Wondering who’s the richest person on the planet? Since the end of October 2017, that is Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.
Earlier this year, in July, Forbes, the publication famous for tracking billionaires and their net worth in real time, announced this:
‘Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates and is now the richest person in the world, with a fortune topping $90 billion for the first time ever.
When markets opened on Thursday, Bezos had a net worth of $90.6 billion, putting him $500 million ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Amazon stock opened up 1.6% on Thursday, adding $1.4 billion to Bezos’ net worth. That was enough to put him ahead of Gates.’
And while Gates got his number 1 position back, here’s what happened in the end of October:
On that Friday morning, October 27th, there was an 8% spike in Amazon stock, adding $7 billion to the net worth of its founder.
However, Microsoft also saw a spike of 7% overnight, so it remained in the first position.
But later this morning Amazon stocks jumped again, which added $900 million to Bezos’ fortune and made him the richest person in the world.
Currently, his net worth is $94,6 billion.
The battle between Bezos and Gates for the first position has been there for a long time.
Getting rich is something everyone dreams about.
For those facing financial hardships, getting rich seems the only way out to tide over shortage of money. For the bourgeoisie – the working class – getting rich conjures up visions of stuff they want to buy for luxury or higher social status.
Millionaires also wish to get rich: they want to become billionaires and enter Forbes List of the world’s wealthiest people.
Unless you inherit a fortune or get lucky at lottery or sweepstakes, getting rich can be quite tough.
Yet, there are countless rags-to-riches stories around the world. Enterprises such as Amazon, KFC, Facebook or SpaceX have become runaway successes within a short span. The reason: their founders have several things in common, which is rare among other people.
Here we look at various traits that the world’s richest and most successful entrepreneurs have in common.
The Common Traits of The World’s Richest People
1. Serving People.
“If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it,” said John D. Rockefeller, who laid the foundation stone for America’s giant petroleum industry and his own enterprise, Standard Oil. The same adage holds good today.
Facebook, for example, was launched by Mark Zuckerberg and his roommate, Eduardo Saverin to allow Harvard University students to share profiles and pictures
There are countless such examples of ordinary people striking rich. However, they share one thing in common: serving people. The main objective of launching these enterprises was to make life easier or enjoyable for people rather than earning money.
2. Reading Books.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, celebrity TV show host Oprah Winfrey, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Berkshire-Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet and several other extremely rich people of the world have one more thing in common: they are avid readers.
Bill Gates reads at least 50 books every year – an average of nearly four and a half books per month.
Elon Musk owes his success at SpaceX, the project to open space tourism to his love for books and the knowledge he gained from them about rocketry. Oprah Winfrey attributes her success to dozens of books, including some 70 top titles she read on her way to success while Warren Buffet spends about 80 percent of his day reading books.
3. Long-Term Financial Strategies.
A report by CNBC states, all wealthy people depend upon long-term financial strategies rather than short-term gains. They utilized their earnings and savings to invest in safe stocks that would assure gains in the long run rather than indulging in risky trading that can offer high returns.
Such financial planning and decisions ensured they do not lose money. Further, they invested money in their enterprises without the hope of immediate returns.
These wealthy people first focused on building a brand, offering value for people to identify with the brand. And later, popularize the brand through word-of-mouth publicity, which is more effective than traditional advertising.
Read also: Innovative Investment Avenues to Consider: from NFTs to Space Tourism
4. Never Say Die.
Yet another common character trait shared by the world’s richest people and highest-paid CEOs is, they are not quitters.
Like every other human on Earth, these wealthy folks also witnessed ups and downs in life. Some of these were so overwhelming most ordinary people would have called it quits and gone in search of easier ventures.
Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Bleckharczyk, founders of Airbnb, the world’s largest hotels and accommodations aggregator were plagued with financial problems.
Heavily encumbered with debts, bankruptcy was staring at these entrepreneurs in the very eye. Yet, they did not budge. They innovated their service that made Airbnb the world leader in its field today.
Another excellent example is Colonel Harland Sanders, whose recipe for fried chicken was rejected as many as 1,009 times before it was accepted. Col. Sanders is the founder of global chain Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC.
5. Accepting Criticism.
Most people flee from criticism of any sort. Rather than learning from negative comments arising out of their behavior or work, they take umbrage rather quickly. Yet, they do not bother to amend their behavior or work pattern.
All wealthy people, however, are different. They are willing to be criticized for introducing new ideas or thoughts.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, rightly says that those who will try and do something new must be willing to draw criticism.
Steve Jobs, founder, Apple, Inc. (which recently reached 1 trillion in value) puts it in even stronger words: “If you want to make everyone happy, do not become a leader; sell ice cream instead.”
The success of Amazon and Apple proves their founders were right when it came to accepting criticism.
Read also: The Morning Routine of Jeff Bezos
6. Out of The Box Thinking.
Thinking outside of the ‘box’ or a typical mindset is often impossible for most people. Understandably, because everyone draws their mindset from factors and circumstances they are raised and educated in.
This rich mindset eventually becomes a formidable fetter for anyone wanting to become an entrepreneur. Generally, most people follow the flock and take professions they falsely believe as best suited for their skills. Others try to follow footsteps of their parents.
The wealthiest people in the world never followed flock or took lucrative professions of their parents.
Mark Zuckerberg’s father was a dentist and mom – a psychiatrist. Bill Gates’ dad was a banker father while his mother was a lawyer.
Despite coming from wealthy families, they chose to follow their passion rather than confine their thinking to the proverbial boxed mindset. Col. Sanders had lost his parents at a young age of six years and had to shoulder responsibilities of his siblings.
Other Examples of What The Wealthiest People Have in Common
As we can see, these qualities or personality traits are common to the world’s richest people. It sets them apart from others.
Most of them launched small enterprises with the sole purpose of bettering the lives of people. Their products or services gained popularity because money was never their consideration. Widespread use of their technology, products, and services eventually led them to become wealthy.
These traits are not typical to the US or the western world, as one may mistakenly come to believe. A glance at some richest people also reveals, they share the same characteristics with their American counterparts. This amply proves that richest people around the world share something in common, regardless of where they live and flourish.
Another common trait that all rich people share in common is philanthropy.
Since childhood, they believe in giving back to the society and helping the underprivileged. They practiced charity when they were not so rich and continue to donate money for the betterment of the society even after becoming billionaires.
These richest people on the planet never waited to become wealthy. Instead, they were philanthropists since childhood – a trait most other people pathetically lack or try to foist upon themselves to gain popularity.
In Conclusion
It is not easy to become wealthy. Or everyone would become a millionaire. People who do make it to the top have a different way of thinking combined with an undying zest for learning new things and educating themselves.
They do not consider conventional learning at universities as the end of their education. Instead, they try and acquire new skills every day and find ways and means to become better humans rather than focusing on fattening their purses.
The world’s wealthiest people also share one common trait: they are not people pleasers, despite their generosity and willingness to serve the society. Because they know, trying to please everyone will get them nowhere and could mean possible failure.
