An Algerian Version of the American Dream

Just like Horatio Alger's famous stories of the rags-to-riches American Dream, this profile from the New Yorker "The Uses of Adversity" tells the story of Sidney Weinberg: a persistent kid from Brooklyn who ended up at the top of Goldman Sachs and became the go-to guy of the financial and corporate world. The story, by Malcolm Gladwell, investigates the idea reminiscent of Andrew Carnegie: is working from the ground up the best route to success? In the case of Weinberg, it is. When you come from nothing, you have nothing to lose and everything to work for. It is a more honest and earnest endeavor lacking the haughtiness of the already financially stable looking to "capitalize on their advantages," as Gladwell puts it. An interesting story to look at while working on our profile pieces!