Some people believe very strongly that collecting the most revenue in the time you have available on the earth is the best possible pursuit a person can have. They do not understand anyone who doesn't share their passion to achieve the highest number of dollars or yuan or yen or rupees.
The real test of belief comes at the end of your life, but during the middle part you believe what you believe.
Consequently any story of following one's passion rather than money will be discounted by folks who don't share that belief, and any story of finding ways to get richer and richer will be discounted by folks who don't share that belief. When you are friends with folks who have one view or the other, and your friendship spans decades, you get a chance to see if you or your friends change views over time.
For a long time I internally beat myself up for not taking Bill Gates up on a job offer in 1978 (chances are if I had stuck with the company I'd be very wealthy now), but as I got older and perhaps more importantly had people I had known well die, I came to appreciate the choices I've made on passions vs money. Not everyone does of course.
