Thatcher -- born in October 1925 in the small eastern England market town of Grantham -- came from a modest background, taking pride in being known as a grocer's daughter.

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Like my husband, I came from a modest background.

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Jobs is the other example: he came from a modest background, overcame adversity, took huge personal risks when he put most of his net worth in to Pixar and NeXT, built a great company, and made a fortune, of course, but all the while he dressed in Levis and kept his personal life private.

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But our criteria for the world's hardest-working billionaire had to start with someone from a more modest background.

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True, Mr Vidal's father, Eugene Luther Vidal, came from a more modest background, the descendant of immigrants, possibly Jewish, who settled in South Dakota.

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Abu Mariam came from a more modest background.

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Its innovative commenda, a partnership in which capital-poor sailors and rich Venetians shared the profits from voyages, allowed those of modest background to rise through the ranks.

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