LegendaryLife Blog

Forbes has released it’s list of the top 400 billionaires and just to join the club, they had to have a net worth above 1.3 billion dollars US.

Interesting Numbers

The top eight spots on the list was made up of entrepreneurs who, they themselves, accounted for 15% of the total value of the top 400 billionaires in the world. That’s a lot of dough considering the net value of all 400 combined is over a trillion dollars which is in excess of many countries GDP!

The Secrets

Here are a few secrets / lessons that the worlds wealthiest had to share with those of us who aren’t so lucky (yes, luck has a heck of a lot to do with this type of extreme success).

• Mr. Kenny Troutt, with a reported value of 1.3 billion dollars, said that he learned money cannot buy happiness.
• Mr. Richard Rainwater, with a value of 3.5 billion dollars, said that he learned leaving too much money to kids (50 million in this case) isn’t a good thing.
• Mr. Kenneth Hendricks, with a value of 3.5 billion dollars stated that he learned the hard way that not everybody is created equal in the world.
• Mr. Sanford Weill, with a value of 1.8 billion dollars, said the biggest lesson he learned while accumulating his wealth was to learn to deal with problems when they where small before they snowball into major headaches.
• Mr. Burton Smith, with a reported value of 1.5 billion dollars, said that hard work can overcome a lot of incompetence and negatives that are pushed upon a person.
• Mr. Ronald Perelman, with a reported vale of 10 billion dollars stated tthat being at the right place at the right time is what lead to his enormous wealth.
• Mr. James Sorenson, with a value of 4.5 billion dollars, said that investing in yourself is the best way to succeed in life.
• Mr. Donald Trump, with a value estimated to be 3 billion dollars stated that he learned to nail people to the wall if they tried to screw him.
• Mr. Michael Heisley, with a value of 1.3 billion dollars stated that simply being wealthy has been the most corrupting influence in his life.
• Mr. Ken Fisher, with a value of 1.8 billion dollars, said the hardest lesson he learned is that others don’t perceive you the same way you perceive you.
• Mr. Eli Broad, with a reported value of 7 billion dollars, said that he believes the harder you work, the luckier you get in life.
• Mr. John Catsimatidis, with a value of 2.1 billion dollars stated that he learned that some people just rub each other the wrong way for no particular reason.
• Mr. Tim Blixseth, with a value of 1.3 billion dollars said he trusted people too much and it got him in trouble sometimes.
• Sir Richard Branson (not on the list?), his best advice for getting super wealthy is saying “screw it” and follow through!

Where is Sir Richard Branson?

What I found odd about this list is that Forbes left out Sir Richard Branson, of all the billionaires who never call me, he is probably the one that this pains me the most! I really look up to this guy, he takes extreme risks with his businesses, fails a lot but his successes more then make up for it. He is incredibly diversified, from sub-orbital flights to renting out his own homes and overall, a fantastic personality who has almost cult status in the UK. His net worth is estimated to be between 2 and 8 billion dollars yet, he is completely absent from the Forbes 400 list which I find puzzling. Another thing as to why I admire him so much is that he is incredibly honest, he says straight-out without an over-inflated ego that luck got him to where he is now.

The Bottom Line

Being a billionaire has as much to do about luck as it does hard work, but who knows… invest in yourself and the world is open to allowing you to join this very exclusive club.

Buzvia: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/09/19/richest-americans-forbes-lists-richlist07-cx_mm_0920rich_land.html