Please look at Forbes' list of the world's richest people and click on some of their names to learn more about them. Then, in a well-developed paragraph, discuss some trends, demographic or otherwise, that you notice among these super-elite. What about today's world makes it possible for these individuals to be so enormously wealthy?
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_The-Worlds-Billionaires_Rank.html
20 comments:
There are all kinds of people who have tons of money, and although I am not one of them and have not heard of half of them (mainly because I do not pay attention to anyone else’s life) there are a few qualities I have discovered in reading the list of the worlds richest people. First of all it seems great wealth like within the billions upon billions of dollars is either given to you, or you had to work for it. Now I mean given to you as in an inheritance, and work for it as in you put money away and invested wisely (very wisely). It seems that if you stay in school you will have a greater chance of doing something great (like Bill Gates) and gaining great benefits for it rather than a high school dropout that works and invests money. People who are wealthy usually have a since of self respect about them, yes everybody has their skeleton but it isn’t always as bad as people make it out to be. I think if your dream in life is to be the richest person in the world you can. It will be a hard difficult world and money will not buy your happiness, but you can do it if you invest wisely (unless you are one of the lucky people who are given the money). I think money will make you happy to an extent it does definitely help when you want to buy that new house or new car, or send your kids to school without worry, but I think that it buys you fake friends and greater danger of thieves trying to take all you have worked so hard for.
Warren Buffett is a great invester and company’s he has invested in insurance Geico, General Re, jewelry Borsheim's, utilities MidAmerican Energy, food Dairy Queen, See's Candies. Also has noncontrolling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo. He has even past Bill Gates and a few other billionaires in just a few months and I think thats the key to getting rich invest.
The Forbes top 100 billionaires list is quite diversified. The members are scattered all about the world. I found that there seems to be a good balance between two types of wealth, earned and inherited. Those who are self-made billionaires started from all sorts of backgrounds. Some of them started off with very little in the way of education or beginning capital. Others were very well educated and put their knowledge to good use. Then there are the inherited billionaires. At first, I was a bit judgmental of them. I mean, how hard can it be to inherit billions of dollars? After a bit more thought though, I came to realize that there is some degree of work required to maintain that wealth. It won’t grow if you just let it sit there. You may as well stuff it in the mattress. I found it interesting that J. K. Rowling is the only author on the list, and that is just barely. I suppose that is because of her industry. Most of the main players are in industries that are essential to everyday life: communications, manufacturing, textiles, etc. I would like to see more self-made women on the list. It seemed to me most the females were among the inherited group. I would like to see more about them than just the blurbs listed. It would be interesting to read what these super rich people do with their money and their social standing. I really hate to see the ones that really contribute nothing to their own communities. How can anyone stand to be so ridiculously wealthy and not share some with the least fortunate? I’m not saying they need to just hand out cash, but charity works when applied intelligently.
Warren Buffett the worlds richest person is a very wise invester. Looking at this web site i saw that there are two different kinds of billionaires. Self made and inherited. Buffett was self made he was very smart about what he did with his money investing in Geico,coca-cola and wells fargo. Other billionaires just get lucky and inherit from family. But one thing i believe money bring stability not happiness. Some people work hard for there money and i respect that.
Warren Buffett is number one on Forbes richest Americans for 2008, surpassing the ever so popular Bill Gates for the top spot. He is a self-made billionaire whose net worth is $62 billion. I never knew that anyone could become the richest man in the world by investing in so many companies. As a kid, Buffett was all about a dollar, working hard to get paid, and he used his intelligence to find ways to invest his money. America is one of the richest countries in the world and there is plenty of opportunity to build wealth. I believe that all people are blessed with a gift, and William Buffett has been blessed with the gift to successfully invest a lot of his money in many big name companies to where he has claimed the throne as the richest man in the world.
One of the things that i have noticed is that each person saw what people need. They have found a way to take advantage of what people need and a way to give it to them. People like things fast and cheap with good quality. I believe that most of these men have figured that out. On top of there businesses they have also invested in many things. I believe thats when the saying "you need money to make money" comes into play. After doing well they were able to see opportunities that they could invest in that would have a greater return. Some good research and an eye for business opportunity is something that you only learn through experience. These people had a passion and had to work for their wealth. That is what separates them from the average Joe. Americans want big things with little work, but these men have proven its exactly the opposite you need to be rich.
Well... despite most of them enjoy golf, they have (in two words) what most in the world does not: "Financial Knowledge". Many can say (or boast) about the money, yet having a drive and determination when it's associated with $ and risk (yes, I said risk) leads them amongst the rest. Not to say that they're smarter than others, though they have gained while most would pass it by. Luck is luck, while motivation and the ability to get up when knocked down is something else entirely. There are a LOT of educated "poor" people now, just look at the news. Breaking out of the "give me" attitude we as people have been accustomed to, and by no blame I'd say. (Don't shoot the messenger when he's only speaking for the public!) Life is a complicated "roller coaster". Though, whether we choose to ride it or stay on the "kiddy" rides is our choice. Gain the financial knowledge you need, not want. I can go on and on about their characteristics, instincts and motives, though I won't. READ a little, then look in the mirror. Who's doing better? Think about it.
Where as I've never heard of a majority of these people, its nice to see they all aren't owners of oil companies. End joke there. Its interesting all the ways these people became rich, and its refreshing to see that the most of the top ten are self made billionaires. Most of these people though either own large companies that are needed, computer things, oil, steel, or telephone, while some of these people invest into other companies.
Warren Buffett the worlds richest man and is a very wise invester. Looking at this web site i saw that there are two different kinds of billionaires, self-made and inherited. Buffett was self made he was very smart about what he did with his money investing in Geico,coca-cola and wells fargo. Other billionaires just get lucky and inherit from family. But one thing i believe money brings stability and equity but not happiness. Some people work hard for there money and i respect that. I also noticed that most of the people on the list have some kind of college education whether it is a full degree of they went and dropped out like Bill Gates. Another thing I noticed is that most of the people on this list live in generally wealthy area.
The majority of the people on the top list for billionaires have worked hard in making their fortunes. Some on the other-hand did in fact inherit their fortune from someone else. Most of them had started developing their selves and working hard. Many of them have started up their own businesses that have flourished over time, making them endless amounts of money. In today’s world just about anything is possible. There are endless amounts of opportunities out there for people to take advantage of you just have to know where to find these opportunities and how to go about it. Everyone has the potential to become billionaires it’s just how you use your potential to your own advantage.
Everyone knows that Bill Gates places 3rd on this list because of his contribution ("contribution" being a severe understatement) to the technological world.
However, while the world was becoming more modern around the time he was earning his big break, society was only changing gradually so! There were many demands--that as of now we couldn't imagine being met otherwise--that weren't being met by conventional means (especially for businesses and organization). And because we are constantly looking for ways to enhance what most think is already perfect, there is no end to the possibilities! Just how designers are always trying to create the "perfect" pair of jeans, they can never be "perfect"! Nothing ever can!!
I laugh remembering that the World Wide Web has not been around (by that, I mean available to the common folk, like myself) for two decades! I remember when the average loading time for a webpage was at least 30 seconds. Today, I'm frustrated if I have to wait more than five.
First off, I'm shocked to see Bill Gates is not number one.
After reviewing the list not one set of characteristics seems to apply for every individual. For example: some people inherited their wealth, others produced a unique product, and some just knew how to invest their money. What I find to be interesting is that each individual and their story is so uniquely diverse. It really shows what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.
So stay motivated, set reasonable goals and rewards yourself along the way.
Some of the trends I noticed while researching the richest people in the world were very interesting. For example on 8 out of 10 billionaires who were considered "self-made" were college drop-outs or did not attend. Coincidently, those who have inherited their money have almost all gone to college. Also, the more successful men were self made, i.e Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Another interesting fact I noticed was that the inherited men were extremely younger than those self-made. You can see it took years of hard work and dedication to achieve what these men have.
It seems todays wealthiest people are generally strong investors. All of their wealths are either self made, or inherited. Another trend is that all of these empires are built on high demand products. Majority of these billionaires either dropped out, or never even attended college. This just goes to show that even without a degree, you can still make billions of dollars.
According to some it takes money to make money. As listed in the Forbes list of Billionaires the preceding statement is not necessarily the case. Many of the icons listed have achieved great success as a result of many trials, errors and efforts to succeed. Some of the financial leaders either inherited money or took over family businesses. The leaders who have risen from the most trivial lines of work to great success have the most interesting perspectives. These individuals may sometimes have a better understanding of how the effects of stumbling blocks and obstacles may hamper one when they have the desire succeed. Success is apparent when a person has found a passion in what they do and they are driven to push themselves to the next level.
I noticed that most of the people on the list are self-made billionaires. They have invested their money and it has paid off dearly. One thing that shocked me was the fact that there were only 4 Americans in the top 25 of the list. Someone from Mexico being second was also shocking to me considering you hear of it being such a poor country.
Excellent job, ntupitza, Stephanie, Salim Renee, Kingzkingdom, Sharmaine, and others. You provide interesting insights.
While browsing this list, I noticed that the top 3 are either bill gates or had something to do with him. Many of the others are in some way involved with oil in one form or another, which is not at all surprising. A majority of the people are U.S. citizens
To begin, the first thing I noticed is that six of the ten top billionaires fortunes were self-made. That shows me that anyone with the right dedication and idea can achieve equal success. I also noticed that the paragraphs explaining these billionaires did not focus much on their education. The passages about each of these extremely wealthy individuals seem to emphasize their work ethic. I believe that today’s society permits individuals to become so wealthy because of competition, or the lack there of. Investors aside, these billionaires who own their companies have filled a niche that has not been strongly challenged.
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