The most successful businessman. The youngest and most successful businessmen in the world. The main components of a successful business

In this section, we have collected biographies of the richest and most successful people in the world. The goal is to understand what helped them earn millions and billions of dollars, what skills and abilities they possess, what qualities they develop in themselves and what values ​​they are guided by.

As one of them said, in order to become a millionaire, you must first become a millionaire personality. And we will add on our own that in order to become a person in a million, you need to study the stories of successful personalities, try to get into their heads and learn to think like them. We hope our materials will help you with this. We wrote them primarily for ourselves.

The section is constantly updated, so bookmark this page or subscribe to the site news to learn about new biographies.

Bill Gates is the legendary founder of the world's most popular operating system, Windows. He is the richest man on the planet for over a decade, a charismatic business leader, innovator, knight of Great Britain and a father of three. What events from the biography of Gates and the qualities of his character helped him become who he is?

Warren Buffett is a genius of the financial world, the most successful and consummate investor in the world, who is also one of the richest people on the planet. Want to know the secrets of his success?

Steve Jobs, co-founder of "", as well as several other companies, including the animation studio Pixar, an innovative businessman who gave the world many interesting, intelligent toys such as iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac and others.

Henry Ford

Ray Kroc is an American entrepreneur and founder of McDonald's, a fast food restaurant chain. For the businessman's contribution to the formation and development of the catering industry, Time magazine in 1998 included him in the TOP-100 of the most significant people of the twentieth century.

Thomas Edison is a famous American inventor and businessman, co-founder of General Electric Corporation. During his professional career, Thomas received 1,093 patents at home and about 3,000 outside the United States. He improved the telegraph and telephone, designed a phonograph. Thanks to his persistence, millions of incandescent bulbs have been lit up in the world.

Coco Chanel is an outstanding female fashion designer, founder of the Fashion House, who has proven that elegance is impossible without convenience. Her designer fantasies include a little black dress, a pantsuit for women, a handbag on a chain and other signature items that create a sophisticated style.

Walt Disney is a legendary American artist, producer and director. The creator of the first musical and feature-length cartoons in the history of cinema, has released about 700 cartoons, won 29 Oscars and 4 Emmy awards, was awarded honorary degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities, and was awarded the highest civilian US government award - the Medal of Freedom. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, two stars are dedicated to Disney, one for the development of television, the other for contributions to the cinema.

Richard Branson is one of the most brilliant and talented businessmen in the world, billionaire, founder of the international Virgin corporation, record holder in aeronautics, owner of his own island.

Donald Trump is an American construction magnate, owner of the Trump Organization, who later became the President of the United States. Also known as the owner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant, host and executive producer of the Candidate reality show. Time magazine named him 2016 Person of the Year.

Madonna is one of the most successful women in the world who has managed to break out of poverty itself. There was a period in Madonna's life when she spent the night in attics, and sometimes even checked the contents of garbage cans in search of food. But that didn't break her. What helped our heroine to break through to the very top and become one of the most influential women on the planet?

Elon Musk is an American entrepreneur, inventor, co-founder of PayPal, founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, member of the SolarCity Board of Directors. Tesla's Model S electric car accelerates from 0 to 96 km / h in 2.28 seconds. For his contribution to the commercialization of space, Elon Musk was awarded the Heinlein Prize and received $ 0.5 million (2011). He was named Businessman of the Year (2013) by Fortune and CEO of the Year (2013) by The Wall Street Journal.

Mark Zuckerberg

Pavel Durov is a Russian businessman, programmer, developer and co-founder of the VKontakte social network; he led VKontakte as CEO from 2006 to 2014, and is currently the founder and CEO (CEO) of the Telegram messenger.

Phil Knight is an American businessman and co-founder of Nike, which has $ 20 billion in annual revenues. He is the richest resident of his native state of Oregon, and in 2015 he was in the TOP 20 richest people on the planet.

Mary Kay is an American entrepreneur, founder of Mary Kay Inc., which specializes in the production and sale of cosmetics and skin care products.

George Soros is an influential investor, financial guru, founder of charitable foundations in 25 countries, father of five, as well as the man "who collapsed the Bank of England", a supporter of the legalization of marijuana, a master of market speculation.

Robert Kiyosaki is an investor, entrepreneur, financial consultant, and author of the rich and poor dad bestselling book series. He is not one of the richest people on the planet, but at the same time, his condition for many will seem fabulous. We are primarily interested not in his condition, but in what helped him become financially free and independent.

Carlos Slim Hel - what is the secret of the world's richest man's success? What needs to be done to achieve such heights? What skills and qualities do you need to develop in order to climb the pedestal of wealth and fame?

Zhou Qunfei is the richest woman in China and the richest woman in the world who made a fortune from scratch, as well as the youngest self-made woman billionaire. Founder and CEO of Lens Technology. The enterprise is included in the lists of Global 2000, among its customers are Apple and Samsung corporations.

Yes, entrepreneurship is not the easiest thing to do. But the result can exceed all expectations. The main thing to remember is that the success of a businessman comes from the inside, and not vice versa.

Steve Jobs in his youth

Entrepreneurship implies the ability to fit different roles and be a good leader who can run a business well. Entrepreneurs all over the world are expected to have different qualities. Some believe that the most important thing is for an entrepreneur to be obsessed with what he does. Others consider dedication to be the main quality. However, an entrepreneur must have an innate desire to change the world for the better.

So, a successful businessman must have ...

1. Thinking outside the box

We need a creative approach to work. A successful businessman thinks outside the box. He finds opportunities where others cannot. His journey begins in a place where the rest of the world is unable to come up with something. Almost anyone can create a business, but only true entrepreneurs can create value out of nothing. That is how an entrepreneur is.

2. Good communication skills

Throughout the journey, you will need to communicate and somehow interact with a large number of people. Investors, clients or employees - you need to find common ground with everyone in order to communicate your vision. plays a big role in the success of your business.

4. Leadership qualities

Business management involves more than just monitoring sales and profit statistics. You have to manage highly qualified specialists. The effectiveness of your entire team depends on yours. Real entrepreneurs know how to lead and set the right example. They are a source of motivation and inspiration for others.

They guide their team members along the way. Being able to empathize, support your colleagues, and inspire a desire to grow are just some of the leadership qualities that a successful entrepreneur needs to possess.

5. Ability to quickly switch between tasks

An entrepreneur is his own boss, so one way or another he will have to work on several alone. From the smallest to the most important, everything has to go through the entrepreneur.

Therefore, it is important that the entrepreneur is able to quickly switch between roles and tasks. This can be called the "skill of being organized." You need to be able to organize and manage several processes at once, while not overloading yourself. Of course, an entrepreneur should also be able to use delegation correctly and avoid it if possible, but it will not be possible to completely exclude this from his work.

“I was not defeated. I just found 10,000 ways that don't work. " Thomas Edison

6. Financial management

You must be able to manage yours. This goes a long way towards your success. Recent studies have shown that 29% of startups fail due to lack of money.

An entrepreneur should be well versed in when, where, how much and why money is spent. Bookkeeping is another important skill that a successful businessman must possess.

7. Ability to take calculated risks

Running a business successfully comes with risks. New investments, obtaining a loan - all this carries with it some risks. A good entrepreneur must be able to calculate risks and make bold decisions that can help take a step forward in the development of the company.

Risk is an integral part of the entrepreneurial life. However, you must understand when this risk is justified and when it is not.

Someone is playing with millions and billions, but this is not you yet? To be honest, what do you think when you hear success stories about Her or about Him, which are all fantastically successful: the first million years so at 25, the most expensive car, a luxurious house, several operating businesses that inspire assets .... The success stories of rich people are, in fact, too motley to be "combed" with the same brush and taken as stereotyped.

It can often seem that rich people have become rich without hitting a finger - after all, behind such a successful person there were already mountains of gold, green rustling bills donated by their parents, and it is a sin not to take advantage of all this.

So that nothing seems to happen, and finally understand the reality for yourself - that you can sit in a soft leather interior of a car, or open a bottle of the most expensive wine on your own terrace, and all this without reference to the already prepared soil, we will simply demonstrate 10 real stories of development the richest people in the world from virtually nothing. From scratch, no support and no gold diapers.

By the way, not all the biographies of the world's wealthy people, about whom we will now tell, are familiar to you. If you were guided only by Forbes ratings - there will be an opening. Isn't there a reason to expand your own boundaries?

10. Michael Rubin opens the top ten richest people on the planet. The future billionaire and founder of Kynetic sold seeds to neighbors as a child. At the age of 10, an enterprising boy already hired 5 children to remove snow from neighbors' lawns for a fee. At the age of 14, Michael already had his own store, and at 23, under his leadership, he had a company with a turnover of $ 50 million. Michael's fortune is estimated at $ 2.3 billion. Almost always strong personalities begin this way: with the manifestation of an entrepreneurial streak from an early age.

9. Oprah Winfrey will be the only woman in our ranking of the richest people in the world. Yes, not in the first place, but if it were a rating of hard work and dedication, she could safely give the championship. She is now 62 years old and her path to success has nothing to do with the story of Cinderella. She can answer questions about how rich people became rich based on personal experience: she plowed and achieved everything herself. Oprah Winfrey was born into a poor family. Mother was a maid and father was a miner.

For the first 6 years of her life, Oprah lived with her grandmother in the wilderness. The American TV presenter herself admitted in an interview that she was raped at 9 years old and became pregnant at 14. The child died shortly after birth. At the age of 17, Oprah began working as a reporter, and in 1986 she created her own program - The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 2011 she launched her own television channel OWN. The TV presenter's fortune is estimated at $ 3.2 billion.

8. This guy doesn’t turn over tens of billions, like some representatives of the rating, but he has something in stock: almost 10 billion dollars of his own earned capital. He owns 7.6% of the shares of Facebook. Dustin Moskowitz was born into a Jewish family in Washington. His father worked as a psychiatrist, but more information about Dustin's family was not disclosed.

7. The honorable seventh place of our TOP-10 richest people is the Canadian-American engineer Elon Musk. He is 12 years older than Dustin Moskowitz. Elon Musk's capital is $ 12.3 billion. He founded SpaceX and X.com. The latter, after merging with Confinity, was named PayPal and was sold for $ 1.5 billion. Musk was born in South Africa. True, his father was a businessman, and his mother was a famous model, so it is difficult to call the family poor. But there is a downside to the coin - at school Elon was often beaten, and this, of course, left a considerable mark on the level of self-esteem.

At 12, Elon made his first video game and sold it for $ 500. It was the first self-employment on the road to billions. If you look at what these children do from an early age, you can predict future success for them. And the success "overtook" Elon.

6. Meet Li Kashin - the richest and most influential person in Hong Kong and Asia. While Forbes estimated the capital of Hong Kong "Superman" and counted $ 25.5 billion, it grew to 34. And this is the data for 2015. We think for 2016 Lee still did well. In narrow circles, this adventurous Hong Konger is called "Superman" and is now 87 years old.

Li Kashin is the chairman of the board of Cheung Kong Group and Hutchison Whampoa, which have a capitalization of about 15% of the Hong Kong stock market. Among the stories of rich people who started from scratch, his is one of the most difficult. For understanding: Li was born in the family of an ordinary teacher.

From the fifth grade, Kashin began selling watch straps, and a little later he got a job at a factory producing plastic watches. 16 hours of work at the factory and after attending evening school - this is how the Hong Kong guy Li Kashin began his journey to the first million. After gaining experience in the factory, he began to sell plastic flowers himself, and soon became the head of his own company.

5. The stories of rich people who started from scratch are not the same. As well as the story of Sergei Brin, who also falls into our ranking of the richest people in the world in fifth place. Sergey is nothing at all - 42 years old and he is the co-founder of Google. Sergey was born into a Jewish family of mathematicians who moved to the United States in 1979, and the future billionaire was only 5 years old. In 2016, according to Forbes magazine, the fortune of an American entrepreneur with Russian roots was estimated at almost $ 35 billion.

4. You've probably heard about this guy too. Larry Page is an American billionaire who, together with Sergey Brin, made the first search engine, which eventually grew into the most powerful tool for finding any information - Google. Larry was born into a professorial family, and while studying at the prestigious Stanford University, he met Brin. The joint launch of Google, as we see, has become a gold mine for the guys. Now Larry Page's fortune is estimated at $ 32.3 billion, and this is 17th place in the Forbes ranking, however, in 2014. We dare to assume that in 2 years a couple of billions have increased.

Biographies of the world's richest people: TOP-3. Who are the leaders?

3. Another example of crazy success without any, it would seem, chances of it from birth - American businessman Sheldon Adelson. Sheldon is one of the twenty richest people according to Forbes magazine. Adelson once again proves: the richest people on the planet are not those who were born and immediately fell into golden swaddles. The son of a taxi driver, a 12-year-old newspaper salesman, a court reporter, and even a toiletry salesman. Sheldon got a lot. The future American billionaire was born into a Jewish family. And by the way, he is recognized as the richest Jew.

According to the most recent figures that were announced, Sheldon Adelson's fortune is $ 38 billion. Not bad, right? The billionaire receives his main income from his investments in real estate: the construction of casinos, hotels, shops, expo centers, etc.

2. We only write "Mark", and you already understand who we are talking about. And yes, you are not mistaken. The founder of the social network Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is also in the TOP-10 of the richest people in the world. In May, the information on the status of Mark (talking about money) was updated, and the capital was $ 51.6 billion. But the guy is only 32 years old! By the way, like many on the list, it is of Jewish origin. Father is a dentist, mother is a psychiatrist. Mark has 3 sisters. How much do you think the doctors could provide for 4 children? While still a schoolboy, Mark developed a network version of the game "Risk", and while studying at Harvard - an internal social network, which he himself did not bring to mind, but the guys came to the rescue: Dustin Moskowitz, Eduardo Saverin and others.

1. The ex-president of Inditex could not be out of our list of the TOP 10 richest people in the world. And, you know, we put it first. While many are multiplying their incomes several times, Amancio Ortega, we are sure, is not "lost". It was he who in October last year received the title of the richest man on the planet according to Forbes magazine. But in May 2016, his fortune was estimated at $ 72.9 billion. If the name of the company Indetex does not tell you anything, then you have heard about the Zara brand. Here Amancio is the founder of this brand as well.

Amancio's father was a railroad worker, and his mother, even "better", was a servant. The family was so poor that the guy did not even graduate from high school, and from the age of 13 he began working as a messenger in a shirt store. Yes, did the 13-year-old guy then think that in 2015 he would lead the ranking of the richest people on the planet? We doubt it. Today, the billionaire invests considerable sums in real estate in Florida, Madrid, London, as well as in banks and tourism.

This is how the ranking of the richest people in the world looks like, who started the path to their success from scratch. Are there no borders? They really don't exist. Just act and any goal will be achieved. Who knows, maybe you will find yourself in the Forbes ranking in a couple of years.

Tkachenko Oleg

Success story of people who were able to find their place in life

Success story of people who were able to find their place in life

Today I decided to tell you the stories of billionaires who did not give up and found their place in life: billionaires without education, the youngest billionaires, billionaires after 40

We all want to be successful, but many of us need those who, with their experience and example, can infect us with the desire to reach the same heights. Sometimes in moments when they give up, when it seems that nothing will work out and everything is lost, when patience and dedication ends, it is enough to look at those who were in the same situation, but did not give up and still managed to realize their dream and find your place in life. In this review, you will learn about the lives of billionaires who were able to reach their goals without receiving an education, who were able to earn capital only after 40 years, about the youngest billionaires and philanthropists.

Everyone dreams of achieving success and finding their place in life, but not everyone succeeds. Someone underestimates the risks and loses money, someone lacks patience, someone chooses the wrong path. There are many reasons for failure, but there is one interesting fact: many people tend to blame circumstances and others for their failures, but not themselves. But it is the analysis of your own mistakes that is the key to success. Examples of those who were able to achieve success are clear evidence of this.

ten billionaires without higher education;

the ten youngest entrepreneur-investors who made a billion on their own;

“It's Never Too Late to Start” - investors who have become billionaires after 40 years;

the most generous philanthropic investors.

Each of them deserves special attention and each of them is unique in its own way.

Part I - Ten Non-College Billionaires

Each of the participants in this rating has its own special unique destiny. Someone thought that studying was boring and dreamed of starting their own business. Someone had a difficult, penniless childhood and had to forget about education in principle. Someone dropped out of college in the middle of the path, and someone did not even finish school (not to mention higher education). According to statistics, about 37% of billionaires have not graduated from university, about 24% do not have any educational documents at all. However, this did not prevent them from realizing their dream and breaking into the TOP of the richest people in the world. Agree, a good example to follow.

1. Joe Lewis (born 1937) ($ 5 billion).

Is Lewis a bummer? Interest Ask. After all, at the age of 15, he dropped out of school, preferring the family business. At that time, his father was engaged in catering and Lewis began to help him. When the business completely passed into his hands, there was no longer any point in getting an education - he already had quite good practical entrepreneurial experience. Later he will sell the business and deal with foreign exchange transactions and investments. And he will even be forced to flee from tax prosecution in the Bahamas. Today he owns over 120 restaurants and the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The billionaire is also known for partnering with George Soros in the attack on the Bank of England.

2. Richard Branson (born 1950) (US $ 5.1 billion).

Until the age of 8, the most famous billionaire in Great Britain could neither read nor write, suffering from dyslexia. Already in childhood, Branson showed by all his actions that he was not eager to learn. Having almost finished his studies, at the age of 16 he dropped out of school. The headmaster of the school then looked into the water: "You will either become a rich man, or go to prison." After dropping out of school, he founds his first business, Student magazine. To keep readers interested, he began publishing free articles by John Lennon, Mick Jagger and other stars in it. He then opened a record company, calling it Virgin. Today Virgin is a brand that brings together about 400 companies in various fields, ranging from air travel and telecommunications to space tourism and video games.

By the way, it would be worth mentioning here another rich resident of Great Britain, Roman Abramovich, with a fortune of about 9 billion pounds sterling. He also does not have a higher education due to a lack of desire to study. But he owes his fortune more to connections with Russian oligarchs and politicians, as well as to gray business schemes.

3. Paul Allen (born 1953) (fortune 20.1 billion US dollars).

Allen was born into a family of a teacher and a military man, and from elementary school he became interested in technology and electronics. He began to study programming from the 6th grade and later this will become a decisive factor - after studying for 2 years at the University of Washington, he leaves the university and becomes one of the co-founders of Microsoft.

He began to show his first entrepreneurial abilities at the age of 12. Working part time on vacation at the post office, he realized that new residents of the area were more willing to subscribe to newspapers, after which he created a kind of network of informants - friends who informed him about new arrivals. After entering the University of Texas, he planned to become a doctor, but dropped out and founded a small computer assembly company. Today, the Dell corporation created by him is one of the largest in the world in this segment.

5. Li Kashin (born 1928) (US $ 33 billion).

In March 2018, the 89-year-old billionaire, one of the richest people in Asia, announced that he was leaving the business, sort of ending his career. And he has something to be proud of. Born into a poor teacher's family, at the age of 14, he lost his father to tuberculosis and was forced to drop out of school. Working at a factory for the production of plastic flowers, in 7 years he was able to accumulate money, which was enough to open a similar small production. He was successful thanks to deals with real estate, which has fallen in price against the background of political instability in Hong Kong. Today, the billionaire's two major companies account for about 15% of the Hong Kong stock market capitalization. Kashin also invests in logistics, retail, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, telecommunications.

6. François Pinault (born 1936) (US $ 33.8 billion).

All that the French billionaire has from his education documents is a driver's license. He did not like studying since childhood, moreover, he was forced to endure the bullying of his classmates due to his low origin. His father was engaged in the timber trade, and Pino took over the same idea. At the age of 27, having successfully married, he founded his first company (although the marriage did not last long). Then he meets Jacques Chirac, who will later help him. In addition to wood and papermaking, Pino was involved in the supply of cars and medicines to Africa. Today he also owns the Christie’s auction house and the Rennes football club.

7. Larry Ellison (born 1944) ($ 57.4 billion).

Ellison tried twice to graduate, and both times were unsuccessful. At first he was forced to leave the University of Illinois after 2 years of study. Then he studied at the University of Chicago for a semester. Both times, circumstances forced him to leave the university. However, this did not stop him from founding a software and database development company, which we know today as Oracle.

8. Mark Zuckerberg (born 1984) (77.6 billion US dollars).

After the advent of the Internet era in the early 2000s, hundreds of tech startups began to emerge. True, except for a beautiful cover, they could not offer anything and in 2000 most of them ceased to exist after the collapse of the dotcoms. This did not stop Zuckerberg. The idea of ​​creating a social network has become a kind of dream of the future billionaire. And even if for the sake of its implementation it was necessary to quit Harvard University, after 2 years the network became available to every Internet user.

9. Amancio Ortega (born 1936) (US $ 96.4 billion).

The childhood of the future billionaire was not easy. His father worked on the railroad, his mother was a servant and the family was sorely lacking money. At the age of 13, Ortega was forced to say goodbye to school and look for work. After settling down as a messenger in a shirt store, he gradually began to adopt the experience of sewing and selling clothes. Later, he would open a factory for sewing gowns and lingerie, but almost burned out after a large customer refused the batch of goods. Then Ortega will decide to sell clothes in his own chain of stores, creating what we know today under the Zara brand. Today Amancio also invests in real estate.

10. Bill Gates (born 1955) (93.3 billion US dollars).

Like Paul Allen, Bill chose to give up his studies at Harvard in order to devote himself entirely to Microsoft. Some subjects were definitely not given to him and after 2 years he was expelled from the university. And as it turned out, it was only for the best.

It would also be worth adding to this list a billionaire from the United States of Armenian origin Kirk Kerkonyan (1917-2015). Born into an immigrant family, after the 8th grade he was forced to leave school and become a car mechanic. During the war, he ferried bombers from Canada to the British Isles, earning start-up capital. The first big business was the sale of aircraft and the opening of charter flights, which at that time were rare.

Part II - "It's Never Too Late to Start" - Investors Who Become Billionaires After 40 Years

We continue our motivating rating with a list of people who earned their first billion after 40 years. Not everything is given at once, often it is patience, perseverance and dedication that bring the very result, which turns out to be almost the meaning of life. Someone from today's rating only by the age of 40 found his place in life, having caught a wave of success. And someone persistently built a business empire for more than half of their lives, systematically bringing ideas to life. The example of these people shows that it is never too late to find yourself and start doing what you love.

1. Ray Kroc (1902-1984).

The father of the future billionaire died early enough, according to one version, not having experienced a nervous shock after bankruptcy during the Great Depression. And Ray himself hardly thought he would become famous. By the age of 50, he had diabetes and arthritis, his thyroid gland and gallbladder were partially removed, and his work as a traveling salesman (selling paper cups and mixers) did not bode well. In 1952, he meets two brothers who run a fast food restaurant and gets the idea to develop this direction. In 1955, he opens the first McDonald’s restaurant, in 1961 he completely buys out the rights to it and creates a whole chain.

2. Henry Ford (1863-1947).

The company of the same name founded by him at the dawn of the automotive industry produced the cheapest cars. Ford was one of the first to launch an assembly line at its plant in 1913, becoming an innovator in the industry. But it all started hard. In 1879, Ford proposed a project for a car that was never built. In 1903, a copyright infringement lawsuit was initiated against Ford, the proceedings in which lasted 8 years, but ended in victory for Ford. It wasn't until 1908 that the company had success with the release of the Ford T model.

3. Michael Bloomberg (born 1942).

At 24, the future billionaire and mayor of New York gets a job at Solomon Brothers, where he worked as a trader for 15 years. After the company acquired a new owner, he was dismissed, but did not give up. In 1981, he created the Bloomberg news agency, which analyzed the state of financial markets online. The agency's “trick” was in the use of computer technologies, which few people had heard of at that time, which made it possible to occupy a niche in this sector.

4. Sam Walton (1918-1982).

Walton hardly suspected that he would be engaged in business. Until 1942 he worked in small positions: he was engaged in the sale of magazine mailing, raises rabbits for sale, works as a manager. In 1942, he enlisted in the US Army and after the end of the war he understood that he needed to live somehow, and the world system had already fundamentally changed. He tries his hand at retail, renting a store in a small town. Here he begins to apply his own sales technologies: direct wholesale (without intermediaries) purchase of goods, promotional discounts, work on weekends. In 1962, Walton opened his first store at the age of 44. In 1979, there were already more than 220 stores and today this chain is known to us under the name Wal-Mart.

5. Reed Hoffman (born 1967).

He dreamed of the Internet for a long time and even at its first appearance created SicialNet.com at the age of 30 - an analogue, a prototype of social networks, a dating site. The project turned out to be unprofitable and in 1999 Hoffman left it. But he didn't stop. Until 2002, he worked at PayPal, before the eBay takeover as a director. Only in 2002, he was able to realize his idea of ​​a social network, literally 2 years ahead of Mark Zuckerberg, but later became one of the investors in Facebook in its early stages of development. Today we know this project as one of the first business social networks LinkedIn.

6. George Soros (born 1930).

You can criticize this person for as long as you like, but this does not diminish the fact that he was able to achieve a lot. And in what way (remember the same attack on the Bank of England) - the second question. George got into the investment sphere relatively late - at the age of 26, but even then he was able to offer an interesting idea of ​​earning money in international arbitration. Only at the age of 39 does Soros become a fund manager and only in 1973 he creates his own fund, the Quantum Fund. Today he is one of the richest people in the world.

7. Colonel Garland Sanders (1890-1980).

As a child, this man had everything, but he chose to become a volunteer in the army. Until the age of 40, Sanders worked in many fields: a fireman on a railroad, a farmer, a miner. And only at the age of 40, he began to cook chicken dishes, which he sold to those who stopped at his local gas station. A unique recipe that allows you to cook chicken faster than in a skillet becomes for Sanders a ticket to the big financial world. In 1950, he begins to shape the famous image: an aristocratic white suit, signature mustache and goatee. This image will become the face of his company KFC, which was waiting for serious tests and which it passed with honor.

8. Momofuku Ando (1910-2007).

According to one of the versions, a survey was conducted in Japan in 2000: respondents were asked to name the main Japanese invention of the 20th century. Oddly enough, but the 1st place in the poll took ... Instant noodles! And it was Ando who, at the age of 48, was able to offer the technology of its production.

9. Amancio Ortega (born 1936).

The billionaire who already participated in the last ranking earned the first big capital only after 40 years. His childhood was difficult, so it was not easy to find start-up capital. Being engaged in the production of knitwear, Amancio had no competitive advantages and therefore could not increase production. His first factory appeared when he was 37 years old (in 1972). And only in 1975, the creation of his own sales network brought him success, which at that time was an innovation.

10. Mary Catherine Wagner (Ash) (1918-2001).

One of the few women entrepreneurs who have been able to build an entire business empire. In 1939, she became a sales manager (sales representative), seeking to increase sales of household goods through presentations. At 45, tired of the hired labor, she starts her own business buying a recipe for skin care lotions. Her customer-centric business philosophy, sample idea, and interesting marketing techniques allow the business to grow into an entire corporation. Today Mary Kay has more than 200 cosmetic products and more than 1200 people in the company's headquarters alone.

Part III - Ten Youngest Entrepreneurs-Investors Who Made a Billion on Their Own

Many billionaires have become such thanks to their parents, who left them money by bequest or gave them a share in the business. These people basically continue the business started by their parents with rare exceptions (for example, Tom Persson, who chose an acting career, or DJ Julio Mario Santo Domingo III). But there are also those who managed to earn their first billion on their own before the age of 40. And their experience deserves respect.

Back in 2015, Theranos was valued at $ 4.5 billion. USA. Elizabeth Holmes was 31 at the time. An inspiration, she was involved in drug development. It is not known how long her company would have continued to exist, if not for an unfortunate incident, as a result of which it turned out that most of the test results are lies. The SEC immediately removed Holmes from management, and Theranos is now virtually on the verge of bankruptcy. The rest of the participants in our rating are more successful.

1. John Collison (28 years old, $ 1.1 billion).

"Irish genius" - this is how Collison is called, who at the age of 17 earned $ 5 million. USA on the sale of Auctomatic, which develops tools for eBay. In 2010, with the support of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, he founded Stripe, a company that develops solutions for receiving and processing electronic transactions. In 2016, Collison was named the world's youngest billionaire to earn a billion dollars. USA itself.

2. Bobby Murphy (30 years old, $ 3 billion).

Another young billionaire who followed the path of a technological breakthrough. Having gained experience during his studies at the university in relation to creating small projects, he creates the Snapchat messenger with Evan Spiegel (worth about US $ 2.1 billion). It is intended for the exchange of photo and video information, but its trick is that the information is available to the recipient for a short time, after which it is deleted automatically. The idea quickly found a response.

3. Drew Houston (35, $ ​​3.2 billion).

And again a billionaire becomes a person who, at the peak of the popularity of platforms, services and applications, creates a unique product that instantly becomes in demand. In 2007, Houston developed Dropbox, a data storage and processing workspace that helps you organize your work and quickly find the files you need.

4. Nathan Blecharzik (33), Joe Gebbia (36) and Brian Chesky (36) - $ 3.8 billion USA for everyone.

But these guys can be safely called the exception of this rating. In 2008, they offered the world a platform for connecting renters and landlords around the world, Airbnb. The idea was immediately appreciated by travelers and those who are forced to urgently look for housing in other cities and countries for work. For 10 years, billionaires have attracted about 3.4 billion dollars. US investments, during the same time the site was visited by about 150 million people, about 30 million used its services, the database contains about 1.5 million proposals of houses, apartments for both long-term and short-term rent.

5. Jack Dorsey (41, $ 4.8 billion).

The idea of ​​creating Twitter came to him while studying at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. While working as a programmer in the dispatch service, he realized the need for instant messaging. In 2000, Dorsey created a platform for sending couriers and taxis over the Internet. And in 2008, its main service, Twitter, was launched. It is noteworthy that initially Dorsey dreamed of launching his own jeans line and in his youth was considered an irresponsible and frivolous person.

6. Robert Pera (40 years old, $ 5.1 billion).

Comparing Apple to his ambition, Pera said Apple is a great company, but he would like to do better faster. His corporate background allowed him to quickly understand the future of wireless technology. In 2009, the sale of his model of autonomous systems for organizing wireless communications begins. Today, his company Ubiquiti is one of the leaders in the production of wireless equipment, which differs in its approach to organizing the process of selling goods. Robert's goal is to be as successful as Cisco and Huawei.

7. Travis Kalanick (41, $ 6.3 billion).

Donating his studies, in 1998 Kalanick created the Scour file hosting service. In 2000, under pressure from lawsuits for copyright infringement, he declared the project bankrupt. In 2001, he makes a second attempt to create a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, which he successfully sells in 2007. In 2009, he creates the third serious project - Uber, which brings him fame. True, due to a series of internal conflicts in 2017, Kalanik was forced to leave his post of leader, but the task has already been completed: he is a billionaire.

8. Yang Kum (42, $ 7.5 billion).

The future billionaire was born in Kiev and emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1992. He never graduated from university, preferring to work at Yahoo, where he worked from 2000 to 2007. In 2009, he creates one of the most popular messengers WhatsApp, which for 19 billion dollars. US buys Facebook in 2014. Until April 2018, Yang Kum continued to develop the messenger, but after that he was forced to leave due to disagreements with the management.

9. Dustin Moskowitz (34, $ 15.6 billion).

The fortune brought him participation in the development of the social network Facebook, where until 2008 he played the role of the second person. The desire to create his own working project pushed him to leave Facebook (albeit retaining a small share of the shares) and create Asana, a company operating in the technology and innovation market (creating applications for project management in small companies).

10. Mark Zuckerberg (34, $ 77.6 billion).

This man was already briefly discussed in the last article. Having relied on the development of social networks and sacrificing for the sake of this study, Zuckerberg was right. While Facebook is in a fever in 2018 and competitors are close on their heels, Mark remains a billionaire.

Part IV - The Most Generous Investor Philanthropists

What does a person need who has everything they want? What does a person who already have billions, real estate, yachts, islands and even free time need? For people managing their billion-dollar fortune, it makes no fundamental difference whether they have 5 billion more or less, they need fame, recognition and respect. Each person wants people to remember his good deeds, each person wants to be useful to society.

1. Gordon and Betty Moore(289 million US dollars).

The Intel co-founder and his wife have supported various areas of science for several years, investing approximately the same amount annually (adjusted for inflation) for more than 15 years. In terms of the total amount of donations, the Moore couple is in the TOP-10 of the most generous investors in the world. Most of the money is allocated for science, environmental protection, personnel training. Also, at their expense, the largest telescope in the world is being built.

2. James Simons(US $ 293 million).

Mathematician, academician, trader who made money from managing hedge funds - in his 80s, he continues to invest in educational and medical projects in different countries. He rarely gets into the TOP, giving preference to individual interesting projects.

3. Paul Allen(341 million US dollars).

Microsoft co-founder has been in the world's TOP philanthropists since 2011. The priority direction of funding is research and, above all, neurology. He created the Institute for the Study of the Brain, which invested about $ 500 million. USA only at the time of creation.

4. Walton family(454 million US dollars).

The family of the Wal-Mart founder chose to pursue a narrow funding profile. In 2011, thanks to them, a museum of American art appeared, where about $ 1.3 billion was invested just at the start. USA.

5. Charles (Chuck) Feeney(482 million US dollars).

"Billionaire without a billion" - this is the name of the founder of Duty Free Shoppers, one of the few who donated money to charity during his lifetime. He continues to receive passive income, but immediately gives it away. According to him, he only needs as much money as he can spend. To select objects of charity, he travels around the world, personally getting acquainted with each project requiring a grant.

6. George Soros(531 million US dollars).

His Open Society Foundation is mainly involved in supporting education, giving grants to scientists, students, researchers. Another direction of the fund is financing of organizations defending the rights of people. Soros is often criticized for supporting the media, hiding behind the protection of freedom of speech and transparency, but in fact buying them.

7. Michael Bloomberg(600 million US dollars).

The former New York City mayor and news agency owner has donated money to over 850 organizations with a focus on health and environmental projects.

8. Bill and Melinda Gates(2.142 billion US dollars).

In 1999, thanks to Gates, a charitable foundation appeared, which at an early stage supported various kinds of technological developments (platforms, startups). Later, the fund will finance medical developments, help third world countries cope with hunger (humanitarian aid), etc. In 2010, together with Buffett, he created a kind of "Oath of Giving" club, whose members pledge to donate at least 50% of their money to charity.

9. Warren Buffett(2.861 billion US dollars).

Has friendships and partnerships with the Gates family, supporting their foundation. Has already transferred more than $ 30 billion. USA and wrote a will in which he promised to give 99% of his fortune to charitable foundations.

Interesting fact. Not all billionaires and millionaires are eager to join the "Oath of Giving", not everyone wants to part with their money. Mark Zuckerberg and Carlos Slim were also periodically included in the rating of the most generous philanthropists, but almost every year the list of the most generous billionaires does not change.

In conclusion, I want to say a well-known truth: millionaires and billionaires are not born - they become. So go for it :)

While it won't be easy to get to the top of Olympus without an entrepreneurial streak, dedication, flexibility and networking skills remain decisive factors. It happens that it takes more than a dozen years to find your place in life. But what one person started, his children can continue. The family business grows into huge corporations over time, but there is another way. It is enough to be a few steps ahead: see promising directions, not be afraid to take risks within reasonable limits and be able to find something that will be interesting to people. I sincerely wish you to find your place in life, to find your favorite pastime that would bring you profit. And if you've already made some progress, share your experience in the comments!

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On Tuesday, September 19, the results of his special study that highlights the 100 greatest business minds in the world.

When creating the list, Forbes experts selected people who had a strong influence on the processes taking place in the business world, or who inspired the development of entrepreneurship.

This is what the top 10 most prominent businessmen of our time, according to Forbes, look like. They are all sorted alphabetically, not in a merit-to-least ranking.

The man who founded Salesforce started his business at the age of 15. It was at this age that he created the company Liberty Software, which creates games for the Atari 800 computer. By the age of 16, the young man earned $ 1,500 a month, enough to pay for his studies at the University of Southern California.

Benioff spent a summer internship at Apple, working as a programmer in the Macintosh division under the direction of Steve Jobs. This experience was later useful to him, as he realized that revolutionary ideas can be encouraged by entrepreneurs.

Benioff currently heads the development company of the eponymous cloud-based CRM system. This longtime competitor to Oracle is valued at $ 40 billion. Salesforce's particular idea was to move away from selling software that companies had to install on their servers. Salesforce allowed people to access line-of-business applications from a web browser. And even though you will not surprise anyone with such now, in the late nineties it was a revolutionary idea.

Owns Amazon - one of the world's largest online retailers.

Now it is difficult to imagine that the office of such a successful company was located in the garage of the future billionaire, where, along with several employees, he started developing software for an online bookstore. Subsequently, the office expanded to a two-room building. In 1995, the entrepreneur opened Amazon.com, named after the meandering South American river.

The businessman, through large retail partnerships, constantly expanded the range of products that Amazon was ready to offer. The books were joined by CDs, and later by clothing, electronics, toys, and more. Although many of the dot coms went bankrupt in the early 90s, Amazon thrived, with annual sales skyrocketing from $ 510,000 in 1995 to over $ 17 billion in 2011.

Bezos is currently worth an estimated $ 72.8 billion.

Like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett donates billions of dollars to charities, refuting the stereotype of the greed and callousness of "sharks of capitalism." He tops the list of billionaire philanthropists with over $ 46 billion in donations since 2000. This makes up about 71% of his fortune. By comparison, Bill Gates has donated $ 18 billion since 2000, or 22% of his fortune.

This French businessman is one of the owners of the luxury conglomerate LVMH and one of the richest people on earth. According to Forbes, Arno's fortune reaches $ 34 billion.

Arnault has earned the nickname "the wolf in cashmere" from the acquisition of a large number of fashion and beauty brands, including Givenchy, Guerlain, Sephora, Fendi and Loro Piana, as well as many jewelry brands, including TAG Heuer, De Beers and Bulgari. ... Many did not believe in the expediency of collecting "under one roof" of various brands, since this does not allow them to focus on one direction, moreover, some of the companies acquired by Arno were direct competitors.

However, Arnault, as a true genius entrepreneur, did not pay attention to critics. He changed the conglomerate's pricing policy, making the brands' products available not only to very wealthy buyers, but also to middle-income people. And those who are dissatisfied with such "averaging" can always buy things from expensive limited editions of clothing and accessories.

The founder of Armani is a visible proof of the theory that a beautiful person also grows old beautifully. During his life, he tried many activities: from an assistant photographer to a window designer, but the fame and wealth of Armani brought the creation of clothing models. Initially, he did this for various Italian brands, and then in 1974 presented clothes under his own name. A year later, following the persuasion of a friend of the architect Sergio Galeotti, Armani created his own company.

The Italian fashion designer has been recruited to create costumes for iconic films such as The Matrix, American Gigolo and The Untouchables.

The American businessman, despite his multi-billion dollar fortune ($ 12.5 billion), leads a rather modest lifestyle and does not seek publicity too much. He very rarely gives interviews to the press (he gave the last detailed interview already in 1974). However, it is known that Anschutz is the head of one of the largest oil companies in the United States, owns several football clubs and cinemas, a railway and a huge number of farms. And Anschutz also owns the telecommunications company Qwest Communications - one of the leaders in this industry in America.

Paul Allen first left his mark on the business world when he co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates. This happened in 1975, and since then, Allen has remained one of the top innovators in entrepreneurship and technology. He is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., which oversees the businessman's philanthropic and business interests, from sports teams like the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers to heritage projects like Seattle Cinerama and the Pop Culture Museum.

Through his commercial and philanthropic investments, the Microsoft co-founder has pioneered important events and innovations in science, technology, space, education and the arts. For example, since 2003, he has invested over $ 500 million in basic brain research, opening the Allen Institute for Brain Science. He also created the Allen Institute for Cell Science and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

For 21 years, Eisner was the permanent leader of The Walt Disney Company. Under him, the Walt Disney Television Animation division appeared, producing cartoons for TV. Children love cartoons in the morning and the ratings from this decision were very good. In addition, Eisner authorized the sale to television companies of the rights to show old Disney cartoons and films. These steps have significantly strengthened the company's financial position. However, Disney veterans criticized Eisner's actions, reproaching him that he was focused only on making a profit and the new products of the film studio lost their notorious Disney spirit. In 2005, the Disney Company boss stepped down from his post.

Icahn made his fortune as one of the notorious Wall Street raiders in the 1980s. He owned large stakes in corporations such as RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Phillips Petroleum and Viacom. In addition to raiding, he was engaged in the so-called "greenmail": buyback of shares of companies at an inflated price. Such was Icahn's success that he inspired many of the screenwriters to portray the famous Wall Street movie Gordon Gekko.

Currently, 81-year-old Icahn is ranked 43rd in the Forbes list of the richest people.

On the first line in the selection of the best business minds of our time is one of the leaders of the global gaming business, the founder of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and an influential sponsor of the US Republicans.

Adelson's source of wealth and current investment was the computer trade show COMDEX, designed for the computer industry. It was an innovative solution that was incredibly popular. The first event took place in 1979, and in 1995 the businessman sold COMDEX to the Japanese telecommunications corporation SoftBank Japan for $ 862 million. After that, in 1988, the businessman acquired the popular gambling establishment The Sands Hotel & Casino. It featured celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and filmed 1960's Ocean's 11.

However, later Adelson personally blew up The Sands Hotel & Casino in order to build in its place the most luxurious Venetian hotel-casino, decorated in the Venetian style (right down to the canals and gondoliers). And then he entered the international arena, building luxurious casino hotel complexes in a number of countries.

Throughout his career, Sheldon Adelson has created over 50 diversified companies.

Russia in the list of outstanding entrepreneurs of the century was represented by Yuri Milner (55th place). He participated in the creation of Mail.Ru Group and the international venture capital fund DST Global.