John D. Rockefeller – The Man Who Gave Away Shiny New Dimes


wealthymattersJohn Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and aggressively ran it until he officially retired in 1897. As kerosene and petrol grew in importance, Rockefeller’s wealth soared and he became the world’s richest man .His wealth was estimated at $900 million in 1913, equivalent to $189.6 Billion today. This is more than the riches of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and the Walton family combined! He was the first American billionaire. Adjusted for inflation, he is often regarded as the richest person in history.

Rockefeller came from humble, meager beginnings.He was born to traveling salesman William Avery Rockefeller and his wife Eliza. John D. Rockefeller was the second-born child; he had five siblings. His mother was thrifty by nature and necessity.He learned his penny-wise ways from his mother’s old saying: “Willful waste makes woeful want.“As a youth, Rockefeller reportedly said that his two great ambitions were to make $100,000 and to live 100 years. Read more of this post

Billionaire’s 10 Keys To Success


wealthymatters1. Figure out what you’re so passionate about that you’d be happy doing it for 10 years, even if you never made any money from it. That’s what you should be doing.

2. Always be true to yourself.Figure out what your values are and live by them, in business and in life.

3.Think about what your definition of success really is. Is it externally driven or internally driven?

4. Rather than focus on work-life separation, focus on work-life integration. Read more of this post

Mark Cuban’s Answers


wealthymatters.comI stumbled upon an old interview of Mark Cuban in Forbes Magazine.(The whole interview is available here: http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/03/billionare-mark-cuban-entrepreneur-dallas-mavericks-secrets-self-made-10.html).I found a couple of his answers worth remembering . Here they are: Read more of this post

Li Ka-shing : Hardworking,Frugal & Steadfast


wealthymatters.comThe Honourable Li Ka-shing GBM, KBE, JP (nickname “Superman”) stands 11th in the Forbes List with an estimated wealth of US$26.0 billion.He is the wealthiest person of East Asian descent.

Li is a product of adversity.He sees himself as a gnarled tree firmly rooted among the rocks of a mountain slope.Whenever he has found himself beset by troubles he has found himself “upto”dealing”with it.He describes himself as hardworking, frugal, steadfast,willing to learn and build a credible name.These qualities have taken him very far indeed in life.Presently, he is the Chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings; through them, he is the world’s largest operator of container terminals(including those in Hong Kong, Vancouver, Canada, China, UK, Rotterdam,Panama, Bahamas etc.- in all, his business controls 13% of all container port capacity in the world) and the world’s largest health and beauty retailer(a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, the A.S. Watson Group is a leading retail operator with over 7,800 stores whose portfolio encompasses popular retail brands in Europe such as Superdrug (UK), Marionnaud (France), Kruidvat (Benelux countries), and in Asia including health & beauty specialist Watson’s Your Personal Store, PARKnSHOP supermarkets, Great Food Hall, TASTE food galleria, gourmet boutique style fine food hall, Fortress electrical appliance stores, Watson’s Wine Cellars and Nuance-Watson airport duty free shops. ASW is also a major producer and distributor of water products and beverages in the region with Watsons Water the top selling brand in Hong Kong). His companies make up 15% of the market cap of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.In fact the story goes that out of every dollar spent in Hong Kong, 5c goes into Li Ka-shing’s cash-registers.His business empire includes: banking, construction, real estate, plastics, cellular phones, satellite television, cement production, retail outlets (pharmacies and supermarkets), hotels, domestic transportation (sky train), airports, electric power, steel production, ports, and shipping. Read more of this post

Carlos Slim Helu


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Carlos Slim Helu might have made it to the top of the Forbes List the second time in running but he is hardly known in India.Other than a few brief news pieces there has hardly been anything written about him in the Indian Press.

Now here is a man from an emerging economy who has made it to the top of the world rich list.The first to have done so.

His parents were successful in trade and business and so his family was well to do.But he multiplied the family fortune manifold by his own efforts.He was the 5th of 6 children and his father died when he was just 13 years old.However even before that his father gave him a good grounding in business skills especially in book keeping.Carlos made his first investment on his own in government bonds when he turned 13.  Read more of this post