The Ovarian Lottery

Warren Buffet gifts his children 1 million dollars every five years on their birthdays.

Hello Buddy, 

I’ve been thinking about something. 

Warren Buffet gifts his children 1 million dollars every five years on their birthdays.

Why? Because they are his children! No reason. 

Just like your dad buys you Christmas clothes during Christmas or Ice Cream on your birthday, that's what Warren Buffet does here. The only difference is that this is a million dollars we are talking about. As a Nigerian, a million dollars will change my family history. With a million dollars, I can even contest for the Governorship seat of my state and be confident of victory. One million dollars today is 1.2 billion Naira! This is more than the budget of some tertiary institutions in my state. 

Even in the United States, 1 million dollars is a lot. Earning 1 million dollars annually puts you in the top 1% of income earners! You are earning more than 99% of your fellow citizens. But in this case, you can get 1 million dollars from your dad on your birthday for no work or reason, just because you are his son. 

Dude, you’ve won the Ovarian Lottery! Sorry, not you! They've won the Ovarian Lottery! 

What is the Ovarian Lottery? 

The core idea is that the circumstances into which a person is born - such as the country, family, and socioeconomic status - are largely determined by chance, much like being randomly assigned a ticket in a lottery. 

Sam Walton's children, Rob Walton, Jim Walton, and Alice Walton, each inherited 50 billion dollars in Walmart stocks from their dad. Why? They are Sam Walton's children. They won the Ovarian Lottery. 

Think about it for a moment: what are the statistical possibilities of becoming a billionaire today? There are around 2,600 billionaires worldwide, while the global population is approximately 8 billion. This means the chance of a random person becoming a billionaire is about 0.00003%. 

Can you guess the number of years it would take for an average citizen to become a billionaire? 460,000 years! Half a million years! The average life expectancy is 73 years. 460,000 divided by 73, and you have 6,301. Dude, you need 6,301 lifetimes to become a billionaire. The sons and daughters of Sam Walton got it in a short time without any work. All because of their father. They won the Ovarian Lottery. 

Warren Buffet popularized the idea of the Ovarian Lottery. The thing I like about this is how Buffet understands that this applies to him, and he is not ashamed of it. Listen to Buffet explain it. 

“When I was a kid, I got all kinds of good things. I had the advantage of a home where people talked about interesting things, and I had intelligent parents and I went to decent schools. I don’t think I could have been raised with a better pair of parents. That was enormously important. I didn’t get money from my parents, and I really didn’t want it. But I was born at the right time and place. I won the ‘Ovarian Lottery.’”

“I’ve had it so good in this world, you know. The odds were fifty-to-one against me being born in the United States in 1930. I won the lottery the day I emerged from the womb by being in the United States instead of in some other country where my chances would have been way different.

“Imagine there are two identical twins in the womb, both equally bright and energetic. And the genie says to them, ‘One of you is going to be born in the United States, and one of you is going to be born in Bangladesh. And if you wind up in Bangladesh, you will pay no taxes. What percentage of your income would you bid to be the one that is born in the United States?’ It says something about the fact that society has something to do with your fate and not just your innate qualities. The people who say, ‘I did it all myself,’ and think of themselves as Horatio Alger—believe me, they’d bid more to be in the United States than in Bangladesh. That’s the Ovarian Lottery.”

So that’s it—the Ovarian Lottery. 

But what can you do about it? Well, just two things. 

1. Be humble and kind. You didn’t choose your parents. Your parents didn’t choose you either. It's all luck. If you are born into a Warren Buffet family, be humble. Remember that you are part of the 1% of the world that has this advantage you have. Be kind, both to yourself and to others. It isn’t your fault that you were born in Nigeria or to some poor people in Jenta. You can’t change it. Be kind to yourself. 

2. Increase the odds for the next generation. You may not have it easy now, but you can make it easy for your children. You can increase their odds of living a full life. You can give them a better education. You can give them a better safety net. It's up to you. 

A lot of people look at the Ovarian Lottery, and they are angry at rich kids. But really? What do you want the rich kids to do? Deny their parents and life of privilege so they can look like you? Don’t be silly. It isn’t their fault that they were born to rich parents. Your anger won’t change any of that. All that is within your power are the choices you can make. You can make better decisions so your kids won’t have to struggle like you! 

Make sure you pass better odds for the next generation! 

Have a good day!