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The question

Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

David Vélez

Co-founder and chief executive of Nubank

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Vicky, qué pregunta más difícil (risas). Voy a hablarle de los casos que nos han inspirado, como Charles Feeney, cofundador de los Duty Free Shop en los aeropuertos. Él hizo eso en los años ochenta. Se volvió uno de los hombres más ricos del mundo cuando vendió su compañía e inmediatamente se dedicó a la filantropía y gastó todo su dinero en metas sociales.

Vicky Dávila, interview, Semana, 1 October 2022 source ↗

Mentioned in this answer

Others on this question

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Obama. He is a man of integrity and nobody seems to have integrity these days.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, October 2017 source ↗
Richard Wilson Scottish actor and theatre director
Jeremy Corbyn – for his honesty and the possibilities he offers the Labour party. And he visited the refugees in Calais, so good on him.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 February 2016 source ↗
Zadie Smith Novelist and essayist
I feel almost certain I don't know them. It would be one of these types who dedicate their lives to the welfare of others, whereas the people I tend to know are people making stories out of the dramas of themselves.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2016 source ↗
Russell Tovey English actor
This changes every day. Presently I really admire Rebecca Warren, the artist. She continues to keep creating wonderful sculpture. And I met her and she is really cool.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 October 2010 source ↗

More from David Vélez

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Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains
Me gustaría que la gente se viera empoderada a construir, a resolver problemas. Que salgamos muchas veces de esa visión de víctimas en la que dependemos de muchas fuerzas. Que veamos problemas como grandes oportunidades para ayudar a resolver. Por ejemplo, frente a esa mala experiencia con los bancos, como me pasó en Brasil, mucha gente se hubiera sentado y quejado del banco. Pero vi una oportunidad gigantesca de ir y competir contra él.
Recorded Vicky Dávila, interview, Semana, 1 October 2022 source ↗
Question What would you most want to leave your children? Death & what remains
Queremos crear un ambiente familiar en donde no todo sea fácil, en donde no todo les caiga del cielo, sino que puedan construir su propio camino y tengan ese sentido de desesperación y esa hambre. Eso significa también que todo ese dinero no se les va a dejar a ellos. Se les dará muchísimo amor, como les damos, y muchas oportunidades de educación y de desarrollo, pero todo ese dinero no es para ellos.
Recorded Vicky Dávila, interview, Semana, 1 October 2022 source ↗
Question What makes you want to keep learning? Attention & the world
I wish I knew more about Clojure, which is the programming language we use most at Nubank. If I did, I could better understand some of the more complex problems we're trying to solve, and I think I could ask better questions when we're setting priorities. I'd like to be able to communicate at that level with the technical side of our team, and I think they would appreciate it, too.
Recorded questionnaire, Sequoia Capital, 15 August 2018 source ↗

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