How do today's millionaires get rich? Success stories of billionaires who started a business from scratch (20 photos). About the psychology of millionaires and their habits

The name of this billionaire has never been included in the Forbes magazine ratings, however, Robert Kiyosaki is one of the richest people in the world. He himself says that he earns at least ten million dollars a year. “Many people work for money, attract to financial services to save money. I will never be stupid enough to do that,” says Robert.

Here are some examples of how millionaires became millionaires and what business ideas were at the heart of their entrepreneurship:

Vietnam War veteran Robert Kiyosaki once lived with his family in a trailer and was looking for investors for his brilliant inventions. He invented a waterproof wallet for surfers, and for many years he tried unsuccessfully to sell it on the beaches of California. Then he began to produce T-shirts with portraits of celebrities, but also went bankrupt. But one day he turned into a billionaire. His income grew from $300 a month to $1 million. It took only 5 years for Robert Kiyosaki to become one of the most successful and influential people in America.

Ryan Ross is the youngest millionaire in the world. By the age of 11, he already owned several buildings that he rented out for offices, and Ryan earned his fortune on his own, starting to work at 3 years old. Then he sold domestic eggs, then mowed lawns and delivered decorative rabbits, now Ryan plans to invest in a hockey team and win the Stanley Cup with it.

Spanish businessman Amancio Ortega left school at the age of 13 because his parents couldn't pay tuition. Ortega became a messenger at a shirt shop. Now he is the owner of a textile empire, and his fortune is estimated at 64 billion dollars.

At 20, George Soros worked as a waiter and loader at a gas station.

Roman Obramovich was left an orphan at the age of 4, and after serving in the Soviet army, he went from a construction trust mechanic to the owner of a transnational corporation.

About the psychology of millionaires and their habits

But why are the richest people on the planet at the very bottom of the ranking of billionaires? After all, it is known that they own banks, factories, oil and uranium mines around the world. These people never flaunt their wealth, they do not have golden toilets at home, and their cars are not decorated with diamonds, on the contrary, 97-year-old David Rockefeller has been wearing the same suit for more than fifty years.

If you want to have a luxurious house, an expensive car, exclusive outfits, you are not thinking like a millionaire. American researchers Thomas Stanley and William Danko came to such an unexpected conclusion. They studied the habits of rich people for ten years and made an amazing discovery: only those who know how to save money become millionaires. For example, millionaires very rarely buy houses for more than $300,000 and cars for more than $25,000, and 80% of wealthy people even buy clothes at sales, while the Scots are considered the most economical among millionaires, and the Russian rich are the most “squanderers”.

The first Soviet millionaire Artem Tarasov does not consider himself wasteful, but he understands perfectly well why such an opinion is formed about Russian millionaires: “I somehow ended up on our Russian beach in Nice. I was invited, and now, at a certain point around 12 o'clock in the afternoon, suddenly I look, a crowd is gathering around us from all over the beach. At exactly 12 o'clock in the afternoon, in a circle the size of a small palace, a procession of French waiters, loaded with cases of elite champagne, stretched out. As it turned out later, this happened here every day. There were 20 cases of 20 bottles, each bottle costing about a thousand dollars. Then the wives begin to open bottles and pour champagne on all the spectators, and some climb onto the table, dance on the table and pour champagne on them. That is, this is 400 thousand dollars poured out every day, ”says Tarasov. However, everything turned out to be not so simple. The French suppliers of champagne for Russian millionaires, accustomed to throwing money right and left, also showed creativity. - “The most interesting thing, when they poured me, I licked this thing - lemonade! The French are smart. They pack and bring this same champagne, because no one drinks it, they pour it out anyway. On the other hand, there are other extremes. In the west they are more common.

Ingvar Kamprad, owner of a well-known Swedish furniture and home goods company. This man is simply fabulously rich, his fortune exceeded 64 billion dollars. He can afford every whim, but saves every cent. This year, Kamprat changed his hairdresser, whom he had been going to for many years, because he found another who takes 2 crowns less, which is about 10 rubles. He also ordered that all the phones he had be replaced with pay phones. That is, he checked the bills, saw that he was accumulating, for example, $ 150 in a month, looked how much he calls himself, it turned out that only 30. A businessman can have a private jet, but he flies economy class and stays exclusively in cheap motels, where serve free breakfasts. When Kamprad was invited to the opening of his company's next mall, he refused to cut the red ribbon. Instead, the billionaire rolled it up and hid it in his pocket, explaining that this thing might still come in handy. Ingvar Kamprad's rule: "one dollar saved today will bring five dollars in a month."

How businessman Andreas became a millionaire

Businessman Andreas owns one of the most fashionable nightclubs in Moscow. Here, on weekends, world-class celebrities and the entire metropolitan beau monde squander money. It is hard to believe that less than 10 years ago, Andreas was a lieutenant in the missile forces and lived on a modest salary of a Russian army soldier. Now Andreas can afford to fly to any corner of the planet for the weekend. How did he manage to get rich? Andreas admits: his secret of success is the ability to communicate. When the young man retired from the army, he got a job as a promoter in one of the nightclubs, handing out flyers at the entrance. A year later, he was lured to an elite club for the position of art director. When Andreas decided to open his own club a few years ago, he easily found a big businessman from his new friends - a tobacco magnate who invested a million dollars in the project. Now the club brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Donald Trump Rule: “Poor environment pulls you into poverty. You always need to communicate with optimists and winners. This rule has helped many people change their lives. The ability to present oneself and make acquaintance with the right people has been valued in society at all times.

How Igor Bogomolny became a millionaire

Igor Bogomolny, owner of a chain of Moscow restaurants. He is personally acquainted with Donald Trump. For many years he has been friends with his son Donald Trump Jr., the right hand of an American billionaire and heir to his empire. When Donald comes to Russia on business, they usually meet here at Igor's restaurant. Igor met a clan of influential American businessmen 10 years ago. Then he was a real estate salesman and flew to the US to help his Russian friends buy an apartment in Miami. And a couple of months later in Moscow, at one of the presentations for realtors, a man in an expensive suit approached Igor. It was Donald Trump Jr. He stated that he was interested in wealthy buyers of real estate from Russia and would offer a Moscow businessman from Russia to sell apartments in a new New York skyscraper built by the Trump company. The total amount of the deal was more than $15 million. Trump Jr. did not expect such a success. Soon, Igor received a call from the United States and was told that the head of the family, Donald Trump Sr., wanted to personally take a look at the Russian, who had such a strong business acumen. You will be surprised, but many wealthy people believe in signs and observe rituals that may seem ridiculous and even ridiculous to us, but these methods help them earn millions.

Successful business idea by Ty Warner

One of the most successful business ideas of our time belongs to the American Ty Warner, who came up with the idea of ​​sewing teddy bears and calling them by different names. He produced his toys in limited quantities, so they were immediately bought up by collectors. Now Ty Warner is the owner of a fortune of 6 billion dollars and the owner of the most expensive hotel in New York, the Four Seasons.

Brilliant idea by Dennis Hope

But perhaps the most ingenious idea belongs to entrepreneur Dennis Hope. For the past 33 years, an American businessman has been selling things that you can't even touch. Dennis sells lots on the moon. “One afternoon I was driving a car and saw the pale disk of the moon. And I thought: how much land there that does not belong to anyone, ”says Hope. After studying the international agreement, Dennis discovered a loophole in them that allowed him to become one of the richest entrepreneurs on the planet and even the solar system. “I remember that the second paragraph of the UN declaration says that no state has the right to declare sovereignty over any object that is in our solar system outside the Earth, but there was not a word about ordinary people.” Lunar 6 acres will cost the buyer only $ 3, 40 acres at $ 20. The brilliant businessman claims that among his buyers are George Lucas, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Clint Eastwood, John Travolta and three former US presidents. “Today, 33 years later, I sit here and I can say that I have sold 2.5 million square kilometers of the moon, 1.5 million square kilometers of Mars and half a million on Venus, Mercury and Saturn. To date, 6 million 10 thousand people around the world have become our customers,” says Hope.

How to become millionaires using rituals and methods to attract money

Real methods of attracting money from the lips of millionaires. How do they lure wealth?

But what if money can not only earn? No, of course, this is not theft or armed bank robbery. What if special rituals are used to receive money?

In the old days, Russian merchants, having heard the singing of the first cuckoo in the spring, immediately began to jingle coins in their pockets. It was believed that this way you can attract new money. I wonder if modern millionaires believe in omens.

The first Russian millionaire Artem Tarasov starts every working day with the same ritual. The businessman says that he does not sit down at the table, does not answer calls and does not receive visitors until everything in his office is aligned with the principles of feng shui - the ancient Chinese science of wealth and prosperity. The entrepreneur assures: the Feng Shui technique really works. Artem noticed that when there are no familiar figures on the table, things don’t go smoothly. And vice versa, if you follow the ritual, then original business ideas are born as if by themselves. Artem Tarasov states: it is not customary to talk about this, but many representatives of big business practice Feng Shui techniques. But how can these rituals affect business success?

Jet Li, a hereditary Feng Shui master assures: this is not magic, and not magic, but science. Money is an energy that can be attracted to you or repelled by wrong actions. “Feng Shui is mathematics, it is logic and precise calculations. When you own them, there is nothing supernatural anymore. On this day, at this hour, you need to put a certain energy activator in a certain place, and you somehow overfulfill the sales plan, or you succeed in something else, ”says Jet.

To become richer, Master Li advises to observe several important Feng Shui laws at work and at home. “In certain places in your home, a certain energy is concentrated. Your task is to put a certain activator of this energy in this place. First of all, these are water objects: a fountain or an aquarium. But if you put an aquarium at home, this does not mean that tomorrow money will fall on you or the recipe will be in your pocket, you need to earn money, and your activator will quietly help you, ”explains Jet.

Why are many millionaires actually poorer than you?

We often hear about Russian oligarchs, oil tycoons and billionaires who buy football clubs, yachts and huge planes. We envy them, but we don't know how these millionaires became millionaires, we don't know that very often it's just a glossy cover that sparkles with all its might. In fact, there are countless debts and loans behind it, the rich also cry.

There are two Forbes books. The first is the richest people in the world, and the second is the biggest creditors in the world. For some reason, we do not like to read this book, we do not know about it, and none of the media talk about it. So here are our oligarchs in both books. That is, their assets are less than their debts.

For example, Igor Zyuzin is the owner of a group of metallurgical plants. He is one of the 200 richest people in Russia. His fortune is 1 billion 800 million dollars, but at the same time, his company is on the verge of bankruptcy. She owed over $9 billion. Two months ago, the luxurious mansion of the Latvian millionaire Raimonds Shtalbergs, who made money on real estate transactions, went to his creditors for debts.

As American journalists found out, the company of construction magnate Donald Trump was on the verge of bankruptcy three times. The billionaire now owes almost $2 billion to creditors.

But how do the rich get such debts? It seems to us that the rich live carefree and happy. With money they can buy a lot, even health, but this is not so. As studies by Danish scientists show, the rich are more likely to suffer from allergies, they have 5 times strokes and mental disorders than people of average income. In addition, the rich are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than those who are reduced to extreme poverty. Experts are sure that all these ailments and problems are of neurological origin. That is, the organism of the rich reacts in this way to the subconscious fear of becoming poor again. It's not as hard to get rich as it is to keep rich. All millionaires admit this. Add to the fear of losing capital envy and sidelong glances of those who failed to make a fortune. The rich fence themselves off from the world with high fences, buy islands in the ocean to hide their secrets from prying eyes, but very soon you will learn all about them.

Koreiko and his complete antipode Ostap Bender. The image of a millionaire created by Ilf and Petrov is in general similar to the image of a real American millionaire.

In this article, I will give an interesting statistic on this issue, which I found in the book "Your Neighbor Is a Millionaire" by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. The authors dispelled the myth about the lifestyle of millionaires.

· How do they get rich?

· What are they doing?

· What are they investing in?

These and other questions are answered in this book. And all of them are supported by a mass of digital data, some of which I will give below.

The authors of the book were themselves very surprised by the results of their study. They once did a group interview with people who own at least $10 million. For this interview, they rented a luxury apartment on the roof of a skyscraper in a prestigious area of ​​New York, so that de-millionaire respondents would feel at home. 2 chefs were hired to create an appetizer menu with four types of pates and three types of caviar. To harmonize with this gastronomic splendor was a case of expensive Bordeaux vintage 1970 and a case of delicious Cabernet Sauvignon 1973.

In this setting, they waited for the arrival of the decamillionaires.

Mr. Bud came first. 69 years old, first-generation millionaire (i.e. he created his own capital), owner of expensive real estate in New York, owner of 2 enterprises. You couldn't tell from his appearance that he was worth more (and much more) than $10 million - ordinary clothes, well-worn suit and coat.

Mr Bud looked at him in bewilderment and replied:

"I only drink whiskey and two types of beer - free and Budweiser." The authors tried to hide their shock.

The interview lasted 2 hours. Nine decamillionaires fidgeted in their chairs, occasionally glancing at the set table, but not a single one touched drinks and collection wines. They were not averse to snacking, but they only ate dry pâté crackers.

And what did they do with wines and snacks? Did you have to throw it away? No. Managers from neighboring offices and the authors themselves enjoyed the exquisite products.

After this incident, the authors offered millionaires during interviews a treat more in line with their habits - coffee, drinks, beer, whiskey, simple sandwiches. And, of course, they pay $100 to $250 for an interview. Sometimes they offer other types of reward instead of money, but not a single millionaire preferred to take a large and expensive toy bear from them for his grandson.

So what is he - a typical American millionaire.

Unfortunately, too many people judge people by their tastes in food, drink, clothing, watches, cars, and so on. But the paradox is that those who spend time and money to look like they have high status often achieve quite predictable results - no economic status.

What is the basis of wealth accumulation? THRIFT.

So, here is a typical American millionaire. Let's call him Johnny Lucas.

He is 57 years old, graduated from a local college, owns a small street cleaning company.

To the neighbors, Johnny and his family are unremarkable middle class people. And Johnny is worth more than 2 million dollars.

His way of life is hard work, self-discipline, frugality, long-term investment.

What is the highest amount he has paid in his life for a suit? $399!!! He never posted that much again, but then there was a special occasion - the celebration of the silver wedding.

50% of millionaires paid $399 or less for their most expensive suit. Only one in ten paid more than $1,000 for a suit, and one in 100 paid more than $2,800.

Who buys these expensive suits? For every 1 millionaire with a $1,000 suit, there are at least 6 non-millionaires.

What shoes does Johnny Lucas wear? Not expensive. $140 is the highest he has ever paid for shoes.

About 50% of millionaires spent no more than $140 on the most expensive shoes.

Every tenth paid more than $300.

Every hundredth - more than $667.

For every 1 millionaire with shoes over $300, there are 8 non-millionaires.

What watch does Johnny wear? No more than $235. For half of the millionaires, this amount spent on watches was the ceiling.

50% of millionaires did not buy a watch for more than $235.

One in ten paid more than $3,800 for their watches.

Every hundredth - more than $15,000.

And here are the words with which Johnny stated his position in life:

“I live in a beautiful house and this house is not mortgaged. The money to pay for the children's education was completely set aside before they went to college."

And here are some more basic typical features of millionaires:

· 2/3 have their own business;

Most of them didn't inherit anything.

they have a reserve that will allow them to live without working for at least 10 years;

Only one in five did not graduate from college;

· 2/3 of millionaires work from 45 to 55 hours a week;

· they invest on average about 20% of income;

· they keep almost 20% of their funds in securities (shares, mutual funds), which they choose independently; they spend even more on a retirement plan;

· an average of 21% of fortunes are represented by investing in one's own business.

And in conclusion, one more, most pleasant fact.

Families of immigrants from Russia make up only 1.1% of American families, but at the same time they make up 6.4% of families of millionaires and are in first place in terms of the concentration of millionaires.

According to the authors of the book, the fortune of all American millionaires of Russian origin is 1.1 trillion dollars, or almost 5% of US private capital. The authors explain the disproportionately large percentage of Russians by the presence of an entrepreneurial spirit in them, which is passed down from generation to generation. The vast majority of Russian millionaires are owners of their own business.

Draw your own conclusions. All of us, citizens of the former USSR, have a real chance of becoming millionaires. If we can do this in America, where, it would seem, all the places under the sun are occupied and there is no room left for developing your own business, then imagine what chances you have here!!! You just need to start.

Today I want to tell you the stories of some of the richest people on our planet who were able to earn more than a billion dollars thanks to their brilliant ideas, hard work and desire to get rich. What is most interesting, all these people did not inherit a huge fortune and did not win the lottery, they all started their business from almost nothing. Very interesting, read on.

Li Ka-shing - $26.5 billion

Li Ka-shing was born and lived in China until he left the country in 1940 and moved to Hong Kong. Due to the death of his father, he had to leave school at the age of 14 and go to work. His first job was in a plastic products trading company and he had to spend 16 hours there.
The first ten years, plus thrift, led to the opportunity to open his own business, Cheung Kong Industries. Like Ka-shing's previous job, it was a plastics business, but over time, it has grown into Hong Kong's largest investment corporation. Li Ka-shing himself is considered one of the richest Chinese.

Sheldon Adelson - $26 billion

Sheldon Adelson, the son of a taxi driver from Boston, began his entrepreneurial career at the age of 12 by selling newspapers. After that, he was a court reporter, mortgage broker, investment advisor and financial advisor. There was a period when he tried to sell toiletries and charter tours.
But the organization of the computer exhibition-fair COMDEX in 1979 became a serious success. For the next 2 decades, it was the leading exhibition in the computer field in the United States.
And in 1988, together with partners, he acquires a casino and a hotel in Las Vegas (Sands Hotel & Casino), after which he quickly begins to get rich.

Sergey Brin - $24.9 billion

This is already a new wave of billionaires who began to earn money in the age of computerization and the Internet. Sergey Brin, a 40-year-old Google owner and former Russian, was born in Moscow and then moved to the United States with his family of mathematicians. Engaged in search engines (this is how Google.com itself is called correctly) began at Stanford with classmate Larry Page. The system was tested at the university, and then they began to look for investors. The name Google is a mispronunciation of gugol, a word spoken during one of the project's presentations.
Brin and Page were included in the list of billionaires in 2004, when they were 30 years old. Today, Brin is mainly engaged in the development of new projects and directions, such as augmented reality glasses and an unmanned vehicle.

Larry Page - $24.9 billion

The co-founder and co-owner of Google has been leading the company since 2011 and is actually responsible for its strategic development. In addition to Google, he is actively engaged in the development of the clean energy sector, in particular, together with Brin, he invested in Tesla Motors, which produces high-level electric cars (this is a normal car that is powered by batteries).

Roman Abramovich - $23.5 billion

A well-known personality in narrow circles, Roman Abramovich, a billionaire orphan, who was raised by his grandparents. He went into business while still a student, creating a cooperative for the production of toys and various polymers. After that, there were many other companies and cooperatives, both in production and in trade.
But, as some sharp tongues say, Abramovich's main talent is being able to be at the right time in the right place - thus he was able to gain control of Sibneft, which allowed him to become a billionaire.

Amancio Ortega - $20.2 billion

Until I read who it was, the name meant absolutely nothing to me - Amancio Ortega. If we say that this is the founder and owner of Zara, then a lot will fall into place.
He started sewing his first suits in his living room with the help of $25 and his wife. The first clothing store opened in 1975, and after a while became the owner of the popular clothing chain Zara. In addition to the Zara chain, he has chains of clothing stores for children, for young girls, lingerie stores, etc. In total, Ortega has more than 3,000 stores in 64 countries around the world.

Mark Zuckerberg - $19 billion

29-year-old Mark Zuckenberg is an icon of the modern world. Young, lazy, creative and rich. The creator of the largest social network Facebook, who created a system for his university - Harvard - but in the end could not finish it, because. there was no time left. Helped in the creation of Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskowitz, plus Eduardo Saverin. The first major investment came from Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal.
Now Facebook is a public company, which first lost a lot in price, and then (in 2013) began to rise in price. Zuckenberg now has a 17% stake, making him the youngest billionaire in history.

Kirk Kerkorian - $16 billion

The now elderly uncle of the age of 96 left school in the 8th grade for the sake of boxing. At that time, he achieved great success and even became the welterweight champion in the Pacific Amateur Boxing Championship. After the Second World War, he left the ring and went to the airfield and began to fly the plane, but in 1944 he ended up in Las Vegas, where he got stuck for 3 years. After losing a lot of money, he nevertheless said goodbye to gambling and bought the airline company Trans International Airlines for 60 thousand dollars. After some time, he was able to sell it for $ 104 million to Transamerica.
And since 1968, he took up Hollywood - he earned at MGM, United Artists, Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox.

Elon Musk - $6.7 billion

Elon Musk is one of those new rich people who capture the market with their brains, hands and business acumen. First big deal at age 12 - wrote a program that I sold for $500 (at that age I only spent pocket money on ice cream and buns). At the age of 25, together with his brother, he created a software company for news companies, and after 4 years he was able to sell it for a price of 307 million. He invested this money in the creation of PayPal, which, in turn, he sold to eBay for $1.5 billion.
Today he is engaged in the Space X space program and has contracts from NASA. Also engaged in the aforementioned Tesla Motors.

Dustin Moskowitz - $5.2 billion

You can also say about this young man, he was at the right time in the right place. Dustin Moskowitz is Mark Zuckenberg's roommate and helped him build Facebook. At the moment, he owns 5% of the shares and this is the basis of his fortune. Facebook is not his main project now - now he is working on the Asana project. This is a web application for efficient project collaboration. Of the interesting things, he rides a bicycle to work and participates in the Giving Pledge project (a philanthropic project from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett). The essence of the project is that half of the members' fortune goes to charity.

Ken Griffin - $4.4 billion

Billions are made not only on computers. Ken Griffin is the owner of Citadel hedge funds. He got his first positive experience of playing on the stock exchange at the age of 18 and has not stopped working since then. He became one of the most famous specialists in his field. After 2008, the funds lost half their price, but are now gradually recovering.

John Arnold - $2.8 billion

Another successful stock player, John Arnold, started at Enron, now deceased. At the age of 27, he earned $1 billion for the company and received his bonus of $8 million. It was this money that he used to invest for himself and leave the annoying company.
In 2012, he surprised the whole world by announcing that he was retiring from trading after 17 years of successful experience. He and his wife now have a $1.4 billion charitable foundation and are also part of the Giving Pledge project we mentioned above.

Oprah Winfrey - $2.5 billion

Oprah Winfrey is a whole layer of American culture. This is the Cinderella of our days, who did not drop her shoe on the stairs, but plowed like a horse and used all the possibilities. The beginning of life is harsh, you can’t say anything: a strict mother, she was first abused at the age of 9, at 14 she gave birth to a child who died in infancy. But when I was in school, I first got a job at a radio station. At the age of 19, she already hosted local news, then daytime talk shows. The next major achievement is to promote a completely unpopular show so as to become a celebrity, and then, with experience and a name, create your own production company.
At 32, Oprah became a millionaire, and her show is the property of the nation. Since 1994, it has become so popular that the check for the year exceeded 9 figures. Oprah Winfrey became the first African American woman to be featured on the Forbes list.
Today, once on the air with Oprah, you can become a celebrity in 1 day. For example, this was done with Robert Kiyosaki in 1997 (of course, we will not belittle the achievements of Robert himself).

Mikey Jagtiani - $2.5 billion

Mikey Jagtiani, a Middle Eastern representative on our list of billionaires, was going to be an accountant, but his studies didn't work out. living in London was too expensive, plus the exams were also not going smoothly. To survive, I had to work as a taxi driver and a cleaner.
At the age of 21, Mikey Jagtian ends up in Bahrain alone with 6 thousand dollars (that's all the family had) and opens a children's goods store with this money. And today it is a retail chain in the list of the most profitable in the Middle East.
A corporation called Landmark includes 280 stores throughout the Middle East and brings Mike Jagtiani up to 650 million in profit per year.

Michael Rubin - $2.3 billion

Another representative of today's billionaires is Michael Rubin, CEO of Kynetic. He began his career as an entrepreneur as a child and sold seeds to his neighbors. At the age of 10, he already hired 5 guys to remove snow from neighboring lawns for money. At the age of 14, this future billionaire had already opened the first store, persuading his father to sign a lease. At 23, he was already a director in a company with $50 million in sales.
But he saw his destiny in e-commerce, which was just beginning to develop. He invested about 80 million in his online store, but, despite increasing sales, he could not make this business sustainable. However, eBay came to the rescue, which bought the company from Rubin for 2.4 billion. The price is much higher than the real cost of this project, but eBay was behind in the race with Amazon, so they shelled out this money.
Today, Rubin is engaged in Fanatics clothing stores and websites of various kinds, in which he has already invested 500 million.

Eduardo Saverin - $2.2 billion

Another person who made a fortune on Facebook. Saverin is Zuckenberg's first investor and was the commercial director of the young project. But while Saverin was in New York on practice, Zuckenberg attracted new investors and artificially lowered his equity stake from 34% to 0.03%. Eduardo sued and got his share back up to 5%.
These 5% allowed him to get into the list of billionaires. In addition, the man turned out to be reasonable and, before Facebook filed for an IPO, he renounced his US citizenship and became a citizen of Brazil, which allowed him not to pay US taxes. And although he has a Brazilian passport, he lives in Singapore and invests in online projects: an application that scans the barcode of a product and offers it at the lowest price on the Internet or online credit card payments using a webcam.

Sean Parker - $2 billion

Another co-owner of Facebook, Sean Parker, started out as a talented programmer and hacker. Already at the age of 16, he was arrested for hacking the websites of companies that were on the Forbes list. He also had a hand in creating the Napster Internet resource, through which it was possible to exchange music. It was a kind of breakthrough, albeit closed for "some" friction with the law. At 24, he meets Zuckenberg and is the president of Facebook. True, then he is removed, which, however, does not prevent him from keeping 3% of the shares and becoming a billionaire.
Today he is engaged in his startups.

Richard Desmond - $2 billion

The life of Richard Desmond also did not indulge at the beginning: his parents divorced, lived together in a small apartment, left school at the age of 14 to play drums and help his mother earn money.
His first real job was at the Thomson Newspaper, but by the age of 21 he owned two record stores. But the experience of the media also received its continuation - in 1974, Desmond became the publisher of the International Musician and Recording World magazine.

In contact with

The path to the first million is different for everyone, but there are signs that unite the vast majority of rich people. Of course, no one can guarantee that in a few years your account will have an amount with six zeros, but if you have certain signs, then you are on the right track!

Sources of income

Thomas Corley is a well-known writer who conducted a long-term study of self-made millionaires. And he came to a simple but logical conclusion that the rich do not rely on only one source of income. It is not right.

More than 65% of truly rich people have at least three sources of income that they created before their first earned million dollars. And we are talking about different sources, for example, someone rented out their property, and someone tried to invest what they earned.

Savings for investment

Investing is a way to help you get richer. But in fact, the savings must have certain reasons. If a person denies himself something, and puts money in a "glass jar", then this approach will not bring results.

Saving is necessary in order to invest, because it brings additional income. Money has to work.

In fact, how much a person saves and invests is often much more important than the amount of wages. On average, rich people put 20% of their income into business. Their wealth is not measured by the amount they earn each year, but by how much they save and invest.

High Performance Environment

It has been proven that a person is successful at approximately the same level as his environment. Steve Sebold, the millionaire who wrote The Way Rich People Think, claims that consciousness is contagious. And the influence of the people around you more successfully contributes to the expansion of potential, the growth of thinking.

“We become like the people who surround us, with whom we communicate. And that's why winners are always attracted by winners,” says Steve Siebold.

Decision and action

After studying the biography of millionaires, the famous author Napoleon Hill concluded that they know how to choose correctly and make decisions in a timely manner. In his book, he wrote that every rich person, without exception, knows how to make a quick decision, and it is almost always the right one.

Specific goals

If a person knows what he wants to achieve, why he needs material wealth, then it is easier to achieve the goal. As practice shows, most millionaires planned to become rich people, and they succeeded.

Think big

If a person adjusts himself to a high level, strives for this goal, is ready to accept any challenge of fate, then he is really on the right track. On the way to wealth and a multi-million dollar fortune, one should not think of "small goals" because they will not bring the desired result.

Signs that prevent you from becoming a millionaire

We examined the traits and signs of people who have a chance to become a truly rich person. And now, on the contrary, what slows down people and does not allow them to achieve their goal:

1. You are diligent and work hard. But that's not enough, you have to learn how to invest your wages, says consultant Rick Edelman.
2. "I'd rather save money than work an extra day." This phrase can be heard from any person. Many really focus their attention on saving money, but this will not make them any more. It is better to use them for additional income.
3. Buying things that you cannot afford. It's no secret that many people try to buy status items, while saving up for them for several months. It's better to be known for your successes than the things you buy, says Grant Cardone, a multi-billion dollar man.

Many people are satisfied with their wages, and this should not be, says Steve Siebold. Earning a paycheck is the slowest path to wealth and may not end well.

1. You rarely get out of your comfort zone. If you really want to become a successful and rich person, you will have to get used to insecurity and discomfort. Wealthy people try to find their own comfort in uncertainty.
2. Lack of financial goals. The reason why many people cannot get rich is because of themselves - they simply do not know why they need it. Tip: write down your goals on a piece of paper and move towards them. For example, buying a country house, a good car.

Alas, many people believe that a multi-million dollar fortune is a privilege that is given only to happy people. Self-doubt gives rise to doubts, and they, in turn, do not allow to unfold in full force. So ask yourself why not me? And move towards your goal of becoming rich!

Stories of 11 people who did not immediately become successful. Don't be discouraged if you can't find your business. Success doesn't come instantly.

Many people in their 30s take a critical look at their lives and realize that they haven't done anything meaningful yet. And an annoying thought appears in my head that time has passed, and now it remains to come to terms with the state of affairs.

We have collected stories of people who prove that it is never too late to start something new, and success will come only a little later.

Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's

Until the age of 52 he sold paper cups

“In 1954 I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and arthritis. I had my gallbladder and most of my thyroid removed. But I believed in the future, ”Ray Kroc recalled the fateful moment when he met the McDonald brothers.

In addition to numerous illnesses, he was deaf and not rich. Kroc was a well-known businessman, but all his enterprises regularly failed. When he needed $15,000 in cash in 1954 to buy out a license to distribute McDonald's, no bank gave him a loan. I had to mortgage the house and insurance, after which he lived another 30 years and earned 600 million.

Until the age of 31 she was a single mother on benefits

She had the idea for the novel in 1990, lost her job and divorced her husband over the next seven years, and lived in poverty until she published the first novel in the series in 1997. She is now the UK's best-selling author and has gone from living in poverty to becoming a multi-millionaire in five years.

Amancio Ortega, owner of Zara

Until the age of 37, he worked as an assistant in a store

Due to the poverty of the family, Amancio could not even finish high school and from the age of 13 he began working as a messenger in a shirt shop. When he was 37 years old, Amancio opened his own knitwear factory.
At first, together with his wife Rosalia, he sewed bathrobes, nightgowns and lingerie in the living room of his own house. One day, a client canceled an order for a large batch of linen, and in order to save the business, the couple decided to sell the linen on their own. So in 1975 they had a Zorba shop, Amancio was then 40 years old. And in 2012, Bloomberg recognized Ortega as the richest man in Europe - his holding owns the textile brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Zara Home, Stradivarius.

Harrison Ford, actor and producer

Until the age of 30 he was a carpenter

In 1968, Harrison Ford starred in the film Zabriskie Point, but all the scenes with his participation were cut. After that, he decided to leave his acting career and became a carpenter until George Lucas met him by chance and invited him to shoot the film American Graffiti. Harrison Ford was 30 at the time.

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay

Until the age of 45 she worked as a sales agent

Mary Kay worked as a sales agent for 25 years without getting a promotion. She was 45 years old when she decided to retire and write a book about women and business. In the process of writing, the book turned into a business plan for her ideal company, and it was decided to sell skin care products. In 1963, Mary Kay and her husband founded Mary Kay Cosmetics with a $5,000 start-up capital.
"I wanted to create a company that would give a woman - every woman who has a family and raises children - the opportunity to take control of her career," - says Mary.

Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company

He founded his company only at the age of 40

Born in a family of emigrants from Ireland, he ran away from home in his youth and went to work in Detroit. Until the age of 36, he was a mechanical engineer at the Edison Company. He designed his first car at the age of 30, founded his own company only ten years later.

The greatest success came to the company with the release of the Ford T in 1908, Henry Ford at that time was 45 years old.

Ursula Burns, Xerox CEO

Until the age of 32, she held junior positions at Xerox

Ursula was born in a disadvantaged area of ​​Manhattan - the Lower East Side and spent her childhood in the "Baruch houses" - houses for the poor. She received her education and in 1980 came for an internship at Xerox. And in 2009, Ursula became CEO of the company and the first black woman to lead an American corporation.

Sheldon Adelson, founder of Las Vegas Sands

Until the age of 30, he sold shampoos and liquids for glasses.

Dropped out of school at 12 and did all sorts of things: selling newspapers, selling soap, shampoo, and tissues to hotels, co-founding De-Ice-It with his brother Lenny, selling car defroster sprays, and working as a mortgage broker. Even his own father's head was spinning from the spectrum of business interests of a promising young man: "Sheldon," an old Boston taxi driver used to say, "you're like horse dung - you're everywhere!"

First, he created a computer exhibition in Las Vegas, and in 1988 he established the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the world's largest casino. At that time he was 55 years old.

Manoy Bhargava, creator of 5-Hour Energy

Until the age of 30 he was a monk in a mountain monastery in India

And then he came to the USA and became a businessman - he founded a company that produces energy drinks 5-Hour Energy. A major scandal is associated with his name due to the harmful effects of drinks, but the story is not about that. Just imagine how he managed to transfer his life to another dimension, from a hermit to a billionaire.

Andrea Bocelli, singer

Until the age of 33 he played the piano in bars

At the age of 12 he became completely blind, all his life he dreamed of becoming an opera singer. To do this, he went to Turin, where he studied vocals with the famous tenor, earning money in the evenings for piano lessons in various groups.

In 1992, Andrea successfully auditioned for the Italian rock star Zucchero. After that, the demo of the song hits Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea's career goes uphill. Now he is a famous performer and promoter of opera music.

Ang Lee, director

Studied filmmaking in the US and made a couple of successful student films. But things did not go further than this, and for six years he was unemployed. Only in 1990 (and Lee was already 36 years old) did his scripts win the competition, after which his directing career began. Now Ang Lee is famous all over the world, and you have probably seen his films: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hulk", "Brokeback Mountain" and "Life of Pi".

Therefore, our advice to you: do not despair and keep looking. And remember the words of J. R. R. Tolkien: "Not all who wander are lost."