This morning I spoke with David, an older man who became a Christian after his 85th birthday. That was pretty amazing! This evening I read a story featured on Forbes.com about a man who became a billionaire at 87. It was entitled: How to Become a Billionaire at 87. That was impressive as well, but I can’t say equally so.
Giuseppe Crippa, with an engineering background, spent thirty-five years working in the manufacturing end of the high-tech semiconductor business in Italy. In the early 60s, his employer sent him to Silicon Valley in California to study the groundbreaking technology of semiconductor microchips. A year later, he returned to Italy in 1963 and helped launch the first production line of silicon transistors in Europe.
As the demand for microchips exponentially increased in the ensuing years, Crippa saw a business opportunity to manufacture probe cards to test all the semiconductor microchips being manufactured around the world. So in the early 90s, Crippa began experimenting in his kitchen with the development of reusable probe cards. Before long, the space required for his microscopes, cutting machines, and other equipment had taken over their home’s garage, attic, and most other areas.
Giuseppe Crippa – Billionaire at 88
An early retirement severance package, at age 60, from his employer STM was irresistible. So in 1995, Crippa took the money to grow his fledgling home business. He moved his start-up business into an 8,600-square-foot facility and hired ten employees. Today his company Technoprobe does business with the world’s largest tech giants, employing 2200, with offices and plants around the world. 
“Technoprobe, which is now run by Crippa’s nephew and son as CEO and chairman, respectively, took advantage of its recent growth to go public on the Euronext Growth Milan stock exchange in February. The IPO turned Crippa, who stepped down as CEO in 2017 and is now 87, and his family into one of the richest in Italy, worth nearly $4 billion thanks to their 75% stake in the firm. Showing that age is no barrier, he was one of eight new billionaires this year [2022].” (1)
It is a rather amazing story –- not necessarily a rags to riches story but a modest kitchen business to a world-class enterprise spanning the globe. But believe it or not, my mind is still mulling over what 88-year-old David told me this morning about the riches he struck at 85.
But I pause because I have one more to tell you about. Not so often would I have three older seniors on my mind, but tonight I do. Just three days ago, I was helping someone with their yard work when an older man stopped to talk. He was their neighbour. He was not wearing the latest fashions by any stretch of the imagination – in fact, he looked like he needed a new coat and shoes and a few other things. But I knew he was wealthy – they say a millionaire.
An older man thinking.
For close to an hour, he chatted and reminisced with me. Although advanced in age, his mind was sharp when it came to the blueberry properties he owned. He mentioned multiple communities where he owned land and mentioned some high-powered lawyers, whose names I happened to recognize.
Gently, I interrupted him by saying: “You certainly own a lot of property down here, but I haven’t heard you mention any property you might have in Heaven. Do you have a place up there?” He said he didn’t. My heart sank as I thought of the possibility of someone being rich in life but poor for the eternal ages.
I asked him if he had ever met anyone who was sure they’d be in Heaven when they died. He said he hadn’t but thought it would be great to know for sure. He had never read the Bible, even though it was available and accessible to him. It just wasn’t something that interested him. But he did say he thought about what would happen to him after he died.
As clearly but as sensitively as I could, I told him about the rich man Jesus talked about who died and lifted up his eyes in Hell – a place of torment. Luke 16:22-23 I assured him that God wants no one to suffer eternally in such a place because of their sin.
None of us know what day will be our last but when you are looking into the eyes of an 88-year-old millionaire, you have a very keen sense that this man does not have a long time left on this planet.
Without overloading him with information, I told him of God’s love in sending His Son Jesus down to earth to be our Saviour by bearing the penalty of all our sins when He suffered and died on the Cross. I assured him that the forgiveness of sins had nothing to do with church attendance or merit points collected throughout the decades of his life, and then I quoted a couple of Bible verses:
The blood of Jesus Christ, His [God’s] Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1John 1:7
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
I’ve told you about three people, and now you are the fourth on my mind. Of the three and setting ages aside, whose life situation would you prefer to be your own?
David, who trusted Christ as his personal Saviour at age 85, whose sins are totally forgiven and who has eternal life and a sure home in Heaven.
Mr. Crippa, who in 2022 became a billionaire at age 87 but whose profile mentions nothing about his spiritual status with God.
The 88-year-old millionaire blueberry developer and land owner who reminisces about the glory days of his past but worries about his status when he dies.
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What David has can be yours today. Don’t wait until you are 85 – you may not have that long. We aren’t even certain about our next 24 hours. God withholds His great offer of eternal salvation and forgiveness from no one. Read John chapter 3 and verse 16 again to be assured of your eligibility, and then respond without delay – today. Could you respond now?
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Click on the link if you would like to read a helpful but brief document entitled – Finding Christ is Finding Peace.
Sources:
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2022/06/01/how-to-become-a-billionaire-at-87-serving-apple-samsung-amd/?sh=1b702ff73bda