The six most common paths to becoming a self-made billionaire are starting a high-growth business, owning a stake in one, riding technology and disruption, using fame, investing for decades and diversifying across many assets. According to Forbes, there are 2,838 known billionaires in the world and 67% of them are self-made. No trust fund and no rich parents: they started from scratch. That means being born rich is not the only way to get really rich.
This article covers the inheritance side of the equation first, then the six paths, each with the person the video uses to illustrate it. Some are risky and some are plain common sense.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 6 paths at a glance
- First, the inherited side (0:39)
- Path 1: Starting a business (2:27)
- Path 2: Owning a business (4:26)
- Path 3: Tech and disruption (6:54)
- Path 4: Fame (8:37)
- Path 5: Investing (9:54)
- Path 6: Diversification (12:09)
First, the inherited side
If 67% of billionaires are self-made, 33% inherited their fortune, but it is not so black and white. Some are born into billions, like the Walton family, who are among the richest in America because they inherited Walmart shares from their father. Others do not start with billions but inherit enough that, with the right assets compounding, their money grows almost on autopilot. And some start with money and still have to put in the work to scale it. Donald Trump famously said his father gave him a small loan of a million dollars. Turning $1 million into a billion means multiplying it by 1,000, and loans have to be repaid.
Even inherited wealth does not come from thin air. Nobody in the Walton family counts as self-made today, but their father Sam Walton built Walmart from the ground up, and he did it by the first path below.
Path 1: Starting a business
This is the classic founder’s path, and Howard Schultz shows what it looks like. When he got involved with Starbucks in 1982 it was a small Seattle chain that did not even serve coffee, only sold it in bags to make at home. He had the crazy idea that it could become a household name around the world, and in 1987 he took the risk and acquired the company.
Building it took decades of raising capital, expanding internationally and reinvesting in growth. By the mid-1990s Starbucks went public, Schultz owned a meaningful stake, and as the stock price rose over the years his net worth compounded into billions.
It is the most common way to become a billionaire, but it does not happen overnight. Founders dominate the billionaire lists because they see potential where others do not and invest decades before the payoff arrives. Starting a high-growth business is hard and most people fail, but if you go all the way the upside is unlike anything else.
Path 2: Owning a business
The second path is owning a meaningful stake in a business that scales, as opposed to being a passive investor. Steve Jobs is the example, and most people assume Apple made him a billionaire. In 1986 he actually bought Pixar from the creator of Star Wars for just $10 million. He was not directing or animating. He was a high-level ideas person with vision, connections and the ability to lead people.
Pixar went public in 1995 on the success of Toy Story, and since Jobs owned about 80% of the company, his stake grew to over $1 billion almost overnight. When Disney acquired Pixar in 2006 he received almost $4 billion, which made him Disney’s largest shareholder.
That is what ownership buys you: Jobs did not do the day-to-day creative work, but as owner he captured the upside of everything the company built. The risk is real, because owning a bad company means bad news. With the vision to spot billion-dollar opportunities, the guts to place a risky bet and the discipline to let talented people do what they do best, you can get to the top from anywhere.
Path 3: Tech and disruption
The third path is the route to becoming the richest person alive, and it always has been. The greatest fortunes have almost always gone to people at the forefront of new technology. In the Industrial Revolution it was steel, oil and railroads, and Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt were the wealthiest men of their era because they controlled technologies that reshaped the world. The computer revolution belonged to Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. Today the biggest fortunes still come from technology, such as Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, whom the video calls probably the richest person in history because he is pushing the boundaries of electric cars, autonomous driving, space travel and artificial intelligence.
Starting and owning traditional businesses can make you rich, but the largest fortunes come from riding new industries before they become mainstream. This is the most rewarding path and the hardest, because you have to create value out of something that 99.99% of people probably do not understand. The wealthiest people see what is coming next, whether AI, renewable energy, biotech or space, and build companies that scale globally around it.
Path 4: Fame
There are two routes here. One is the ultra-rare megastar path, such as Taylor Swift, who became so culturally dominant that her tours, masters and licensing deals made her a billionaire by themselves. She is the exception.
The more common route is to build on fame. With influence and a loyal audience you can turn recognition into products, businesses and investments that scale far beyond your original talent. Michael Jordan’s real wealth comes from his partnership with Nike and the Air Jordan brand, which still sells billions of dollars a year. Rihanna became a billionaire by using her global recognition to launch Fenty Beauty. Kanye West built Yeezy, a hugely influential fashion brand of the decade, which pushed his net worth into the billions. The list goes on with Cristiano Ronaldo, Oprah, Dr. Dre, Kim Kardashian, Roger Federer and LeBron James, all celebrities who did not get rich for the reason they got famous.
Fame can make you rich, but using that fame can make you a billionaire.
Path 5: Investing
The fifth path is slower, quieter and for many people harder to follow than starting or owning a company. Patience defines it, and nobody embodies it better than Warren Buffett. He started in the 1950s with just over $100,000 in savings, money he had earned and invested since his teens. His strategy was simple: buy good companies he thought were undervalued, hold them for decades and let compounding do its thing. That is an oversimplification, but it is how he grew Berkshire Hathaway into a hugely successful investment vehicle. $1,000 of Berkshire stock bought in 1965 would be worth more than $30 million today.
Very few people reach Buffett’s level by buying and holding stocks, and he did not cross the billionaire mark until his 50s. Still, investing is a very common trait among billionaires, because once they have built wealth by other means, investing keeps it growing. Most billionaires blend the paths: they build or own a company and also put their money to work.
Investing isn’t always how you start, but it’s almost always how you sustain it.
Path 6: Diversification
Investing does not only mean buying stocks and waiting. The sixth path is spreading capital across real estate, private equity, debt instruments, operating businesses and even experimental ventures, each with the potential to skyrocket in value.
Kenneth Bryan Dart is famous for keeping a low profile, but behind the scenes he has built a remarkably diversified fortune. He has developed entire towns in the Cayman Islands, invested in sovereign debt and mortgage-backed securities, taken major stakes in tobacco giants and put hundreds of millions into neuroscience research. His wealth is not tied to any single bet but to dozens of carefully chosen plays across industries, asset classes and continents.
Most billionaires eventually adopt this approach because no single downturn can wipe them out, while they keep exposure to upside in many areas. One success funds the next, and the portfolio keeps growing almost on autopilot. Given time and the right moves, diversification is both a catapult and a safety net.
The common thread
Every billionaire’s story looks different on the surface, but the thread running through them is resilience, persistence and strategy. You do not need to follow every path, but you can learn from them and build your own version of success.
FAQ
How many billionaires are self-made?
According to Forbes, there are 2,838 known billionaires and 67% of them are self-made, meaning they did not inherit their fortunes.
What is the most common way to become a self-made billionaire?
Starting a high-growth business is the most common path. Founders dominate the billionaire lists because they see potential where others do not and invest decades before the payoff.
How did Steve Jobs become a billionaire?
Through owning Pixar rather than Apple, according to the video. He bought it in 1986 for $10 million, owned about 80% when it went public in 1995 and received almost $4 billion when Disney acquired it in 2006.
Can you become a billionaire through investing alone?
Very rarely. Warren Buffett is the exception, and he did not cross the billionaire mark until his 50s. Most billionaires build wealth another way and then use investing to keep it growing.
Why is tech the hardest path to billionaire status?
Because you have to create value out of something that 99.99% of people probably do not understand, but the largest fortunes in history have come from riding new technologies early.
Why do billionaires diversify?
Spreading capital across real estate, private equity, debt, operating businesses and experimental ventures means no single downturn can wipe them out while they stay exposed to upside in several areas.
Keep reading
- 15 Actionable Steps to Become Self-Made
- 15 Reasons You May Not Want To Become a Billionaire
- These 15 Self-Made Billionaires were Once Poor
