Top 10 People Who INSANELY Didn't Get Rich Off Their Inventions
Sometimes inventions are not patented, and that means the creators don't make money off their creations. Whether it's the inventor of the video game Tetris Alexej Pajitnov, the creator of the ballpoint pen Laszlo Biro or even famed poet Edgar Allen Poe, these inventors didn't get mega-rich off their inventions. WatchMojo counts down ten people who changed the world, and in return made no money.
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Top 10 People Who INSANELY Didn't Get Rich Off Their Inventions
Necessity is the mother of invention – not money. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 people who INSANELY didn’t get rich off their inventions. For this list, we’re looking at inventors or creative-types who either sold the rights to their world changing work for way too little, were prevented from filing a patent for some reason or just decided not to capitalize on their idea.
#10: John Barry
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Since “Dr. No” hit theaters, the same theme has played in almost every 007 film. But who wrote the “James Bond Theme”? Monty Norman’s name is on the “Dr. No” soundtrack, and he’s received royalties since 1962; however, John Barry claimed it was him and not Norman who’d composed it. According to Barry, he was handed Norman’s original composition of the theme, which he then re-arranged and added to. Supposedly, Barry received £250, while Norman had collected nearly half a million by 2001, when the case went to court. Norman won and to this day is officially recognized as the theme’s sole writer. John Barry went on to compose scores for 11 other Bond films.
#9: Edgar Allan Poe
He’s the master of the macabre and a huge influence on modern American literature, but Poe never experienced financial success. Even Poe’s most famous poem, “The Raven,” was no help: though it achieved popularity during his lifetime, he saw very little recompense from its publication, as he made the mistake of selling the poem to The American Review in 1845 for $9. While the poem’s reputation did earn him some publishing deals, it also prompted Poe to say this: “I am as poor now as ever I was in my life—except in hope, which is by no means bankable.” He died broke less than five years later.
#8: John Walker
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After fiddling around with several ways to easily produce fire and transfer it to a material like wood, Walker accidentally discovered that the missing ingredient needed to set the chemicals alight was friction – and thus the friction match was born in 1826. He began producing matches, and selling them for one shilling for a box of 50. Though he was urged to patent his invention, and others invented similar products not long after, Walker wanted anyone to be able to make matches and therefore refused. He lived the rest of his life decently comfortable but never became rich from his discovery.
#7: Alexey Pajitnov
In 1984, while working for the research and development center known as the Soviet Academy of Sciences, computer engineer Alexey Pajitnov developed a video game based on tetrominoes. Its goal was to create complete lines that would then disappear. Sound familiar? “Tetris” became the first piece of entertainment software to make its way from the USSR to the United States, and has since been named one of the greatest games in history. However, because Pajitnov was a Soviet government employee, he earned no royalties from his invention until 1996, when he and Henk Rogers founded The Tetris Company and the rights finally reverted back to their rightful owner.
#6: Ron Klein
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Verifying credit card fraud in the ‘60s was slow and unsophisticated: merchants kept catalogues of fraudulent numbers and manually searched whenever someone used their card to ensure the number was valid. Klein helped computerize the process, but cashiers still had to manually type in the numbers so the system could search for it. To accelerate the process even more, Klein developed readable strips using a technology comparable to reel-to-reel tape recorders. Although he patented his invention in 1969, IBM developed a similar idea soon after and issued their technology for free. The company Klein worked for, Ultronics Systems Corp., never enforced the patent, so Klein had to make his money elsewhere.
#5: Daisuke Inoue
Karaoke has become an international phenomenon, but it’s likely most popular in its native Japan. In his youth, Daisuke Inoue was involved with a band that played backing music for random businesspeople that wanted to sing onstage. One day he had to miss a gig, so he recorded the musical accompaniment instead. He eventually developed a system of machines to play the taped music, and started renting them out to local bars in the early-‘70s. However, Inoue never patented – and therefore never profited – from his invention of the karaoke machine. He was, however, was named one of Time Magazine’s “Most Influential Asians of the Century” in 1999.
#4: László Bíró
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This newspaper editor’s quest for a better pen began when he noticed how newsprint dried faster than pen ink. Unfortunately, that quick-drying ink was too thick for a fountain pen. So he devised the ball-socket mechanism to keep the ink from drying inside the pen and to evenly dispense it onto a page, and in 1943 he filed US patent 2390636 A, for a “writing instrument.” Two years later, Marcel Bich paid him $2 million for the patent. However, considering the company he later founded – BIC – made over 2 billion euros in 2016 alone, you gotta wonder if Bíró deserved more. Even so, ballpoint pens are still called “biros” in some places.
#3: Mikhail Kalashnikov
A tank commander in the Russian Red Army during WWII, Kalashnikov started developing a new rifle while he was in the hospital recovering from a battle injury. It took a few years and several failed models, but the Avtomat Kalashnikova was first manufactured in 1947, soon after being adopted by the Soviet Army. Over 70 years later, it’s one of the most commonly used assault rifles on the planet, because it’s easy to use, easy to find, cheap to make and – best of all – reliable. However, the AK-47’s original design was never patented, and so Kalashnikov didn’t benefit. What’s more, it’s estimated that roughly half of the AK-47’s in the world are counterfeit anyway.
#2: James Cameron
“The Terminator” is Jim Cameron’s brainchild: he first got the idea for the series from a dream, and soon enough he was developing an entire universe. However, to get the first film made, he sacrificed a lot: Cameron sold the rights to the film to Gale Anne Hurd for one dollar, with the caveat that she produce and he direct it. Unlike other entries on this list, that risky move paid off for Cameron: “The Terminator” was his breakout film and a major hit, allowing him to become a well-known filmmaker worth almost $2 billion and ultimately leading to an entire franchise of wildly successful sci-fi action films. Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions: - Nick Holonyak Developed the First Visible-Spectrum LED - Sir Christopher Cockerell Invented the Hovercraft - Randy Schueller Created Venom for Marvel Comics for $220
#1: Tim Berners-Lee
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One could argue that the World Wide Web is so large and essential that it couldn’t and shouldn’t be copyrighted – and its inventor would agree with you. Computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented what we know as the World Wide Web in 1989 by connecting ideas and systems that already existed. The following year, he developed the web browser while working at CERN, and by 1991 it was made available to masses. Can you imagine if any of these ideas had been patented? The Web would be a very different place. Today, Berners-Lee is dedicated to the idea of an open and accessible Web, and founded the World Wide Web Consortium to help ensure it stays that way.
