However, we know that only 6.4% of American adult population are millionaires, and the reality is that not all of those are self-made. What habits and practices helped this elite group in accumulating large amounts of wealth, and how can we apply these to our own careers to become more financially independent?
Copying the Habits of Millionaires
Today’s infographic from StocksToTrade.com skips the silver bullets and “get rich quick” tricks to show the real habits of millionaires that have led to wealth accumulation over time. Many of these habits are not particularly glamorous, but remain essential for the long-term success of entrepreneurs and investors. They tend to fall in categories such as: hard work, persistence, passion, acquiring self-knowledge, associating with the right people, and staying healthy. Here are the most important statistics to consider:
88% of the rich devote 30 minutes or more each day to self-education or self-improvement. 76% of the rich aerobically exercise for 30 minutes or more, every day. 86% of the rich who liked what they did for work made $3.4 million in 32 years 7% who loved what they did made $7.4 million in 12 years. 92% of rich say good luck had nothing at all to do with their wealth. They just never gave up. 88% of millionaires believe relationships are critical to financial success. 94% of wealthy individuals read current events every day. 88% of the rich people say that saving money was incredibly important to their success. 93% of the self-made millionaires attributed their wealth to their mentors’ help. 86% of wealthy, successful people associate with other success-minded people. 79% of the rich read educational, career-related material.
In other words, it’s not a simple idea or plain old luck that leads to success. The stats above show it is the daily habits and practices that count in the long run. on A lagging stock market dented these fortunes against high interest rates, energy shocks, and economic uncertainty. But some of the world’s billionaires have flourished in this environment, posting sky-high revenues in spite of inflationary pressures. With data from Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, we feature a snapshot of the richest people in the world in 2023.
Luxury Mogul Takes Top Spot
The world’s richest person is France’s Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of LVMH.
With 75 brands, the luxury conglomerate owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany. LVMH traces back to 1985, when Arnault cut his first major deal with the company by acquiring Christian Dior, a firm that was struggling with bankruptcy.
Fast-forward to today, and the company is seeing record profits despite challenging market conditions. Louis Vuitton, for instance, has doubled its sales in four years.
In the table below, we show the world’s 10 richest people with data as of February 27, 2023:
Elon Musk, the second-wealthiest person in the world has a net worth of $191 billion. In October, Musk took over Twitter in a $44 billion dollar deal, which has drawn criticism from investors. Many say it’s a distraction from Musk’s work with Tesla.
While Tesla shares have rebounded—after falling roughly 70% in 2022—Musk’s wealth still sits about 13% lower than in March of last year.
Third on the list is Jeff Bezos, followed by Larry Ellison. The latter of the two, who founded Oracle, owns 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai which he bought in 2012 for $300 million.
Fifth on the list is Warren Buffett. In his annual letter to shareholders, he discussed how Berkshire Hathaway reported record operating profits despite economic headwinds. The company outperformed the S&P 500 Index by about 22% in 2022.
How Fortunes Have Changed
Given multiple economic crosscurrents, billionaire wealth has diverged over the last year. Since March 2022, just four of the top 10 richest in the world have seen their wealth increase. Two of these are European magnates, while Carlos Slim Helu runs the largest telecom firm in Latin America. In fact, a decade ago Slim was the richest person on the planet. Overall, as the tech sector saw dismal returns over the year, the top 10 tech billionaires lost almost $500 billion in combined wealth.
Recent Shakeups in Asia
Perhaps the most striking news for the world’s richest centers around Gautam Adani, formerly the richest person in Asia. In January, Hindenburg Research, a short-selling firm, released a report claiming that the Adani Group engaged in stock manipulation and fraud. Specifically, the alleged the firm used offshore accounts to launder money, artificially boost share prices, and hide losses. The Adani Group, which owns India’s largest ports—along with ports in Australia, Sri Lanka, and Israel—lost $100 billion in value in the span of a few weeks. Interestingly, very few Indian mutual funds hold significant shares in Adani Group, signaling a lack of confidence across India’s market, which was also cited in Hindenburg’s report. As a result, Mukesh Ambani has climbed to Asia’s top spot, controlling a $84 billion empire that spans from oil and gas and renewable energy to telecom. His conglomerate, Reliance Industries is the largest company by market cap in India.
