future:🧵
1/ Da Vinci's anatomical discoveries...

• First to describe the heart as a 4-chambered muscle
• Recognized coronary artery disease 150 years before physicians

He once dissected 30+ cadavers to understand anatomy:

I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

But then I found the “philosopher of pessimism” who influenced all three and millions for centuries.

Here's his forgotten story and his most important warnings for modern society: 🧵 Born in 1788 to a wealthy merchant in Gdańsk, Poland, Arthur Schopenhauer seemed destined for BUSINESS success.

But a childhood move to Hamburg, Germany at age 5 sparked a different path…

Everyone loves the same geniuses like:

Einstein, Tesla, or Hawking.

But I found a man who stands head and shoulders above all.

After research, I realized his legacy covered some dark truths forgotten by history. Here's his story... 🧵 Born prematurely on Christmas Day 1642, Isaac Newton seemed unlikely to survive.

His father died before his birth and his mother abandoned him at age 3.

But even as a child, Newton's mechanical inclinations shone through as he built sundials.

Since 2010s, Netflix has made a record $2.6 million in revenue per employee.

That's higher than Google, Starbucks, and Amazon combined.

Their secret? Reed Hastings' 2009 Culture Deck.

A blueprint to spot, create, and retain future billionaires: (thread)🧵 The one thing that Hastings values most, even more than success, is talent density.

His strategy? Build teams of exceptional performers only.

This "Olympic team" approach drives innovation, enables a culture of candor, and eliminates the need for most rules.

He was the most legendary samurai of all time.

Undefeated in 62 duels, he was worshiped as a sword saint.

His treatise The Book of Five Rings has guided 1000s of thinkers, inventors, and billionaires for centuries.

These 5 timeless principles will change your life: 🧵

Meet Miyamoto Musashi, a true renaissance warrior—undefeated swordsman, artist, strategist, and philosopher.

At 60, he withdrew to a cave to distill his life's wisdom into The Book of Five Rings—a guide so influential that Joe Rogan even has Musashi tattooed on his arm...

This man was one of the most influential thinkers in psychology.

His controversial theory has transformed millions of families worldwide.

Here's his story and ONE advice every parent should hear: He is John Bowlby.

Raised primarily by a nanny, Bowlby saw his mother for only an hour daily.

Only years later, he saw the damage this caused...

Elon Musk is a big believer in Mental Models.

Not only Musk— Charlie Munger, Jeff Bezos, and Steve Jobs too.

10 most powerful mental models I've found from genius thinkers: 🧵 1/ The Bloom-Bilal Rule:

When bored and lacking ideas, keep walking until the day becomes interesting. (via @sahilbloom+ @bzaidi)