I've seen a lot of great open source projects. But most of them are from successful companies like Google/Facebook/Twitter/Dotcloud. And I've heard a lot about the open source business model, like doing commercial consultation and projects as the primary source of income. But I just don't know anyone who really made a fortune out of it. Am I seeing it in a wrong way or it's just not possible for open source authors to get rich?
It's possible for open-source authors to get rich (Linus Torvalds made several million from VA Linux's IPO), but much like academics, the financial returns are usually an order of magnitude or so less than comparable levels of success in the business world. It makes sense that someone trying to get paid for their labor would make more money than someone who gives their labor away for free.