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Notable Achievements at Age 65
Died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles
Richard Pryor died on December 10, 2005 of cardiac arrest at a Los Angeles-area hospital/at home (sources note cardiac arrest).
Dies of complications related to cancer
Paul Allen dies in Seattle of septic shock related to cancer on October 15, 2018.
Defeated in 2012 presidential election
Lost the general election to incumbent President Barack Obama; Romney received 206 Electoral College votes to Obama's 332.
Mentored Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever leading to AlexNet
Supervised graduate students Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever; collaborative work produced AlexNet and later led to DNNresearch.
Released from house arrest (Nov 13, 2010)
Released after long intermittent detention; returned to active politics and was allowed to meet family (son Kim visited).
W. Mark Felt (Deep Throat) died
Mark Felt, confirmed as 'Deep Throat,' died in December 2008 at age 95; Woodward later memorialized Felt publicly January 16, 2009.
Re-elected to U.S. Senate in landslide
Defeated Pete Ricketts 63.88% to 36.12% with 378,388 votes; one of the largest margins for a Democratic Senate candidate in Nebraska since 1982.
Elected to U.S. Senate (2006)
Elected to represent Vermont in the U.S. Senate (won 2006 election; took office Jan 3, 2007).
Simons Foundation launched SFARI (autism research)
Following a 2003 roundtable, the Simons Foundation created the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) to fund autism research.
Died of liver disease
Passed away at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center after progressive liver disease.
Died in Boston, Massachusetts
Died in Boston while visiting; left a significant body of essays, lectures and books that influenced later organizational theory.
Inauguration of the Institut Pasteur in Paris
Official opening/inauguration of the Institut Pasteur (14 November 1888); Pasteur served as director until his death.
Recipient of Charles Stark Draper Prize (joint award)
Awarded (with David A. Patterson, John L. Hennessy, and Stephen B. Furber) the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering for invention, development and implementation of RISC chips.
Finalized transition from BP CEO (succeeded by Bernard Looney)
Dudley's successor Bernard Looney took the reins as BP Group Chief Executive in 2020, marking the end of Dudley's decade-long tenure.
Escaped Japan to Lebanon
While under house arrest awaiting trial, Ghosn fled Japan hidden inside a large road/instrument case on a private jet via Osaka → Istanbul → Beirut; described as 'escape from injustice.'
Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019).
Announces return of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Publicly states that his non-Hodgkin lymphoma has returned and that he will undergo treatment while continuing work.
Georgina Chapman leaves Weinstein
Shortly after the allegations became public, his wife Georgina Chapman announced she was leaving him.
Fired from The Weinstein Company
Following the growing allegations, Weinstein was fired by the board of The Weinstein Company (Oct 8, 2017).
New York Times exposé (first major public allegations)
The New York Times published an investigation detailing decades of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein (Oct 5, 2017).
💡 What this means for you
At age 65, you're at a pivotal point where many successful entrepreneurs made their breakthrough. Whether you're building your first company or scaling an existing one, these examples show what's possible with focus and execution.
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