I think gaben has retained his popularity because you just never hear about him. He doesn’t go around publicly doing evil shit so he’s got the benefit of the doubt. Not that I disagree with your general point about billionaires…

I highly doubt that most people, given the opportunity, would not live like a billionaire. If someone builds a company like Valve, they’re going to live very well. That doesn’t say as much about the person as it does about the economic system.