Genius is not always rewarded. Hungry for cash, John “Doc” Pemberton sold the world’s most famous trade secret—the formula for Coca- Cola, for less than $900. Charles Goodyear had a brilliant innovation—rubber that could be used year-round. But Goodyear made many bad deals, failed to protect his patent rights and died in 1860 owing over $200,000. Charles Stahlberg woke the world up with his alarm-clock invention but then, because of business debts, was forced to sell all rights cheaply to the Westclox company
