10 Inventors Who Saw No Riches From Their Big Idea

Despite what you may think, a smash-hit of an invention doesn't necessarily set an inventor up for life. (Witness Doug Englebart, who invented the computer mouse but didn't see a dime from it.) As the BBC points out, there are plenty of others who failed to make billions (or even thousands) from their famous creations. On the list:

• Post-It Notes: Spencer Silver (who came up with the unique adhesive) and Art Fry (who had the "bookmark" idea) say they aren't rich, just "comfortably off."
• Karaoke machine: Daisuke Inoue failed to patent his creation, which spun out of a gig he had playing backing drums at a bar whose patrons provided the vocals; one day he couldn't make it, and put his music on a tape.

• MP3: Karlheinz Brandenburg started working on the MP3 in the 1980s, using the song "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega. As the BBC explains, "because there was no money to distribute the software it was marketed as shareware."
• Hovercraft: Sir Christopher Cockerell made the mistake of getting the British government involved with his invention, which he thought would have a military function; he surrendered his patents to the corporation the government set up around the vehicle. He was eventually awarded a lump sum worth $1.6 million in today's money, a fraction of what he likely would have made in the private market.

Click to see the complete list. (More inventions stories.)