Why Aiming To Be A Billionaire Makes No Sense.
(5 mins)
Hi Friends
One of the most ill-advised goals most people can make in their life is to make a goal to become a billionaire. Firstly, and most importantly, no one needs that much money. Secondly, the possibility of becoming a billionaire is completely out of reach for 99.999% of the people on earth.
According to Forbes, there are only 2 781 billionaires on earth, a TINY number out of the 8,1 billion people living on earth. That alone should tell you how unattainable becoming a billionaire is.
So today I want to break down why that is the case, so let’s get into it.
What Drives The Delusion?
We live in a world where people are so fixated with the idea of “being seen”. People want to be seen; wearing the latest and most expensive clothing labels, driving the most expensive cars, going on the most expensive holidays, staying in the most expensive houses or hotels, drinking the most expensive alcohol and eating the most expensive food. It is such an insatiable desire that people are even willing to compromise their morals to be seen enjoying the above.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting to experience all of the things I have listed above, but the insatiable thirst and desire of people wanting to experience those things over and over leads to them having deluded mindsets. Such as wanting to become a centi-millionaire or a billionaire.
NOTE: Centi-millionaire = net worth of $100 million or more.
But How Do I Become A Billionaire?
These are the ONLY 4 ways a person can become a billionaire:
Inheritance.
You are born or married into centi-millionaire or billionaire wealth, you work in the family business and you either maintain or improve the business. Examples; the Rupert family, the Oppenheimer family, the Arnault (LVMH) family, the Dangote family or the Bettencourt (L’Oreal) family.
Create a product or service used on a wide scale nationally or globally.
You create a product or service that is so useful that it is even used around the world in countries that you may not have heard of yourself, and your shareholding in that publicly listed company is a significant share (over 5%). Examples; Sergey Brin (Google), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Steve Jobs (Apple) and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta (Facebook)).
Be in the right place at the right time
Be an early or exceptional employee at a company like the one’s described above, befriend the right person in university (for example) who will create a product or service that is used globally, or be knowledgeable and financially capable to seize an opportunity developing at it’s earliest stage. Examples; Steve Ballmer (Microsoft), Tim Cook (Apple) or Patrice Motsepe (Mining).
Crime
Get rich through illegal means. Examples; Pablo Escobar and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, they were the biggest drug cartel bosses in the 1980s and 1970s respectively. You will eventually be arrested or have your assets seized.
That is it, those are the only ways you can become a billionaire, there is absolutely no other legitimate way. If you can mention one, it is probably a 1 in a 100 million occurrence.
We Need People To Be More Realistic
It is unfortunate that publications and other forms of media bandy around the term “self-made billionaire.” People, there is no such thing, but society truly believes that there is such a thing and therefore they try everything to be the next “self-made billionaire”. I just listed the ways one can become a billionaire and ALL of those ways involve being helped.
I will use South Africa as an example.
In South Africa, 97% of working South African’s households earn R8 000 per month or less. That is 60 million people, out of a population of 62 million, who will most likely never be able to satisfy one of the ways to become a billionaire. This should provide you with an indication as to why there are only 6 billionaires (Dollar) living in South Africa. Most of the resources that could allow someone to become a billionaire are concentrated amongst a tiny group of people in the country. This applies globally as well.
So if you are not involved in those small groups, it genuinely makes no sense to aim to be a billionaire because you essentially need to “ask for permission” from those within that group to get in. Unfortunately that “permission” is not granted often unless you are extremely exceptional, hence there is only 2 781 billionaires on earth.
The reason I say people need to be realistic is because we have seen so many corruption stories in both the public and private sector where people stole millions, and in some cases billions of Rands, all because they wanted to “live like a billionaire”. People have stolen bursary funds from needy kids, others have overcharged government only for them to not do the work and disadvantage the poor.
No One Needs That Much Money
As I said at the beginning, no needs that much money. Trying to have more than $1 billion is genuinely a futile exercise unless you satisfy the 4 ways I mentioned above. Don’t believe me, check this statistic; if you were to spend $50 000 (R900 000) EVERY SINGLE DAY, it would take you 55 years to eventually spend $1 billion. Which means it would take Jeff Bezos 11 550 years to spend his $210 billion fortune.
Now let’s be serious here guys, who NEEDS to spend $50 000 (R900 000) every single day? Even the people who say “I could do that” only say that because they would think of something to spend it on, but it would not be their normal daily expenditure.
I genuinely wish people knew how comfortable of a life they could live earning R100k - R200k per month, especially if your spouse earns around the same amount and you are realistic. You can afford to experience all of life’s luxuries at least twice a year on a salary like that.
Aiming to earn a salary within that R100k - R200k p.m. range is more realistic and attainable, but even that salary range is out of reach for over 95% of South Africans in their lifetime. We must be honest guys, not everyone will (or can) become a millionaire.
Maybe People Should Rather Aim To Be Comfortable
I always say that people should assess what makes them comfortable. Just aim for a life where they can afford those things which make them comfortable without them stressing about when their next pay check will come. That number could be different for different people. For some people it could be R15k per month and for others it could be R65k per month, but in the end, all that matters is whether that person feels comfortable. That is how you stay clear of a deluded mindset in my opinion.
I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something valuable.
Stay Savvy