Are you poor? It's your fault - you should work harder and drink less, then you, too, can become a millionaire! That's the advice from the world's richest woman, Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart.
"If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain," she said in a magazine piece. "Do something to make more money yourself -- spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working." [...]
Why are people poor? Rinehart blamed what she described as "socialist," anti-business government policies, and urged Australian officials to lower the minimum wage and cut taxes.
"The millionaires and billionaires who choose to invest in Australia are actually those who most help the poor and our young," she said. "This secret needs to be spread widely."
Gina, of course, made her money the old-fashioned way: she inherited it.
David Lazarus of The Los Angeles Times has the story: Link
"Absorbed by the company" could mean turning some of those profits into wages. And we can't have that! Gods forbid the stockholders should have lower returns on their investments so that others may pay their rent AND buy clothes. That's just un-American.
What advice could she have given that would have been more practical? I'm at a loss to think of anything.
"Nepotism trumps hard work every time." Sometimes, yes. Every time? No.
The above was summarized from wisegeek.
Also, a relaxed and happy employee is a more productive employee. At a certain point there are diminishing returns on working harder. Drinking, socializing and generally enjoying life and not working yourself to the bone will yield better returns. So her advice sorta fails on all fronts.