The world's richest man, Bill Gates, when he was studying at Harvard University, happened to read this book and immediately decided to drop out of school and start a business, thus creating the myth of the software empire. Napoleon Hill, the father of American success studies, became a master of success studies because of the inspiration from this book. In 2003, when this book was finally declassified in the United States, dozens of versions were published and it quickly became an extremely popular bestseller.