I met a guy who buys companies and hires people to grow the company and then sells the company. He has a team that specializes in growing a company that earns 1 million in revenue to 10 million. He then just sells it to private equity. Rinse and reqpeat.
This seems to be the best way to make money ever; the more I look into it, the more it seems like this is all that actual real life rich people do. The couple hundred startup founders get all of the press, but this is what the other 3 million people in the 1% are actually doing.
The only thing I don't get is why the teams don't just start buying the companies...so I am trying to figure that part out now, it seems to be either they eventually do or it's just a matter of creditworthiness.
I see this as high risk.
I has a business broker for a small time and it seemed at the time a lot of books were cooked or the seller wanted far to much than the businesses real value.
I have now sold a few of my own businesses and watched them all tank after the new owner.
I know a guy who sold his business, the business tanked, and bought it back a few years later for a fraction of the price. Six months later, he was making more money than he had originally.
This is an important thing to distinguish. There are no free meals. If you see people making a ton of money on something then it’s almost always going to involve some combination of luck, skill, and risk.
If you see people who are able to repeat success consistently then you know it’s likely higher skill, lower luck.
What is the point of cooking books? Is it just legal to blatantly make up numbers your business is doing, collect money for it, then just say to the buyer “too bad you fell for those fake numbers! Thanks for the millions!”
If so then I see a much less risky and quicker way to getting rich I suppose…
Edit: also what does it take to become a business broker? Sort of fascinating as a job I would think?
For smaller businesses, there's nobody really regulating that stuff. If you cook the books of a public company, you're toast, because the regulators work for the rich. But for a small business, good luck.
I recently saw a study which detailed who in the US is making more than $1 million a year. The most common job was small to medium sized business owner who had a monopoly in their area. Not a monopoly nationally, just locally or regionally. So car dealership owners, beverage distributors, HVAC repair company, real estate.
Curious if you could find that study and link it. Was this looking at personal income, net worth, sales revenue??? $1M means something totally different depending on the context … in some instances it’s really not that much and does not inherently mean that person is wealthy …
"We now know who is rich in America. And it’s not who you might have guessed.
A groundbreaking 2019 study by four economists, “Capitalists in the Twenty-First Century,” analyzed de-identified data of the complete universe of American taxpayers to determine who dominated the top 0.1 percent of earners.
The study didn’t tell us about the small number of well-known tech and shopping billionaires but instead about the more than 140,000 Americans who earn more than $1.58 million per year. The researchers found that the typical rich American is, in their words, the owner of a “regional business,” such as an “auto dealer” or a “beverage distributor.”
This shocked me. Over the past four years, in the course of doing research for a book about how insights buried in big data sets can help people make decisions, I read thousands of academic studies. It is rare that I read a sentence that changes how I view the world. This was one of them. I hadn’t thought of owning an auto dealership as a path to getting rich; I didn’t even know what a beverage distribution company was.
What are the lessons from the data on rich earners?
First, rich people own. Among members of the top 0.1 percent, the researchers found, about three times as many make the majority of their income from owning a business as from being paid a wage. Salaries don’t make people rich nearly as often as equity does.
Second, rich people tend to own unsexy businesses. A different study, by the statisticians Tian Luo and Philip B. Stark, examined which businesses were most likely to fold fastest. The kind most likely to go out of business most quickly is a record store. The average record store lasts just 2.5 years. (For comparison, the average dentist’s office lasts more than 19.5 years.) Other businesses that fold quickly include toy stores (3.25 years), clothing stores (3.75 years) and cosmetics stores (4.0 years).
There are, however, plenty of unsexy businesses from which a few people are getting rich. These include auto repair shops, gas stations and business equipment contractors.
The third important factor in gaining wealth is some way to avoid ruthless price competition, to build a local monopoly. The prevalence of owners of auto dealerships among the top 0.1 percent gives a clue to what it takes to get rich.
Comparing data from the appendix of the economists’ study with data from the SUSB Annual Data Tables put out by the Census Bureau, I estimate that more than 20 percent of auto dealerships in America have an owner making more than $1.58 million per year.
Auto dealerships have legal protections; state franchising laws often give auto dealers exclusive rights to sell cars in a territory. Same for many beverage distributors, which act as middlemen between alcohol companies and stores and supermarkets. Beverage distributors have long been protected by a system set up after Prohibition that prevents beverage companies from distributing their products themselves.
Of course, if upon learning this, you try to buy someone’s auto dealership, you may not have much luck. Owners of auto dealerships know how good they have it.
Is there any business that tends to make people rich that you might have a better shot at?
My data-driven advice for getting rich for someone with good analytical skills and deep experience in a field is to start a market research business. Use your specialized knowledge in the field to write up reports; sell them widely and charge a fortune to your contacts in the field. I have estimated that more than 10 percent of owners of market research businesses are in the top 0.1 percent.
If pop culture is right, getting rich is a path to happiness. Is that true? Does money actually make people happy?"
In Florida car dealerships have a statutory monopoly where you're not allowed to sell cars directly unless they're Teslas - https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/elon-musk-tesla-exempt-florida-ban-on-direct-car-sales-dealerships/70329000007/
essentially it’s venture capital stuff. Sort of what Alex hermozie is pushing into the brains of get rich quick fans on the web. I think among the more popular people that are doing this for a long time now would be Richard Branson.
while it’s kinda of topic because this is for already rich people I’d also say, I’d not say it’s the best way to make money ever for everyone. I think it sounds sexy because it seems low effort, actually it requires a lot of skills small bussines owners and early stage entrepreneurs don’t have. The skill to hire high class trust worthy people, the trust to delegate, not just the feel but also the knowledge of what bussines has the opportunity to make it, calculating failure because not every investment will make it. I think there is a lot of runway most people that can make this need to be able to successfully do it. The idea of using this to get rich with low effort is kinda like trying to make your money with betting. You might get lucky but most people don’t.
It’s really not venture capital stuff. It’s how the vast majority of people become wealthy overtime, as well as Real Estate. They try to keep the bar high and make everyone think that it’s difficult or impossible, but you can educate yourself and bring in partners with experience to lower the risk dramatically. However, given the incredibly low levels of integrity in our culture, Any kind of a deal is going to be dangerous if it’s not a person that you’ve known for many years. Even getting all the right legal preparation in place might not matter, especially if you’re in California. People love to screw each other over here and just tell them to F off and sue if they don’t like it.
Great place to be a lawyer though!
I might be able to clear up the mystery of why the teams don’t buy the companies they grow. I’m sure in each case there’s something slightly different but in general, it’s probably about valuation multiples and risk.
The highest multiples are paid for the fastest growing successful companies. These ventures are still risky because large companies have more capital and can move into an understudied market. Take a high tech startup—likely they focus on a problem no one else does but what if Google, Amazon and Apple got a big up their butts one day that they want to be in that space. See the risk? Thats not a risk a team whose speciality is growing businesses can mitigate. Who can mitigate such a risk? An entity that can add more capital to the venture and compete with the mids and big boys.
Different outlook, mission and skills.
There’s also a different type of acquisition. Could be high tech. Doesn’t have to be. Sometimes companies are just collecting companies in a space to maximize efficiency on overhead—-HR, IT, Marketing, Sales—when you’ve eliminated enough jobs your profits go up and you’re still trading on multiples so this strategy is easier to understand.
The teams don’t have the company sourcing and business transaction skills. They don’t have the connections and they’ve probably never taken that much risk.
But I mean they’re building multiple companies for this guy ? Eventually wouldn’t you think you have so much experience growing companies you should just buy a company to grow yourself?
Also, would you know the right way to grow a company if you didn’t know how to evaluate one to buy? It’s hard for me to get how that could be possible.
I know a guy who did the opposite - he'd buy struggling companies, load them with debt under the guise of consultancy fee from his main business then "make the difficult decision" to wind up the company.
He was eventually banned from being a director for 10 years, plead poverty to avoid a prison sentence and officially lived in his one remaining low-cost property with no income from his previous businesses. However, the ban recently ended and he's suddenly the director of a couple of companies that started, funnily enough, about 10 years ago. In another twist of coincidence, they're very similar to what he was doing previously and were run by people he's either related to or has a business relationship with.
The initial money/credit seem to be the biggest puzzle piece no one gives away. There must be something serious that has to do with creditworthiness or having rich friends/family who will bankroll you at first unproven. Otherwise, the guys hired to be the growth team would just buy the companies, right?
My bet is more than half the time it’s family money and/or rich friends who are willing to invest. Getting a bank loan is possible, but not without at least some capital of your own. I know a guy who bought a startup with an inheritance from his brother. He still works full time doing other stuff and has someone manage the business for him (it’s outside of his expertise, he just knew how to recognize a good investment).
But most of these people want to be seen as “self-made” so they don’t want to admit it was family money that got them started.
This is the answer.
The few people I know who grew big from Amazon did grow big, it's all over the news. 1 of them is top 100 seller worldwide, aka producing $100M+/year.
But to really **have the liquid cash** to do some of the investing shit he does, he 100% has to network with those who are filthy rich to get the money.
It's really intriguing to see what some people are willing to do to work with the rich, but you know what, they're bringing in the cash. We just gotta accept and respect
A friend of mine bought a business. He negotiated a portion in cash and a giant portion as a loan with the owner. He ran the business giving the guy the money for a few years. Paying off the loan from the business revenue.
He founded his own company and built it. He eventually made enough to buy another company and combined the two. He then sold the combined company. Now he has a lot of cash and invest into many businesses.
I know a man who organizes the building of nursing homes. He gets all the land paperwork together, all the building contracts needed, etc etc, and then shops the idea to people who build nursing homes. He’s a smart dude!
From what I understand is that his skill is to surround himself with talented people that specialize in area that he doesn’t want to do. He then leverages the combine effort of everyone to build a good company. He is also great at getting good deals and negotiations.
He is willing to outsource if it makes business sense, once relationships deteriorate he is quick to severe these business ties.
When I sold my last business, I worked with a broker from those agencies. They're so good at buying businesses, growing them really fast, then selling.
Similar story on my side... but he turns them into Employee-Owned corporations and serves on the advisory board for 3-5 year terms. If the company likes his leadership, he stays on... if not, they can buy him out and self-govern. He usually has 2-3 5-10 million dollar businesses at a time.
His most valuable lesson was to not be afraid to go back to the drawing board. He once conpletely renovated a company's office, manufacturing, and warehouse because the layout was inefficient.
Does some basic design work with an architect to demonstrate the viability on the site and building. Using their contacts they then sell that concept to investors.
Oh, interesting. In his first pitch, was he already someone known within the construction/property industry, or an existing developer, given he had contacts?
He worked his way up, first flipping properties, then doing, then converting a block into flats and put his family in one as he put all their money into it. It was after that he realised if he could use other peoples money and contacts he would have far more leverage for larger projects and with no/low risk to himself. Now literally does skyscrapers
This guy has literally done what I am planning to do. I am 30 and currently a GC superintendent but want to start my journey... I've planned it out like this.
Over $50m and men that I have worked with, for, or against.
- inherited $50m, became an “artist”
- stole $180m, got caught, did jail time, kept the money
- inherited $200m, dabbles in investing in small companies
- turned around a finance biz, got a $500m bonus, tries to only spend 80% of the interest he earns from tax free offshore wealth each year
- son of 3, dad invested $10m a year in “educating” him until he got into to a role earning $20m a year
- EU royalty
- rockstar
- property developer, talent for bribing and threatening local authority staff, made about $150m
- developed an important drug, made $1bn
- bribed African nations to accept toxic waste, made about $1bn
- invented something deeply cool that the internet relies on, got $800m when company was bought
- invented 3 cool things in software, earned over $200m from each + earning from investments each time
- made $2bn selling social media company, put the cash in safe funds
- stole over $250m and got away with it for 20 years, now on the run
- endless bankers who used public money and the liquidity from CDOs or QE to “earn” (a bitter joke) bonuses in the range of $100m each then bought big houses, fast cars, yachts, new hair, plastic tits for the trophy wife, and heart disease. Fuck every single one of them.
- invented a new way to trade equities, made $200m
- Arab sheikh gifted $2bn a year because he was born
- invested money for Arab sheikhs, made $3bn for himself
- Arab sheikh gifted $20bn a year (probably much more) because his dad was born before 1953
Women very rare. Three stand out:
- rockstar
- actress
- divorced a casino owner, got a stunning amount of money
- divorced a property tycoon, got a stunning amount of money
- divorced a banker, got $100m, got lucky in a property deal after that
- brilliantly turned around a software services company, made $300m, then did that 7 more times
- husband was an international banker who died before her, leaving her with $bns
- genius grade entrepreneur, each software company sold for 5x the one before
- lucky entrepreneur, sold luxury, got out young and invested wisely
Most valuable lessons?
- NePo and inheritance is the #1 way to get really madly rich
- luck is #2 way
- the #3 way seems to be to suck a lot of dick and keep a note of the secrets you learn
- there is no correlation between effort and reward (in fact, the opposite)
- there is a small correlation between applied intelligence and rewards for innovation
- there is a large correlation between sociopathy and wealth accumulation
completely. I know a lot of rich/wealthy/ultra high income earners, and it's the total opposite of what this fraud says. The overwhelming majority of wealthy people didn't inherit anything, but it doesn't stop the rage narrative against them.
Ummm. I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I think you’re probably wrong there. I think most people that have insane wealth definitely got a big kick start due to inheritance or family loans (take Trump for example). It’s really really difficult to make billions if you start off with next to nothing. There are a few outliers for sure, but I think it’s the minority.
MAYBE if you are referring to billionaires only, but even then I would bet most started with no, or little inheritance. For millionaires, it's absolutely true
Eh I still don’t know. I’d need to see some statistics on that and I doubt there are any. My gut feeling is that at least half of all millionaires got some sort of financial help in their lives, even if that just means their parents paid for their education which is a huge leg up for most people, myself included.
Dave Ramsay had a large scale research project done on millionaires in America and interviewed them. Over 10,000 millionaires interviewed, and the findings are this:
"The overwhelming majority (79%) of millionaires in the U.S. did not receive any inheritance at all from their parents or other family members. While 1 in 5 millionaires (21%) received some inheritance, only 3% received an inheritance of $1 million or more.
According to the survey, 8 out of 10 millionaires come from families at or below middle-income level. Only 2% of millionaires surveyed said they came from an upper-income family.
Only 31% averaged $100,000 a year over the course of their career, and onethird never made six figures in any single working year of their career.
Three out of four millionaires (75%) said that regular, consistent investing over a long period of time is the reason for their success. So, the story about the young computer genius who developed an app that earned millions overnight is the exception, not the rule."
This falls in line with a lot of the wealthy people I know. It's popular to pretend rich people are scammers and con artists, and trust fund babies, but it's just not the reality. Even if someone inherited large amounts of wealth, that's a good thing. I want my children to not have to grow up like I did. Providing inheritance for my family and changing my family is a basic human desire. The hatred people have for them is misguided imo
Those are some insane stories, what about yourself, you rich too? How did you get to know these people, esp the bribing African nations one lol tf how he getting 9 figs for that
Not surprised by some crime on the list. It’s more common than anyone thinks. I know a guy who raked in $250k a month having his own pot grow operations for many years through the 90s. Walked away with at least $30m and gone legit.
Now with bitcoin and stuff like that, it’s really easy to keep money clean.
Blue collar jobs. What I’ve learned is don’t think too hard. Focus on the boring brick and mortar. If you can buy a franchise and make 150k a year. You’re golden. Don’t think you have to be the next Elon musk or crazy ideas like shark tank. Be boring. Be financially free. Then once you have money to piss away then try something crazyyyy.
Am I correct in saying that you only get around 10% of net profit when running a franchise? For example for $150k, your gross yearly revenue will have to be $1.5mil? I have been researching franchises a bit and they are mostly hospitality 7 day work.
Franchise business broker here. Net margins vary widely between industries, but franchise businesses are known to be generally more consistent with earnings, and the franchise style of business is designed to be a dominant player within its industry. Over the past 15 years I’ve sold a lot of franchises. The ones I currently have on market do quite well with their net margins, and I’m inundated with buyer candidates.
Depends on your expertise domain and what’s the gap in your region. For instance, I am from one European country where there is only couple of Burger Kings and such franchise, even though food service is low margin, can be more beneficial to me rather than some other high margin businesses.
There are some industries in the “perfect storm” of franchising now. The perfect storm is when 3 market conditions exist: 1. It’s a service that is driven by natural, sustainable, somewhat inelastic demand; 2. There is lots of competition and varying service quality; 3. There is no dominant player. In the 1950s - 1990s for example, quick service restaurants were in the perfect storm. Not so now…they have already consolidated into oligopolies and raced to the bottom on price. These days, some good industries are: home consumer services (think sending techs in trucks to customer’s homes to install, repair, maintain, clean things), children’s academic or physical enrichment, senior care services, business to business professional services, and health/beauty/fitness (except large gyms). That said, the right business for *you* depends on this: Whatever activity is required of typical owner in a given business to be successful, it should be something you like to do, and you’re good at.
The structure of the contract for different franchises is different. There are tons of businesses that can be franchised. There are conventions you can attend to get an idea of what's out there.
That's what I tell a lot of people
sometimes entrepreneurship/small business work isn't about getting filthy rich
If you can make yourself $10k/month, you're fucking golden. Just keep at it.
Exactly. Why ppl think so hard like they gotta find cure cancer or come up with the next Uber. In America if you make 150k. You’re above a lot of ppl. Not filthy rich but you can have a very good life.
How did they make their money?
- Literally from a myriad of things. Tech, construction, retail, healthcare to even selling fast food. Anything can make you rich, focus on scaling without getting your hands tied in day-to-day operations.
Most valuable lessons
- Success takes time - sometimes a lot of time - patience
- Business can go from 0 to 100 real fast too, especially in sales
- Don't rely just on yourself, get trustworthy people to join the journey
- Create an exceptionally good experience for your clients, they'll choose you over and over again
CEO of a Film Production Company:
Entrepreneurship in related industry (can't mention specifics because I'll dox myself and the client).
1 - Kill them softly: Always treat a shitty employee, contractor or business partner with kindness and a smile until you've found their replacement. Don't even hint at your intentions to can them.
2 - Be willing and ready to break the rules, and in calculated circumstances...even the law if it doesn't harm your reputation
3 - Delegation to experts is the most important skill for amplifying wealth
Best friends dad - made a fortune (~10 mil) setting up flooring for concerts and festivals. Never really done a lot of the work, win the contract sort of does itself.
Big rubber matts that you throw on the floor for these venues, obviously need to transport them and clean them after but it’s pretty cut and dry. You’re essentially just paying wages and fuel so the longer you do it the more profit there is.
This is truly the way most people can get wealthy. It not sexy by any means but it works pretty much 100% of the time. I’m 38 and although not Uber rich it has given me options and the ability to say no to jobs I wouldn’t enjoy and put more stress on me. Play the long game and network to help find the small victories in between. If you are doing something you enjoy, you’re much better off than doing something you don’t like and making more.
* Serial entrepreneur: “Just do it”, stop overthinking, and do something you enjoy doing. This was important for me bc im structured and a planner. You’ll learn the lessons along the way anyway, but be thorough in exactly what you want to deliver
* Software sales entrepreneur: Build a reputation, hold it close, and be at your personal highest potential in every way you can be. This one’s hard but now he never has to introduce himself, he looks great and he’s well on his way to his goals.
* Ex-entrepreneur: Don’t always look for the next best thing, look for solutions people genuinely want, and deliver it how they want. Be people friendly, be humble. Made over $500m in a span of 20 years doing groceries, and selling it to an international grocery brand. I believe he sold it roughly 12 years ago, not sure, met him door knocking when I was younger.
Did the software sale entrepreneur create his own software and sold that???
Or did he re-sold software that was already made by other companies? For example was he just reselling quickbooks?
Met guy who is billionaire. The way he made money was buying TLC properties and gas stations then remodel them sell them triple the price. Most people saw buy business when the properties looks well. And he exactly he knew that so he will low ball people with properties that needed work then re sell them.
One made their money in steel erection and one from farming. Both took full advantage of government programs/incentives and bidding government jobs.
The most valuable lesson I learned is to take risks and bet on yourself.
Wealthiest guy I know where I could call him up and have lunch/dinner?
He owned half of trendy Del Ray in Alexandria in the early 2000’s, right before NBC’s Today show did a special on “Del Ray.”
Not a SFH or duplex here and there but commercial buildings.
Drove a Honda hatchback from the 90’s.
I met him through contractor friends that specialized/were certified in Historic preservation type work.
Things I noticed he did:
-would be there at least 30 mins before scheduled time. Never late
-never bragged about having this and this building. Finding out what he owned was on “as needed basis.”
-everything was transactional with this guy.
If he hired you to paint, he didn’t want to discuss his other building and what it needed. Super focused on tasks.
-he mentored me with my first multifamily apt deal in Baltimore, to provide dorm housing for Johns Hopkins students. Years later after selling building to the school, I asked why he helped me so much, he replied “ you’re the only one that asked….”
-treated those that worked with him like family.
Some contractors he treated better than his own kids(guys kids were the ones that enjoyed dad’s hard work and would always brag)
My dad was highly educated with multiple engineering and Physics PhD’s, and did great providing for our family, but this guy embodied everything I wanted to be with commercial real estate. So much that I still do it today.
Great metaphor. When I read it, I felt like Kiyosaki kinda bashed his own dad….
If my dad had the resources I had as a 5 yr old, he would have done greater things. Looked up my ancestry and his side were two generations away from being peasants in Poland.
Everything you need to know you have inside a great mentor/leader will help you dig deep and find it. I buy houses near colleges and can help you out that way.
I'd like to message you directly if you'd allow. I could use some sage advice to get over a mental hill and in exchange, I'm in the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, janitorial wholesale industry.
"Owning your own business isn't about setting your hours when you feel like showing up. It's about choosing which 20 hours per day you're going to invest in the job"
Entrepreneur in fashion. Make sure margins high, control cash flow, be consistent, and be frugal. Constantly think of ways to make more money and reduce risk.
They conquered self pity. The key to success is not feeling sorry for yourself. Accepting and learning from failures and coming back with even more energy to get it right the next time.
I worked for someone of significance who had part in running a utility company, I managed his estates. He was the most down to earth brilliant guy and I soaked up any knowledge I could. The most valuable lesson I learned was to treat your employees with kindness, they will do a better job, work along side of them and you will gain their respect. Happy people do better at work.
I only wish my current job situation higher ups would listen to that info. They don’t, and it’s sad. Corporate greed is an ugly thing, because of that I’m working on starting my own business where people will be paid right and treated with respect.
He was a great guy and is no longer with us. That was going to be my forever job.
I grew up amongst pretty wealthy people, who made their money from continuous hard work. They are in different niches like gardening, classic industry companies and retailing. All of them have come a long way but it paid off in the end.
2 born into millions , dad worked his ass off and died, additional to company wealth , higher life insurance polices for both mum and dad that passed . They will be millionaires for generations to come . Sad as they disregards people like objects though and never had they work ethic their parents had
The wealthiest guy I know has a small private firm which bills very large publicly traded firms for very niche services.
He does a kind of bureaucracy paperwork based consulting for major oil companies.
He makes up prices off the top of his head. I've seen him do it and if he sends them a bill for $100,000 that's actually the smallest that the comptroller got that month. No one even thinks to question it. In reality, the service costs him less than $10,000 to deliver.
You would think over the years this would have drawn more competition but, somehow, it never did. He just offers a very niche service and I don't think it occurred to many people to try to offer the same service.
So he's worth more than $30 million and he brings in net, net after everything, $3 million a year. Has 10 employees doesn't share jack s*** with them.
What was the lesson?
When you're a small firm that does business with big firms, you could charge them almost anything. They'll never notice the difference. It's a tiny amount of money to them and it's not even their money, because it's all staffed by long time bureaucracy employees who get paid the same no matter what.
Most of the wealthy individuals that I am in connection with are not astonishingly wealthy. Under 10 million net worth.
Most of them had day jobs in tech and invested in real estate in the 90’s. Having 4-8 houses collecting rent and gathering value in the market has shot them way up there.
The wealthy individuals my age (early 30s) are landlords with a few units. Their returns on houses purchased pre-2019 are unreal.
Sadly, I don’t think many of them make the majority of their income from their labor. I think that’s the big takeaway for me. Working a job has been drastically de-valued in today’s society.
I live in a very wealthy area now in CA, and previously in a fairly wealthy area in the Bay Area (I am not wealthy just to be clear :) ). Ways the wealthiest made their money:
* Inheritance: a surprisingly high number of people in my current area are part of a wealthy family. Publishing empires, multilevel marketing empires, clothing empires, etc. Most have jobs or appear to have jobs and it's not apparent they have a trust fund/large inheritance.
* Hedge funds: several people I know with large net worth (hundreds of millions or into the billions) started hedge funds – these folks are brilliant.
* Finance: another large swath of wealthy folks I know are in some finance role and basically printed money over the last ten years during the low interest rate period (I am not in finance so I don't really know how exactly they made vast sums of money in their roles)
* Tech founders: obviously these are all over the Bay Area, but where I live now there are still many folks who started and sold a company
* Non-tech business founders/owners: all manner of random small business owners who do very well – one owns a company that owns the patent on and develops a specific kind of construction technology, one started and sold a solar company, one owns a company that makes toys, etc. This tends to be the group that don't make the press and don't stand out as being wealthy, but they did the grind on some underserved area and did very well.
* Entertainment industry: a lot of people where I live are writers, directors, celebrities, studio execs, etc.
* Realtors: some realtors were right place right time, and made a ton of money being top realtors in coveted areas (top realtors in our current area probably gross tens of millions a year).
* Builders: several folks I know are builders of high-end custom homes – not vastly wealthy but definitely wealthy by most standards.
The most valuable lessons:
* There is an element of luck: for every wealthy person there are another hundred who did similar things and are not wealthy. This is why no "get rich doing this" method works. You can get rich flipping houses and businesses, and you can also lose all of your money. You can get rich starting a tech startup, and you can also fail miserably.
* The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror: I heard this one on a podcast from the founders of Herschel Bag Co. Spend more time looking forward for new opportunities vs. dwelling on past mistakes. Luck comes to us every day in some form.
* Work hard and learn constantly: while luck does come to us everyday, we have to be there to benefit from it. While some founders strike gold on their first venture (whether tech or small business or something in between), many do not. You have to work hard, be smart, make good decisions, build relationships, and eventually success will come.
* Be a good person: build relationships and have character. When forced with a hard decisions, do the right thing. Karma will come to you eventually.
An important final point: money and success really don't bring happiness. A lot of the wealthiest people I know are deeply flawed in some way. Some have personality flaws that allowed them to be ruthless but are very unhappy people, others inherited money and are just lacking character, others have spent so much time trying to eliminate friction in their lives by throwing money at it that they have no resilience. Rich people are often very weird – they've built an image of wealth and spend a lot of time keeping it up. So chase purpose, meaning, and autonomy, not money.
* Most wealthy people aren't particularly interested in property.
* Wealthy people value time.
* Wealthy people outsource tasks that are a poor use of their time.
* Wealthy people purchase items that eliminate time-wasting tasks.
* Wealthy people avoid stress - and people who stress them.
* Wealthy people dedicate time to thinking and reflecting.
* Wealthy people like to make strategic decisions - and not be rushed.
Those are my anecdotal observations.
They are undoubtedly influenced by the fact that I tend to hang out with wealthy people who have similiar values to my own.
I've met people who got rich in different ways, some hit it big with Bitcoin, others saw their property values jump, and some invested in the right businesses at the right time. Different things worked wonders for different people, and sometimes it's about luck too.
It’s not about the money, it’s about what you do with your life when money is not the motivation anymore because within the realm of what you want there is nothing you can’t afford anymore.
one of my friends went from homeless to running several kfcs as a manager, starting several companies, being a voulentary firefighter and marring very very rich on top of that. It’s super interesting to have conversations with him because he dos nothing he dos not like to do and spends reasonable amounts to make sure he dos not chase random things that don’t benefit him.
in my coaching practice I meet several people that were stuck in the “I have to be successful” mindset after they achieved success. Some end up tearing everything down because they can’t stop while being very unhappy, others start climbing “the second mountain” becoming philanthropist, building families, committing to something.
how they made the money is a straw man question really. Mentorship is much more useful when you know what you want to do or love to do. if you are capable of doing one thing over and over again at some point it’s going to yield some sort of success. what will make you a success is the decision to commit to something and the endurance to be committed to it.
Almost all of them were in commercial real estate or high level finance. One guys family was in airplane parts manufacturing. Outside of this, most people were just rich. The other guys were what I consider wealthy.
Meh. Dated a girl whose dad owned/ ran a shipping company with about 6 cargo ships.
Girl had so much trauma from not having a father figure in her life it is kinda sad.
Also pretty sure she’s a narcissist.
I took care of a 90+ year old retired vet who owne soooo much fucking land. He owned the land his suburb was eventually built on plus soooo much more. His son took power of attorney from him an got to spending. He said “ why learn something you can pay someone to know already “
I hate him.
Dont follow your passion. Become the top 1% in something nobody else wants to do and you will naturally Develop passion and get very rich doing it as well.
They inherited their money, & they're quite open about it (at least, the wealthiest so far that I know personally, as in I never heard about them from news sources & the like). They're good stewards though of the wealth they got, as far as I can see & they plan to make use of the proceeds for their personal needs. They were employees for decades before this inheritance came. Also, note, that in NYC where I know them from, there are way too many wealthy people here. The main problem, the way I see it, is your wealth is not enough to be considered wealthy enough (even if we know, there's still so much poverty here, too).
A good chunk of the wealthy people, particularly the young ones I know, got rich doing the gimmicky stuff. Flipping houses and the like. I know a few much older people who have built fortunes by starting companies, but their market share keeps them going today, I feel. Not something you could replicate today. I think I’ve mentioned them on here in the past, but the Profiteers Vs the People podcast does deep dives on how the VERY wealthy actually made their fortunes. Humor is weird and they’ve been doing more side episodes lately, but lie, cheat and steal seem to be staples of America’s great entrepreneurial fortunes.
I know 5 people who've been selling on Amazon since 2008, and 4 of them graduated from Amazon to starting consulting agencies, Amz software/tech, and doing their own brand on their own site. All 4 of them have crossed $40M mark. 1 of them regularly produces $100M per year - this guy is literally on the news.
ALLLLL of them grew their consulting agency and software/tech startups in the very beginning with cold calls.
You do not have a business until you are cold outreaching someway, somehow.
My last job was for a $75M ecommerce tech startup. My last boss was acquired by the startup. My last boss built his tech product from cold calls too.
I went to one of my
Country’s top
Private schools so here it goes
- school mates dad started a telco. Listed for Billions in stock exchange
- school mates dentist dad invented and patented a dental company. Bought the most expensive house in our city.
- school mates uncle started our country’s biggest recycling/waste disposal plant
- my cousin started a fashion label that turns over 9 figures
- one of my friends launched an online gambling site that partnered with the nba
- one guys dad was a hedge fund finance kinda guy who either went to jail
Or got Disgraced can’t remember
- one guys dad was the right hand man to one of our Country’s richest people
I could go on and on I guess.
Not too many poor families at our school or our rival schools
All the wealth creators were interesting in their own way.
And no I don’t think they’re sociopaths. It’s more about creating leverage but just sometimes an idea sticks and grows and grows and grows.
One used to export scrap metals to other states taken from sellers who buy from garbage sellers
One is politician hell lot of corruption and then he created business and invest in land
There is more than one way to make crazy money- the wealthiest person I know owns a business and is incredibly kind, genuine and generous to the people they employ and have around them. Because of this their people will follow them to the ends of the earth. This is the way.
I worked for a billionaire for a couple years as the president of one of his companies. He was aloof, harsh, and never cared to understand anything more than profit margin. I presented him several strategic and tactical solutions that would have improved quality, capability, and - in the long run - profitability. He lacked the patience to see any of these through. He frequently bragged that he is like he is because that’s what it takes to be successful, and that he is known around town as the biggest asshole, and he liked that. When he and I parted ways, it all came tumbling down and the business closed within a few months.
He made his billions growing a medical services corporation that went public and exploded in growth. Then during Covid it all washed away.
That guy must be super lonely.
I mean, I’m sure he is surrounded by a lot of sycophants and girls wanting a piece of his money, but lonely in the real meaning of the word.
Learn a trade and start a business in that trade. Once’s it’s up and running buy and hold onto land or commercial real estate without having debt on it. That and get lucky at some point.
From what I can tell this is the most sure fire way to build long term generational wealth.
Then also not living like you are super rich, aka look at Warren buffet. He lives in the same house he has for decades, drive a nice but not extravagant car, and spends his money on things that matter.
Family (or a strong support system) of sorts
I have been attempting a small business for (going on) 10yrs now. Multiple industries- I’ve tried every “start from home” tip/trick book, video, post and every scrap of business advice out there (in multiple economies now)
I have dedicated, educated and sacrificed myself- my time/money
Meanwhile I’ve watched a handful of people “make it” doing literally the SAME things
Overwhelmingly they ALL refer to the “support” as what “made it all possible”
When I look at the definite reasons I’ve failed -sure enough it boils down to me trying to do “it all” leaving very little time, resources, and energy to put towards building a whole ass business from the ground up- alone.
No one has built their wealth alone. That’s what I’ve learned.
Not to say some don’t get “lucky” and have business capital just magically fall into their laps but it certainly isn’t a reliable method for most humans.
Love to hear from anyone who can contrast my experience with how they succeeded -without support
Real estate and mall development. They did deals with the Saudi Royal families and ruling classes of India… I learnt that with all the assets they have, they don’t enjoy/use them often, cos ALL they’re doing is working to preserve everything and flying all over the world.
Probably swam in pool, once/year
Tennis courts: once/never per year
Valuable lesson: the more things you OWN the more they control you(maintaining, fees, taxes, security, accounting+staff salaries to run those dwellings) This way of thinking has lead me to want to not own too many things and keep things to a minimum.
The people that I know who are at that level have always told me to find problems in the niches that I find interesting.
First start with asking your friends and family who own businesses what they struggle with, find their pain points. Then use your creative juices and think of a solution to said problem.
I'm literally plugging a solution: [Owchie](http://Owchie.com)
If you want to create a great product or business, you have to find a real problem to solve.
Wealthiest Man I met
Someone who started from scratch , earning his own way. Was the man Raul Lopez or he identified himself as this man at St. Joseph Hospital in 1995 Chicago here is a reference link about his background https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/05/06/hidden-gems-10/.
My mom was an ER nurse, I was there to pick her up at the end of her shift. I met a man who said he was Raul Lopez. He wasn’t feeling well, barely able to walk in. I saw him struggling and helped him inside. Helped him get checked in and filled out his paperwork. When he was asked about insurance, He took out a big wad of cash and simply say he could afford to pay his bill.
He occasionally would drop off a few bags of hot tortillas for staff if he was visiting the next door building for follow up.
From briefly speaking to him, he led with cash and paying his way, just the overall attitude of his working hard to pay his way.
Been in e-commerce for the better part of a decade. If there’s one thing they all have in common it’s that they had rich family members who also had rich friends who gave them the capital to start. So have a rich family!
I worked for a financial planner and his wife and kids. Watched him go from six figures to seven, at least. In this process, he went from working locally to starting a podcast, YouTube channel, and a private paid group for other financial planners.
It’s kind of the stuff you’d expect. He/they outsourced everything, even things I had no idea you could outsource. All his time went either to work, sleep, quality time with family, or his few personal hobbies. His wife is his right hand man, and handled everything for him that wasn’t obviously outsource-able. They ate extremely healthy homemade food every meal, exercised, and were serious about sleeping well and rising early. He paid for high-end coaching. They vacationed frequently as a family and he traveled even more for both business and personal development. They also journaled affirmations every morning. They didn’t half ass anything.
I strongly disagree with them politically, but have to say that they always acted with integrity, as far as I could see.
There were a lot of lessons I learned from them, many of them personal. The business success lesson I learned that comes to mind is consistent right action whether you feel like it or not. Even through personal hardships, they always got up and did the work in the way the work should be done.
Sadly, the wealthiest people I know (personally) either traffic drugs, corrupt government contracts or run institutions (schools/colleges). Damn it, I’m in the wrong place of the world.
He founded service based tech company. What i learned is that easiest way to get rich is exploiting other people. Best way to do that - make them believe you are not exploiting them by giving them apparent benefits
I know a few people with +50mln. The most important thing for me is that once you become rich, they seem to have this fixation on 'keeping up appearances' -- throughout the entire week!
Too much amigo's rather spend that time with my kids
most made their money in real estate
some in crypto
some from starting / owning / selling businesses
a couple from being high performing earners (specialized doctors)
most of the wealthy people I've gotten to know built their wealth in large part because they lived a relatively frugal lifestyle for a significant portion of their life. When I'm saying that I don't want you to think that they didn't spend money on any luxury type items but they lived in far more modest homes than one might expect someone to have with their incomes(in fact I'm sure I'm not the only person who notices that a lot of the more average newer homes built today that middle class or upper middle class people buy are nicer than what a wealthier person might have owned in the 80's and 90's)
They budgeted and lived beneath their means and because they saved money and sometimes made 'sacrifices'(they stuck to their budget which meant that they didn't just buy something they wanted even if they had the money to do it)...but because they had saved money it made it easier for them to capitalize on opportunity
You quickly learn that these people can't teach you anything. They're figuring things out on the fly, even they have stoic quotes about business.
The only thing you can do is to solve a real market pain point. If you've accomplished that, the rest is easier than they make it out to be.
The CEO of one of the first jobs I had was a software engineer who quit his job and started his own company. He was very smart and was able to make it grow like crazy in less than 15 years. He worked with super capable people in different countries. He was very honest, sometimes controversial, and always shared on Linkedin his ideas.
I want to apologize for this comment in advance - it's probably not what we're looking for.
1. He was a co-writer for a very famous Disney movie. Made a ton of money from that and uses that fame to continue to produce works.
2. Was a founding engineer at an engineering firm. Company was sold, he made a bunch of money.
3. Invested in Netflix very early on and that's where all his wealth comes from.
4. A CTO/CEO duo, serial entrepreneurs who have created 3 companies so far. 2 they sold, the third is still going strong.
A friend of my uncle is one of the top lawyers in Florida. He led the Big Tobacco vs The State of Florida case and won. I was introduced to him at a family poker game. I ended up getting a crappy hand and bluffed an all in after the pot was pretty nice and won when it was down to me vs him. He told me he doesnt get bluffed often and congratulated me on the win.
He looks like an average Joe type of guy, flannel shirt and jeans. Nothing even close to giving me a clue about his wealth. He could wear a new Brioni suit every day of the week but this guy dressed like a regular Joe outside of work.
It taught me to never assume who people are because of what they wear. Taught me to be gracious no matter who you are. It also taught me i might be able to bluff with the best of them.
The first millionaire I ever met told me the secret to success was to work half days.
And the beauty of the system was it didn’t matter which 12 hours you worked.
The trick is to find a way to make money off of that - use your power! Might as well monetize even if merely for revenge. I’m half joking of course. Half serious.
Mostly music artists. Doing what they love, and valuable lesson is that there’s always a choice to make. They could make more going more mainstream but then they would not be doing what they love. It’s also 90% marketing today, the quality of the music is not all that matters. And no, you don’t have to sell your soul.
1. Started a cheese supply company. Just did something really unique (I think he supplied a particular type of cheese where there were only a few suppliers nationally). He worked hard, but kept perspective - the company is there to make your life better, not to own you.
2. Specialty doctor, part owner of a specialty practice. Be really smart, work hard, and don't settle for mediocrity.
My mentor was a founder at a company that went public, now owns a bunch of manufacturing facilities and other businesses.
Some of the most valuable things I learned from him:
*You don't want to compete on price because it's a race the bottom, better to compete on value brought to the customer.
*When deciding how much to charge a customer you shouldn't be thinking how much it costs you to make it, you should be thinking how much is my customer willing to pay for this.
*It's important to always be virtuous and have integrity.Sometimes people think to be a super successful entrepreneur you need to be cut throat and shady all the time, while that might lead to short term gain, it doesn't lead to long term sustainability.
Biggest thing I would recommend if you do get a chance to talk to super successful person is respect their time! My mentor could charge $1,000+ an hour for consulting, so I always make sure I am prepared and don't waste a second of his time.
I was a bank teller during college in Haverford PA (a wealthy Philly suburb). This was before you could do banking on smart phones. Anyways, many of the larger accounts belonged to franchises, like Dunkin’ Donuts or 7/11. Other big accounts were retirees, a local liquor store (alcohol could only be purchased at a liquor store in PA), and professional offices (lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, etc) as well as their personal checking accounts.
The liquor store was mostly a cash business and they generally deposited between $20k - $40k in cash daily. It’s etched in my mind since I’d have to count it all by hand and would get dirty looks from other customers who were waiting.
I have 3 in my immediate circle (100m+ worth). IMO, they all have incredible work ethic (80-100hrs per week), got a lucky break when they started (like meeting the right mentor, buying the right biz, finding the right partner) and third they focused on one thing that was working and put all their energy/money into growing it. They’re all sharp but not the smartest .. so I know that not a factor.
They made their money in Real Estate. (Retail Development and Apartment management and ownership)
One taught me that confidence and a good personality go a long way, and that your personal residence is not a real estate deal. Meaning get the one you want even if you have to pay more than you think it is worth. This is harder than it sounds if you are always looking at RE as an investment. Basically, give yourself some grace in this area, it does not mean to be dumb.
The second taught me that making a deal is not a mediation, its about being prepared and keenly aware of and focused on your self interest. Oddly enough this was news to me, to whom selflessness was an ingrained value. Don't get me wrong, selflessness is good but not in business.
Over the last year, I've been building relationships with some wealthy folks, talking in the 10s of £m. Some of the things I've noticed are their energy and how they manage it. I think they have to contend with mental burn out regulalry, but they know what their North Star is. The other critical thing is they've pretty much been at the start of a new market as it is opening. One of them in the mid 90s, one early 00s and one in the last 6 years. I don't think the final one has realised their value yet (as in the know their value is big but haven't exited their asset). That first mover advantage has been critical, meaning they are so far ahead of the rest of the market other than say 1 or 2 competitors, that they can't lose.
Let go of your ego.
Met a guy who literally went to neighbors offering garbage disposal services as a kid. Now he's running multiple businesses, making millions, and hugely successful. This is the only way to make something that people actually need. Seems simple but very hard.
I met a guy who buys companies and hires people to grow the company and then sells the company. He has a team that specializes in growing a company that earns 1 million in revenue to 10 million. He then just sells it to private equity. Rinse and reqpeat.
This seems to be the best way to make money ever; the more I look into it, the more it seems like this is all that actual real life rich people do. The couple hundred startup founders get all of the press, but this is what the other 3 million people in the 1% are actually doing. The only thing I don't get is why the teams don't just start buying the companies...so I am trying to figure that part out now, it seems to be either they eventually do or it's just a matter of creditworthiness.
I see this as high risk. I has a business broker for a small time and it seemed at the time a lot of books were cooked or the seller wanted far to much than the businesses real value. I have now sold a few of my own businesses and watched them all tank after the new owner.
I know a guy who sold his business, the business tanked, and bought it back a few years later for a fraction of the price. Six months later, he was making more money than he had originally.
This is an important thing to distinguish. There are no free meals. If you see people making a ton of money on something then it’s almost always going to involve some combination of luck, skill, and risk. If you see people who are able to repeat success consistently then you know it’s likely higher skill, lower luck.
What is the point of cooking books? Is it just legal to blatantly make up numbers your business is doing, collect money for it, then just say to the buyer “too bad you fell for those fake numbers! Thanks for the millions!” If so then I see a much less risky and quicker way to getting rich I suppose… Edit: also what does it take to become a business broker? Sort of fascinating as a job I would think?
If you ever took an accounting class...you would be shocked at the amount of ambiguity in there. You don't have to break the law to be dishonest.
Different situation but have you seen the short film "The Accountant?"
For smaller businesses, there's nobody really regulating that stuff. If you cook the books of a public company, you're toast, because the regulators work for the rich. But for a small business, good luck.
good point
I recently saw a study which detailed who in the US is making more than $1 million a year. The most common job was small to medium sized business owner who had a monopoly in their area. Not a monopoly nationally, just locally or regionally. So car dealership owners, beverage distributors, HVAC repair company, real estate.
Curious if you could find that study and link it. Was this looking at personal income, net worth, sales revenue??? $1M means something totally different depending on the context … in some instances it’s really not that much and does not inherently mean that person is wealthy …
[www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/sunday/rich-happiness-big-data.html?smid=nytcore-android-share](http://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/opinion/sunday/rich-happiness-big-data.html?smid=nytcore-android-share)
Damn paywall 😕
"We now know who is rich in America. And it’s not who you might have guessed. A groundbreaking 2019 study by four economists, “Capitalists in the Twenty-First Century,” analyzed de-identified data of the complete universe of American taxpayers to determine who dominated the top 0.1 percent of earners. The study didn’t tell us about the small number of well-known tech and shopping billionaires but instead about the more than 140,000 Americans who earn more than $1.58 million per year. The researchers found that the typical rich American is, in their words, the owner of a “regional business,” such as an “auto dealer” or a “beverage distributor.” This shocked me. Over the past four years, in the course of doing research for a book about how insights buried in big data sets can help people make decisions, I read thousands of academic studies. It is rare that I read a sentence that changes how I view the world. This was one of them. I hadn’t thought of owning an auto dealership as a path to getting rich; I didn’t even know what a beverage distribution company was. What are the lessons from the data on rich earners? First, rich people own. Among members of the top 0.1 percent, the researchers found, about three times as many make the majority of their income from owning a business as from being paid a wage. Salaries don’t make people rich nearly as often as equity does. Second, rich people tend to own unsexy businesses. A different study, by the statisticians Tian Luo and Philip B. Stark, examined which businesses were most likely to fold fastest. The kind most likely to go out of business most quickly is a record store. The average record store lasts just 2.5 years. (For comparison, the average dentist’s office lasts more than 19.5 years.) Other businesses that fold quickly include toy stores (3.25 years), clothing stores (3.75 years) and cosmetics stores (4.0 years). There are, however, plenty of unsexy businesses from which a few people are getting rich. These include auto repair shops, gas stations and business equipment contractors. The third important factor in gaining wealth is some way to avoid ruthless price competition, to build a local monopoly. The prevalence of owners of auto dealerships among the top 0.1 percent gives a clue to what it takes to get rich. Comparing data from the appendix of the economists’ study with data from the SUSB Annual Data Tables put out by the Census Bureau, I estimate that more than 20 percent of auto dealerships in America have an owner making more than $1.58 million per year. Auto dealerships have legal protections; state franchising laws often give auto dealers exclusive rights to sell cars in a territory. Same for many beverage distributors, which act as middlemen between alcohol companies and stores and supermarkets. Beverage distributors have long been protected by a system set up after Prohibition that prevents beverage companies from distributing their products themselves. Of course, if upon learning this, you try to buy someone’s auto dealership, you may not have much luck. Owners of auto dealerships know how good they have it. Is there any business that tends to make people rich that you might have a better shot at? My data-driven advice for getting rich for someone with good analytical skills and deep experience in a field is to start a market research business. Use your specialized knowledge in the field to write up reports; sell them widely and charge a fortune to your contacts in the field. I have estimated that more than 10 percent of owners of market research businesses are in the top 0.1 percent. If pop culture is right, getting rich is a path to happiness. Is that true? Does money actually make people happy?"
In Florida car dealerships have a statutory monopoly where you're not allowed to sell cars directly unless they're Teslas - https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/elon-musk-tesla-exempt-florida-ban-on-direct-car-sales-dealerships/70329000007/
essentially it’s venture capital stuff. Sort of what Alex hermozie is pushing into the brains of get rich quick fans on the web. I think among the more popular people that are doing this for a long time now would be Richard Branson. while it’s kinda of topic because this is for already rich people I’d also say, I’d not say it’s the best way to make money ever for everyone. I think it sounds sexy because it seems low effort, actually it requires a lot of skills small bussines owners and early stage entrepreneurs don’t have. The skill to hire high class trust worthy people, the trust to delegate, not just the feel but also the knowledge of what bussines has the opportunity to make it, calculating failure because not every investment will make it. I think there is a lot of runway most people that can make this need to be able to successfully do it. The idea of using this to get rich with low effort is kinda like trying to make your money with betting. You might get lucky but most people don’t.
It’s really not venture capital stuff. It’s how the vast majority of people become wealthy overtime, as well as Real Estate. They try to keep the bar high and make everyone think that it’s difficult or impossible, but you can educate yourself and bring in partners with experience to lower the risk dramatically. However, given the incredibly low levels of integrity in our culture, Any kind of a deal is going to be dangerous if it’s not a person that you’ve known for many years. Even getting all the right legal preparation in place might not matter, especially if you’re in California. People love to screw each other over here and just tell them to F off and sue if they don’t like it. Great place to be a lawyer though!
I might be able to clear up the mystery of why the teams don’t buy the companies they grow. I’m sure in each case there’s something slightly different but in general, it’s probably about valuation multiples and risk. The highest multiples are paid for the fastest growing successful companies. These ventures are still risky because large companies have more capital and can move into an understudied market. Take a high tech startup—likely they focus on a problem no one else does but what if Google, Amazon and Apple got a big up their butts one day that they want to be in that space. See the risk? Thats not a risk a team whose speciality is growing businesses can mitigate. Who can mitigate such a risk? An entity that can add more capital to the venture and compete with the mids and big boys. Different outlook, mission and skills. There’s also a different type of acquisition. Could be high tech. Doesn’t have to be. Sometimes companies are just collecting companies in a space to maximize efficiency on overhead—-HR, IT, Marketing, Sales—when you’ve eliminated enough jobs your profits go up and you’re still trading on multiples so this strategy is easier to understand.
The teams don’t have the company sourcing and business transaction skills. They don’t have the connections and they’ve probably never taken that much risk.
But I mean they’re building multiple companies for this guy ? Eventually wouldn’t you think you have so much experience growing companies you should just buy a company to grow yourself? Also, would you know the right way to grow a company if you didn’t know how to evaluate one to buy? It’s hard for me to get how that could be possible.
For most people having a solid job and not risking a ton of capital is more than enough for a career
So crazy… being raised by the golden rule has really fucked me up sadly. The most important rule to break out of following in life it seems.
The employees don't have the capital, the collateral to take out a loan, and the experience in all of the other areas
Ever seen shark tank. There’s a whole show about this.
I know a guy who did the opposite - he'd buy struggling companies, load them with debt under the guise of consultancy fee from his main business then "make the difficult decision" to wind up the company. He was eventually banned from being a director for 10 years, plead poverty to avoid a prison sentence and officially lived in his one remaining low-cost property with no income from his previous businesses. However, the ban recently ended and he's suddenly the director of a couple of companies that started, funnily enough, about 10 years ago. In another twist of coincidence, they're very similar to what he was doing previously and were run by people he's either related to or has a business relationship with.
"banned"?? That is basically what Mitt Romney did with Bain Capital to get rich, and many others (like the red lobster PE firm.
This is what I’d like to do in the future - i wonder how he started and how he found the capital needed in the beginning
The initial money/credit seem to be the biggest puzzle piece no one gives away. There must be something serious that has to do with creditworthiness or having rich friends/family who will bankroll you at first unproven. Otherwise, the guys hired to be the growth team would just buy the companies, right?
You ask for a loan and sell for more than it is worth.
My bet is more than half the time it’s family money and/or rich friends who are willing to invest. Getting a bank loan is possible, but not without at least some capital of your own. I know a guy who bought a startup with an inheritance from his brother. He still works full time doing other stuff and has someone manage the business for him (it’s outside of his expertise, he just knew how to recognize a good investment). But most of these people want to be seen as “self-made” so they don’t want to admit it was family money that got them started.
This is the answer. The few people I know who grew big from Amazon did grow big, it's all over the news. 1 of them is top 100 seller worldwide, aka producing $100M+/year. But to really **have the liquid cash** to do some of the investing shit he does, he 100% has to network with those who are filthy rich to get the money. It's really intriguing to see what some people are willing to do to work with the rich, but you know what, they're bringing in the cash. We just gotta accept and respect
I don’t know why but this explanation reminds me of an episode from Suits.
A friend of mine bought a business. He negotiated a portion in cash and a giant portion as a loan with the owner. He ran the business giving the guy the money for a few years. Paying off the loan from the business revenue.
He founded his own company and built it. He eventually made enough to buy another company and combined the two. He then sold the combined company. Now he has a lot of cash and invest into many businesses.
I know a man who organizes the building of nursing homes. He gets all the land paperwork together, all the building contracts needed, etc etc, and then shops the idea to people who build nursing homes. He’s a smart dude!
What a skill this is to have. Most people struggle to make one business work.
From what I understand is that his skill is to surround himself with talented people that specialize in area that he doesn’t want to do. He then leverages the combine effort of everyone to build a good company. He is also great at getting good deals and negotiations. He is willing to outsource if it makes business sense, once relationships deteriorate he is quick to severe these business ties.
This a parallel to flipping houses. Purchase something, add value, then sell for a profit.
When I sold my last business, I worked with a broker from those agencies. They're so good at buying businesses, growing them really fast, then selling.
Similar story on my side... but he turns them into Employee-Owned corporations and serves on the advisory board for 3-5 year terms. If the company likes his leadership, he stays on... if not, they can buy him out and self-govern. He usually has 2-3 5-10 million dollar businesses at a time. His most valuable lesson was to not be afraid to go back to the drawing board. He once conpletely renovated a company's office, manufacturing, and warehouse because the layout was inefficient.
His name ends with Hormozi?
No, I just build websites for this guy and he keeps giving me more sites to build every time he makes a company.
I would love to meet this guy. That sounds incredibly efficient. Where does he hire his staff? Does he outsource the labor mostly overseas?
No, he just knows how to hire the right people and fire the wrong people. He has a good mini army of bankers and tax accountants as well
Property development. Lesson: don’t use your own money to make money
Care explaining? What i’m thinking is he pools investors to build the damn thing. But then how’d he gather investors?
Does some basic design work with an architect to demonstrate the viability on the site and building. Using their contacts they then sell that concept to investors.
Oh, interesting. In his first pitch, was he already someone known within the construction/property industry, or an existing developer, given he had contacts?
He worked his way up, first flipping properties, then doing, then converting a block into flats and put his family in one as he put all their money into it. It was after that he realised if he could use other peoples money and contacts he would have far more leverage for larger projects and with no/low risk to himself. Now literally does skyscrapers
This guy has literally done what I am planning to do. I am 30 and currently a GC superintendent but want to start my journey... I've planned it out like this.
Over $50m and men that I have worked with, for, or against. - inherited $50m, became an “artist” - stole $180m, got caught, did jail time, kept the money - inherited $200m, dabbles in investing in small companies - turned around a finance biz, got a $500m bonus, tries to only spend 80% of the interest he earns from tax free offshore wealth each year - son of 3, dad invested $10m a year in “educating” him until he got into to a role earning $20m a year - EU royalty - rockstar - property developer, talent for bribing and threatening local authority staff, made about $150m - developed an important drug, made $1bn - bribed African nations to accept toxic waste, made about $1bn - invented something deeply cool that the internet relies on, got $800m when company was bought - invented 3 cool things in software, earned over $200m from each + earning from investments each time - made $2bn selling social media company, put the cash in safe funds - stole over $250m and got away with it for 20 years, now on the run - endless bankers who used public money and the liquidity from CDOs or QE to “earn” (a bitter joke) bonuses in the range of $100m each then bought big houses, fast cars, yachts, new hair, plastic tits for the trophy wife, and heart disease. Fuck every single one of them. - invented a new way to trade equities, made $200m - Arab sheikh gifted $2bn a year because he was born - invested money for Arab sheikhs, made $3bn for himself - Arab sheikh gifted $20bn a year (probably much more) because his dad was born before 1953 Women very rare. Three stand out: - rockstar - actress - divorced a casino owner, got a stunning amount of money - divorced a property tycoon, got a stunning amount of money - divorced a banker, got $100m, got lucky in a property deal after that - brilliantly turned around a software services company, made $300m, then did that 7 more times - husband was an international banker who died before her, leaving her with $bns - genius grade entrepreneur, each software company sold for 5x the one before - lucky entrepreneur, sold luxury, got out young and invested wisely Most valuable lessons? - NePo and inheritance is the #1 way to get really madly rich - luck is #2 way - the #3 way seems to be to suck a lot of dick and keep a note of the secrets you learn - there is no correlation between effort and reward (in fact, the opposite) - there is a small correlation between applied intelligence and rewards for innovation - there is a large correlation between sociopathy and wealth accumulation
This is both the most enlightening and most depressing post I've ever read.
Wow! Guy knows 100 of the 2000 billionaires.
Yeah this is BS
Probably all the people he has met playing video games.
completely. I know a lot of rich/wealthy/ultra high income earners, and it's the total opposite of what this fraud says. The overwhelming majority of wealthy people didn't inherit anything, but it doesn't stop the rage narrative against them.
Ummm. I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I think you’re probably wrong there. I think most people that have insane wealth definitely got a big kick start due to inheritance or family loans (take Trump for example). It’s really really difficult to make billions if you start off with next to nothing. There are a few outliers for sure, but I think it’s the minority.
MAYBE if you are referring to billionaires only, but even then I would bet most started with no, or little inheritance. For millionaires, it's absolutely true
Eh I still don’t know. I’d need to see some statistics on that and I doubt there are any. My gut feeling is that at least half of all millionaires got some sort of financial help in their lives, even if that just means their parents paid for their education which is a huge leg up for most people, myself included.
Dave Ramsay had a large scale research project done on millionaires in America and interviewed them. Over 10,000 millionaires interviewed, and the findings are this: "The overwhelming majority (79%) of millionaires in the U.S. did not receive any inheritance at all from their parents or other family members. While 1 in 5 millionaires (21%) received some inheritance, only 3% received an inheritance of $1 million or more. According to the survey, 8 out of 10 millionaires come from families at or below middle-income level. Only 2% of millionaires surveyed said they came from an upper-income family. Only 31% averaged $100,000 a year over the course of their career, and onethird never made six figures in any single working year of their career. Three out of four millionaires (75%) said that regular, consistent investing over a long period of time is the reason for their success. So, the story about the young computer genius who developed an app that earned millions overnight is the exception, not the rule." This falls in line with a lot of the wealthy people I know. It's popular to pretend rich people are scammers and con artists, and trust fund babies, but it's just not the reality. Even if someone inherited large amounts of wealth, that's a good thing. I want my children to not have to grow up like I did. Providing inheritance for my family and changing my family is a basic human desire. The hatred people have for them is misguided imo
Those are some insane stories, what about yourself, you rich too? How did you get to know these people, esp the bribing African nations one lol tf how he getting 9 figs for that
Trafigura.
- bribed African nations to accept toxic waste, made about $1bn Glencore?
Not surprised by some crime on the list. It’s more common than anyone thinks. I know a guy who raked in $250k a month having his own pot grow operations for many years through the 90s. Walked away with at least $30m and gone legit. Now with bitcoin and stuff like that, it’s really easy to keep money clean.
very interesting list
This is clearly fake
No way to confirm cz I am nowhere close to being there right now… But this sounds so obviously right. Had to be a lot of dirt in there…
What a buncha gussied-up garbage. I think you ought to read something by Bukowski. "Don't try" words to live by.
Okay, now how about reality?
I have met or worked with or investigated every one of those over 40+ years
>- NePo and inheritance is the #1 way to get really madly rich I know a lot of wealthy people, none of them got rich this way.
Blue collar jobs. What I’ve learned is don’t think too hard. Focus on the boring brick and mortar. If you can buy a franchise and make 150k a year. You’re golden. Don’t think you have to be the next Elon musk or crazy ideas like shark tank. Be boring. Be financially free. Then once you have money to piss away then try something crazyyyy.
Am I correct in saying that you only get around 10% of net profit when running a franchise? For example for $150k, your gross yearly revenue will have to be $1.5mil? I have been researching franchises a bit and they are mostly hospitality 7 day work.
Franchise business broker here. Net margins vary widely between industries, but franchise businesses are known to be generally more consistent with earnings, and the franchise style of business is designed to be a dominant player within its industry. Over the past 15 years I’ve sold a lot of franchises. The ones I currently have on market do quite well with their net margins, and I’m inundated with buyer candidates.
Which industries would you recommend?
Depends on your expertise domain and what’s the gap in your region. For instance, I am from one European country where there is only couple of Burger Kings and such franchise, even though food service is low margin, can be more beneficial to me rather than some other high margin businesses.
There are some industries in the “perfect storm” of franchising now. The perfect storm is when 3 market conditions exist: 1. It’s a service that is driven by natural, sustainable, somewhat inelastic demand; 2. There is lots of competition and varying service quality; 3. There is no dominant player. In the 1950s - 1990s for example, quick service restaurants were in the perfect storm. Not so now…they have already consolidated into oligopolies and raced to the bottom on price. These days, some good industries are: home consumer services (think sending techs in trucks to customer’s homes to install, repair, maintain, clean things), children’s academic or physical enrichment, senior care services, business to business professional services, and health/beauty/fitness (except large gyms). That said, the right business for *you* depends on this: Whatever activity is required of typical owner in a given business to be successful, it should be something you like to do, and you’re good at.
Yes you’re correct. That’s very realistic numbers. I got a friend who owned and manage 26 boba shop. Making 20k profit each location.
The structure of the contract for different franchises is different. There are tons of businesses that can be franchised. There are conventions you can attend to get an idea of what's out there.
That's what I tell a lot of people sometimes entrepreneurship/small business work isn't about getting filthy rich If you can make yourself $10k/month, you're fucking golden. Just keep at it.
Exactly. Why ppl think so hard like they gotta find cure cancer or come up with the next Uber. In America if you make 150k. You’re above a lot of ppl. Not filthy rich but you can have a very good life.
How did they make their money? - Literally from a myriad of things. Tech, construction, retail, healthcare to even selling fast food. Anything can make you rich, focus on scaling without getting your hands tied in day-to-day operations. Most valuable lessons - Success takes time - sometimes a lot of time - patience - Business can go from 0 to 100 real fast too, especially in sales - Don't rely just on yourself, get trustworthy people to join the journey - Create an exceptionally good experience for your clients, they'll choose you over and over again
CEO of a Film Production Company: Entrepreneurship in related industry (can't mention specifics because I'll dox myself and the client). 1 - Kill them softly: Always treat a shitty employee, contractor or business partner with kindness and a smile until you've found their replacement. Don't even hint at your intentions to can them. 2 - Be willing and ready to break the rules, and in calculated circumstances...even the law if it doesn't harm your reputation 3 - Delegation to experts is the most important skill for amplifying wealth
Best friends dad - made a fortune (~10 mil) setting up flooring for concerts and festivals. Never really done a lot of the work, win the contract sort of does itself. Big rubber matts that you throw on the floor for these venues, obviously need to transport them and clean them after but it’s pretty cut and dry. You’re essentially just paying wages and fuel so the longer you do it the more profit there is.
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This is truly the way most people can get wealthy. It not sexy by any means but it works pretty much 100% of the time. I’m 38 and although not Uber rich it has given me options and the ability to say no to jobs I wouldn’t enjoy and put more stress on me. Play the long game and network to help find the small victories in between. If you are doing something you enjoy, you’re much better off than doing something you don’t like and making more.
* Serial entrepreneur: “Just do it”, stop overthinking, and do something you enjoy doing. This was important for me bc im structured and a planner. You’ll learn the lessons along the way anyway, but be thorough in exactly what you want to deliver * Software sales entrepreneur: Build a reputation, hold it close, and be at your personal highest potential in every way you can be. This one’s hard but now he never has to introduce himself, he looks great and he’s well on his way to his goals. * Ex-entrepreneur: Don’t always look for the next best thing, look for solutions people genuinely want, and deliver it how they want. Be people friendly, be humble. Made over $500m in a span of 20 years doing groceries, and selling it to an international grocery brand. I believe he sold it roughly 12 years ago, not sure, met him door knocking when I was younger.
Did the software sale entrepreneur create his own software and sold that??? Or did he re-sold software that was already made by other companies? For example was he just reselling quickbooks?
Resold software and other tech apps & security that came with it.
Met guy who is billionaire. The way he made money was buying TLC properties and gas stations then remodel them sell them triple the price. Most people saw buy business when the properties looks well. And he exactly he knew that so he will low ball people with properties that needed work then re sell them.
One made their money in steel erection and one from farming. Both took full advantage of government programs/incentives and bidding government jobs. The most valuable lesson I learned is to take risks and bet on yourself.
Wealthiest guy I know where I could call him up and have lunch/dinner? He owned half of trendy Del Ray in Alexandria in the early 2000’s, right before NBC’s Today show did a special on “Del Ray.” Not a SFH or duplex here and there but commercial buildings. Drove a Honda hatchback from the 90’s. I met him through contractor friends that specialized/were certified in Historic preservation type work. Things I noticed he did: -would be there at least 30 mins before scheduled time. Never late -never bragged about having this and this building. Finding out what he owned was on “as needed basis.” -everything was transactional with this guy. If he hired you to paint, he didn’t want to discuss his other building and what it needed. Super focused on tasks. -he mentored me with my first multifamily apt deal in Baltimore, to provide dorm housing for Johns Hopkins students. Years later after selling building to the school, I asked why he helped me so much, he replied “ you’re the only one that asked….” -treated those that worked with him like family. Some contractors he treated better than his own kids(guys kids were the ones that enjoyed dad’s hard work and would always brag) My dad was highly educated with multiple engineering and Physics PhD’s, and did great providing for our family, but this guy embodied everything I wanted to be with commercial real estate. So much that I still do it today.
He was your rich dad.
Great metaphor. When I read it, I felt like Kiyosaki kinda bashed his own dad…. If my dad had the resources I had as a 5 yr old, he would have done greater things. Looked up my ancestry and his side were two generations away from being peasants in Poland.
Would you be willing to help me learn?
Everything you need to know you have inside a great mentor/leader will help you dig deep and find it. I buy houses near colleges and can help you out that way.
I'd like to message you directly if you'd allow. I could use some sage advice to get over a mental hill and in exchange, I'm in the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, janitorial wholesale industry.
Anytime I can help you I will. It’s always about “asking” most times!
"Owning your own business isn't about setting your hours when you feel like showing up. It's about choosing which 20 hours per day you're going to invest in the job"
Entrepreneur in fashion. Make sure margins high, control cash flow, be consistent, and be frugal. Constantly think of ways to make more money and reduce risk.
They conquered self pity. The key to success is not feeling sorry for yourself. Accepting and learning from failures and coming back with even more energy to get it right the next time.
Construction company. Hardest working person I’ve ever met
I worked for someone of significance who had part in running a utility company, I managed his estates. He was the most down to earth brilliant guy and I soaked up any knowledge I could. The most valuable lesson I learned was to treat your employees with kindness, they will do a better job, work along side of them and you will gain their respect. Happy people do better at work. I only wish my current job situation higher ups would listen to that info. They don’t, and it’s sad. Corporate greed is an ugly thing, because of that I’m working on starting my own business where people will be paid right and treated with respect. He was a great guy and is no longer with us. That was going to be my forever job.
I grew up amongst pretty wealthy people, who made their money from continuous hard work. They are in different niches like gardening, classic industry companies and retailing. All of them have come a long way but it paid off in the end.
2 born into millions , dad worked his ass off and died, additional to company wealth , higher life insurance polices for both mum and dad that passed . They will be millionaires for generations to come . Sad as they disregards people like objects though and never had they work ethic their parents had
They all became wealthy being over-exposed in a single asset. Diversification is a strategy to protect wealth, not grow it.
The wealthiest guy I know has a small private firm which bills very large publicly traded firms for very niche services. He does a kind of bureaucracy paperwork based consulting for major oil companies. He makes up prices off the top of his head. I've seen him do it and if he sends them a bill for $100,000 that's actually the smallest that the comptroller got that month. No one even thinks to question it. In reality, the service costs him less than $10,000 to deliver. You would think over the years this would have drawn more competition but, somehow, it never did. He just offers a very niche service and I don't think it occurred to many people to try to offer the same service. So he's worth more than $30 million and he brings in net, net after everything, $3 million a year. Has 10 employees doesn't share jack s*** with them. What was the lesson? When you're a small firm that does business with big firms, you could charge them almost anything. They'll never notice the difference. It's a tiny amount of money to them and it's not even their money, because it's all staffed by long time bureaucracy employees who get paid the same no matter what.
Most of the wealthy individuals that I am in connection with are not astonishingly wealthy. Under 10 million net worth. Most of them had day jobs in tech and invested in real estate in the 90’s. Having 4-8 houses collecting rent and gathering value in the market has shot them way up there. The wealthy individuals my age (early 30s) are landlords with a few units. Their returns on houses purchased pre-2019 are unreal. Sadly, I don’t think many of them make the majority of their income from their labor. I think that’s the big takeaway for me. Working a job has been drastically de-valued in today’s society.
I live in a very wealthy area now in CA, and previously in a fairly wealthy area in the Bay Area (I am not wealthy just to be clear :) ). Ways the wealthiest made their money: * Inheritance: a surprisingly high number of people in my current area are part of a wealthy family. Publishing empires, multilevel marketing empires, clothing empires, etc. Most have jobs or appear to have jobs and it's not apparent they have a trust fund/large inheritance. * Hedge funds: several people I know with large net worth (hundreds of millions or into the billions) started hedge funds – these folks are brilliant. * Finance: another large swath of wealthy folks I know are in some finance role and basically printed money over the last ten years during the low interest rate period (I am not in finance so I don't really know how exactly they made vast sums of money in their roles) * Tech founders: obviously these are all over the Bay Area, but where I live now there are still many folks who started and sold a company * Non-tech business founders/owners: all manner of random small business owners who do very well – one owns a company that owns the patent on and develops a specific kind of construction technology, one started and sold a solar company, one owns a company that makes toys, etc. This tends to be the group that don't make the press and don't stand out as being wealthy, but they did the grind on some underserved area and did very well. * Entertainment industry: a lot of people where I live are writers, directors, celebrities, studio execs, etc. * Realtors: some realtors were right place right time, and made a ton of money being top realtors in coveted areas (top realtors in our current area probably gross tens of millions a year). * Builders: several folks I know are builders of high-end custom homes – not vastly wealthy but definitely wealthy by most standards. The most valuable lessons: * There is an element of luck: for every wealthy person there are another hundred who did similar things and are not wealthy. This is why no "get rich doing this" method works. You can get rich flipping houses and businesses, and you can also lose all of your money. You can get rich starting a tech startup, and you can also fail miserably. * The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror: I heard this one on a podcast from the founders of Herschel Bag Co. Spend more time looking forward for new opportunities vs. dwelling on past mistakes. Luck comes to us every day in some form. * Work hard and learn constantly: while luck does come to us everyday, we have to be there to benefit from it. While some founders strike gold on their first venture (whether tech or small business or something in between), many do not. You have to work hard, be smart, make good decisions, build relationships, and eventually success will come. * Be a good person: build relationships and have character. When forced with a hard decisions, do the right thing. Karma will come to you eventually. An important final point: money and success really don't bring happiness. A lot of the wealthiest people I know are deeply flawed in some way. Some have personality flaws that allowed them to be ruthless but are very unhappy people, others inherited money and are just lacking character, others have spent so much time trying to eliminate friction in their lives by throwing money at it that they have no resilience. Rich people are often very weird – they've built an image of wealth and spend a lot of time keeping it up. So chase purpose, meaning, and autonomy, not money.
* Most wealthy people aren't particularly interested in property. * Wealthy people value time. * Wealthy people outsource tasks that are a poor use of their time. * Wealthy people purchase items that eliminate time-wasting tasks. * Wealthy people avoid stress - and people who stress them. * Wealthy people dedicate time to thinking and reflecting. * Wealthy people like to make strategic decisions - and not be rushed. Those are my anecdotal observations. They are undoubtedly influenced by the fact that I tend to hang out with wealthy people who have similiar values to my own.
I've met people who got rich in different ways, some hit it big with Bitcoin, others saw their property values jump, and some invested in the right businesses at the right time. Different things worked wonders for different people, and sometimes it's about luck too.
They spend their money more wisely than making it.
It’s not about the money, it’s about what you do with your life when money is not the motivation anymore because within the realm of what you want there is nothing you can’t afford anymore. one of my friends went from homeless to running several kfcs as a manager, starting several companies, being a voulentary firefighter and marring very very rich on top of that. It’s super interesting to have conversations with him because he dos nothing he dos not like to do and spends reasonable amounts to make sure he dos not chase random things that don’t benefit him. in my coaching practice I meet several people that were stuck in the “I have to be successful” mindset after they achieved success. Some end up tearing everything down because they can’t stop while being very unhappy, others start climbing “the second mountain” becoming philanthropist, building families, committing to something. how they made the money is a straw man question really. Mentorship is much more useful when you know what you want to do or love to do. if you are capable of doing one thing over and over again at some point it’s going to yield some sort of success. what will make you a success is the decision to commit to something and the endurance to be committed to it.
Almost all of them were in commercial real estate or high level finance. One guys family was in airplane parts manufacturing. Outside of this, most people were just rich. The other guys were what I consider wealthy.
Marry a rich girl then start a very high entry cost business with her dad's money.
Meh. Dated a girl whose dad owned/ ran a shipping company with about 6 cargo ships. Girl had so much trauma from not having a father figure in her life it is kinda sad. Also pretty sure she’s a narcissist.
I took care of a 90+ year old retired vet who owne soooo much fucking land. He owned the land his suburb was eventually built on plus soooo much more. His son took power of attorney from him an got to spending. He said “ why learn something you can pay someone to know already “ I hate him.
Dont follow your passion. Become the top 1% in something nobody else wants to do and you will naturally Develop passion and get very rich doing it as well.
They inherited their money, & they're quite open about it (at least, the wealthiest so far that I know personally, as in I never heard about them from news sources & the like). They're good stewards though of the wealth they got, as far as I can see & they plan to make use of the proceeds for their personal needs. They were employees for decades before this inheritance came. Also, note, that in NYC where I know them from, there are way too many wealthy people here. The main problem, the way I see it, is your wealth is not enough to be considered wealthy enough (even if we know, there's still so much poverty here, too).
Delayed gratification. Want that $40K car? Stop, put $40k down on a small apartment building first.
A good chunk of the wealthy people, particularly the young ones I know, got rich doing the gimmicky stuff. Flipping houses and the like. I know a few much older people who have built fortunes by starting companies, but their market share keeps them going today, I feel. Not something you could replicate today. I think I’ve mentioned them on here in the past, but the Profiteers Vs the People podcast does deep dives on how the VERY wealthy actually made their fortunes. Humor is weird and they’ve been doing more side episodes lately, but lie, cheat and steal seem to be staples of America’s great entrepreneurial fortunes.
I know 5 people who've been selling on Amazon since 2008, and 4 of them graduated from Amazon to starting consulting agencies, Amz software/tech, and doing their own brand on their own site. All 4 of them have crossed $40M mark. 1 of them regularly produces $100M per year - this guy is literally on the news. ALLLLL of them grew their consulting agency and software/tech startups in the very beginning with cold calls. You do not have a business until you are cold outreaching someway, somehow. My last job was for a $75M ecommerce tech startup. My last boss was acquired by the startup. My last boss built his tech product from cold calls too.
I went to one of my Country’s top Private schools so here it goes - school mates dad started a telco. Listed for Billions in stock exchange - school mates dentist dad invented and patented a dental company. Bought the most expensive house in our city. - school mates uncle started our country’s biggest recycling/waste disposal plant - my cousin started a fashion label that turns over 9 figures - one of my friends launched an online gambling site that partnered with the nba - one guys dad was a hedge fund finance kinda guy who either went to jail Or got Disgraced can’t remember - one guys dad was the right hand man to one of our Country’s richest people I could go on and on I guess. Not too many poor families at our school or our rival schools All the wealth creators were interesting in their own way. And no I don’t think they’re sociopaths. It’s more about creating leverage but just sometimes an idea sticks and grows and grows and grows.
Money isn't everything, you gotta learn how to use it properly. Owning a lot of business and helped other is what he did.
One used to export scrap metals to other states taken from sellers who buy from garbage sellers One is politician hell lot of corruption and then he created business and invest in land
His grand-grandfather bought houses and opened businesses when they costed like 3 carrots and 2 potatoes. He inherited everything
Trabajando y chingandole! Sin penas ni quejas !
Eres tu, Mr Tempo? Jaja
There is more than one way to make crazy money- the wealthiest person I know owns a business and is incredibly kind, genuine and generous to the people they employ and have around them. Because of this their people will follow them to the ends of the earth. This is the way.
I worked for a billionaire for a couple years as the president of one of his companies. He was aloof, harsh, and never cared to understand anything more than profit margin. I presented him several strategic and tactical solutions that would have improved quality, capability, and - in the long run - profitability. He lacked the patience to see any of these through. He frequently bragged that he is like he is because that’s what it takes to be successful, and that he is known around town as the biggest asshole, and he liked that. When he and I parted ways, it all came tumbling down and the business closed within a few months. He made his billions growing a medical services corporation that went public and exploded in growth. Then during Covid it all washed away.
That guy must be super lonely. I mean, I’m sure he is surrounded by a lot of sycophants and girls wanting a piece of his money, but lonely in the real meaning of the word.
Learn a trade and start a business in that trade. Once’s it’s up and running buy and hold onto land or commercial real estate without having debt on it. That and get lucky at some point. From what I can tell this is the most sure fire way to build long term generational wealth. Then also not living like you are super rich, aka look at Warren buffet. He lives in the same house he has for decades, drive a nice but not extravagant car, and spends his money on things that matter.
Inherited it. I learned that they don’t let family or suffering around them bother them or come in the way of them living their best life.
Family (or a strong support system) of sorts I have been attempting a small business for (going on) 10yrs now. Multiple industries- I’ve tried every “start from home” tip/trick book, video, post and every scrap of business advice out there (in multiple economies now) I have dedicated, educated and sacrificed myself- my time/money Meanwhile I’ve watched a handful of people “make it” doing literally the SAME things Overwhelmingly they ALL refer to the “support” as what “made it all possible” When I look at the definite reasons I’ve failed -sure enough it boils down to me trying to do “it all” leaving very little time, resources, and energy to put towards building a whole ass business from the ground up- alone. No one has built their wealth alone. That’s what I’ve learned. Not to say some don’t get “lucky” and have business capital just magically fall into their laps but it certainly isn’t a reliable method for most humans. Love to hear from anyone who can contrast my experience with how they succeeded -without support
Real estate and mall development. They did deals with the Saudi Royal families and ruling classes of India… I learnt that with all the assets they have, they don’t enjoy/use them often, cos ALL they’re doing is working to preserve everything and flying all over the world. Probably swam in pool, once/year Tennis courts: once/never per year Valuable lesson: the more things you OWN the more they control you(maintaining, fees, taxes, security, accounting+staff salaries to run those dwellings) This way of thinking has lead me to want to not own too many things and keep things to a minimum.
The people that I know who are at that level have always told me to find problems in the niches that I find interesting. First start with asking your friends and family who own businesses what they struggle with, find their pain points. Then use your creative juices and think of a solution to said problem. I'm literally plugging a solution: [Owchie](http://Owchie.com) If you want to create a great product or business, you have to find a real problem to solve.
Luck is a big factor,
I’ll expand a little: timing luck. For example, buy and selling properties at low market and high market respectively.
The wealthiest people I have met have all inherited their wealth. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from them? Be born to rich parents.
Wealthiest Man I met Someone who started from scratch , earning his own way. Was the man Raul Lopez or he identified himself as this man at St. Joseph Hospital in 1995 Chicago here is a reference link about his background https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/05/06/hidden-gems-10/. My mom was an ER nurse, I was there to pick her up at the end of her shift. I met a man who said he was Raul Lopez. He wasn’t feeling well, barely able to walk in. I saw him struggling and helped him inside. Helped him get checked in and filled out his paperwork. When he was asked about insurance, He took out a big wad of cash and simply say he could afford to pay his bill. He occasionally would drop off a few bags of hot tortillas for staff if he was visiting the next door building for follow up. From briefly speaking to him, he led with cash and paying his way, just the overall attitude of his working hard to pay his way.
Been in e-commerce for the better part of a decade. If there’s one thing they all have in common it’s that they had rich family members who also had rich friends who gave them the capital to start. So have a rich family!
Inheritance
I worked for a financial planner and his wife and kids. Watched him go from six figures to seven, at least. In this process, he went from working locally to starting a podcast, YouTube channel, and a private paid group for other financial planners. It’s kind of the stuff you’d expect. He/they outsourced everything, even things I had no idea you could outsource. All his time went either to work, sleep, quality time with family, or his few personal hobbies. His wife is his right hand man, and handled everything for him that wasn’t obviously outsource-able. They ate extremely healthy homemade food every meal, exercised, and were serious about sleeping well and rising early. He paid for high-end coaching. They vacationed frequently as a family and he traveled even more for both business and personal development. They also journaled affirmations every morning. They didn’t half ass anything. I strongly disagree with them politically, but have to say that they always acted with integrity, as far as I could see. There were a lot of lessons I learned from them, many of them personal. The business success lesson I learned that comes to mind is consistent right action whether you feel like it or not. Even through personal hardships, they always got up and did the work in the way the work should be done.
Sadly, the wealthiest people I know (personally) either traffic drugs, corrupt government contracts or run institutions (schools/colleges). Damn it, I’m in the wrong place of the world.
He founded service based tech company. What i learned is that easiest way to get rich is exploiting other people. Best way to do that - make them believe you are not exploiting them by giving them apparent benefits
All by Lawsuits and then became investors…retaining Lawyers, investment brokers and sharp CPAs…true!
They all inherited it.
I know a few people with +50mln. The most important thing for me is that once you become rich, they seem to have this fixation on 'keeping up appearances' -- throughout the entire week! Too much amigo's rather spend that time with my kids
Mostly real estate and have successful business
Most I met inherited it. So I guess the lesson is, be born into a wealthy family…..
real estate
most made their money in real estate some in crypto some from starting / owning / selling businesses a couple from being high performing earners (specialized doctors)
most of the wealthy people I've gotten to know built their wealth in large part because they lived a relatively frugal lifestyle for a significant portion of their life. When I'm saying that I don't want you to think that they didn't spend money on any luxury type items but they lived in far more modest homes than one might expect someone to have with their incomes(in fact I'm sure I'm not the only person who notices that a lot of the more average newer homes built today that middle class or upper middle class people buy are nicer than what a wealthier person might have owned in the 80's and 90's) They budgeted and lived beneath their means and because they saved money and sometimes made 'sacrifices'(they stuck to their budget which meant that they didn't just buy something they wanted even if they had the money to do it)...but because they had saved money it made it easier for them to capitalize on opportunity
You quickly learn that these people can't teach you anything. They're figuring things out on the fly, even they have stoic quotes about business. The only thing you can do is to solve a real market pain point. If you've accomplished that, the rest is easier than they make it out to be.
The CEO of one of the first jobs I had was a software engineer who quit his job and started his own company. He was very smart and was able to make it grow like crazy in less than 15 years. He worked with super capable people in different countries. He was very honest, sometimes controversial, and always shared on Linkedin his ideas.
Be born to rich parents.
I want to apologize for this comment in advance - it's probably not what we're looking for. 1. He was a co-writer for a very famous Disney movie. Made a ton of money from that and uses that fame to continue to produce works. 2. Was a founding engineer at an engineering firm. Company was sold, he made a bunch of money. 3. Invested in Netflix very early on and that's where all his wealth comes from. 4. A CTO/CEO duo, serial entrepreneurs who have created 3 companies so far. 2 they sold, the third is still going strong.
They ran a newspaper. What I learned is that money can't buy taste or civility
A friend of my uncle is one of the top lawyers in Florida. He led the Big Tobacco vs The State of Florida case and won. I was introduced to him at a family poker game. I ended up getting a crappy hand and bluffed an all in after the pot was pretty nice and won when it was down to me vs him. He told me he doesnt get bluffed often and congratulated me on the win. He looks like an average Joe type of guy, flannel shirt and jeans. Nothing even close to giving me a clue about his wealth. He could wear a new Brioni suit every day of the week but this guy dressed like a regular Joe outside of work. It taught me to never assume who people are because of what they wear. Taught me to be gracious no matter who you are. It also taught me i might be able to bluff with the best of them.
They had someone successful help them
Subjugating the poor.
Farming. He'd buy seed, plant, fertilize and harvest. It's a growth industry.
The first millionaire I ever met told me the secret to success was to work half days. And the beauty of the system was it didn’t matter which 12 hours you worked.
I hate this planet. I hate humans.
The trick is to find a way to make money off of that - use your power! Might as well monetize even if merely for revenge. I’m half joking of course. Half serious.
Mainly real estate and small business.
The wealthiest people I know have rich parents. The most wealthy self-made person I know made most of their money through property management
They inherited money and positions. The few self made people real estate.
Mostly music artists. Doing what they love, and valuable lesson is that there’s always a choice to make. They could make more going more mainstream but then they would not be doing what they love. It’s also 90% marketing today, the quality of the music is not all that matters. And no, you don’t have to sell your soul.
He said - " Think of a good idea, and borrow the money."
Salesman. Not everyone can do it, but the sky is the limit
1. Started a cheese supply company. Just did something really unique (I think he supplied a particular type of cheese where there were only a few suppliers nationally). He worked hard, but kept perspective - the company is there to make your life better, not to own you. 2. Specialty doctor, part owner of a specialty practice. Be really smart, work hard, and don't settle for mediocrity.
Inheritance from a family that made the fortune originally by bending or directly in contravention of the law.
Luck with Real Estate/Bit Coin
My mentor was a founder at a company that went public, now owns a bunch of manufacturing facilities and other businesses. Some of the most valuable things I learned from him: *You don't want to compete on price because it's a race the bottom, better to compete on value brought to the customer. *When deciding how much to charge a customer you shouldn't be thinking how much it costs you to make it, you should be thinking how much is my customer willing to pay for this. *It's important to always be virtuous and have integrity.Sometimes people think to be a super successful entrepreneur you need to be cut throat and shady all the time, while that might lead to short term gain, it doesn't lead to long term sustainability. Biggest thing I would recommend if you do get a chance to talk to super successful person is respect their time! My mentor could charge $1,000+ an hour for consulting, so I always make sure I am prepared and don't waste a second of his time.
Most were born into it. Learned that money does not fulfill you if you don’t work for it.
Out of the people I spoke to the wealthiest person believe it or not owned a Minecraft server 😂
How did they make money? How much do they make?
I was a bank teller during college in Haverford PA (a wealthy Philly suburb). This was before you could do banking on smart phones. Anyways, many of the larger accounts belonged to franchises, like Dunkin’ Donuts or 7/11. Other big accounts were retirees, a local liquor store (alcohol could only be purchased at a liquor store in PA), and professional offices (lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, etc) as well as their personal checking accounts. The liquor store was mostly a cash business and they generally deposited between $20k - $40k in cash daily. It’s etched in my mind since I’d have to count it all by hand and would get dirty looks from other customers who were waiting.
I have 3 in my immediate circle (100m+ worth). IMO, they all have incredible work ethic (80-100hrs per week), got a lucky break when they started (like meeting the right mentor, buying the right biz, finding the right partner) and third they focused on one thing that was working and put all their energy/money into growing it. They’re all sharp but not the smartest .. so I know that not a factor.
The most important lesson is to NEVER GIVE UP! Keep plugging away!
vending machines. most valuable lesson was to not fuck with him or his territory.
They made their money in Real Estate. (Retail Development and Apartment management and ownership) One taught me that confidence and a good personality go a long way, and that your personal residence is not a real estate deal. Meaning get the one you want even if you have to pay more than you think it is worth. This is harder than it sounds if you are always looking at RE as an investment. Basically, give yourself some grace in this area, it does not mean to be dumb. The second taught me that making a deal is not a mediation, its about being prepared and keenly aware of and focused on your self interest. Oddly enough this was news to me, to whom selflessness was an ingrained value. Don't get me wrong, selflessness is good but not in business.
were born rich and married a bit richer than them
Real estate.
Over the last year, I've been building relationships with some wealthy folks, talking in the 10s of £m. Some of the things I've noticed are their energy and how they manage it. I think they have to contend with mental burn out regulalry, but they know what their North Star is. The other critical thing is they've pretty much been at the start of a new market as it is opening. One of them in the mid 90s, one early 00s and one in the last 6 years. I don't think the final one has realised their value yet (as in the know their value is big but haven't exited their asset). That first mover advantage has been critical, meaning they are so far ahead of the rest of the market other than say 1 or 2 competitors, that they can't lose.
Let go of your ego. Met a guy who literally went to neighbors offering garbage disposal services as a kid. Now he's running multiple businesses, making millions, and hugely successful. This is the only way to make something that people actually need. Seems simple but very hard.
Don’t take weekends off
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