Strange: no real high achievers or famous people in my circle of connections

I attended an elite boarding school in England, did my undergraduate degree at Cambridge, and got my MBA from Harvard. I worked for Morgan Stanley. I worked in Russia, which was once part of the ‘BRIC’ block; the term was coined by Goldman Sachs, referring to Brazil, Russia, India, China — the countries that were supposed to be the frontiers of economic growth. I worked in Silicon Valley. I’m not bragging, but there’s no question that I’ve spent long stretches of my life among the crème de la crème, both in the developed and developing world. I saw many of my classmates and ex-colleagues pursue all kinds of careers and entrepreneurial endeavors. I keep in touch with some, and I am aware of most of my connections’ journeys, thanks to personal and professional social media.

I’m in my mid-forties. You’d think that out of the many hundreds of smart and privileged people I’ve met, by now at least some should be known for having achieved something extraordinary — built companies of unicorn status, for example, and achieved major success in politics or the arts.

But I can’t think of any.

Some achieved major success, no doubt. For example, the analyst whom I sat next to in my first year at Morgan Stanley left the world of finance and pursued a career in academia. He’s now a well-respected professor who has authored several books on economics and finance. My business school classmate worked in the government of Afghanistan (he fled the…