BiggerPockets

I've been pondering this over the past few months when I was out of town on vacation.

I'm curious about the possibility of setting a lifetime goal of developing a company with a 1b net worth over a lifetime.

I've delt with individuals from the most of the financial spectrum. From a joe six pack with $1 in the bank and no assets all the way up to a individual with over $150m in net worth.

So I'm quite curious about the goal of developing a net worth of $1b starting out at 0 and working up to the $1b goal over many many years.

I don't see how it's impossible if you're young (As am I) In a little over a year my brother and I should be able to break the $1m net worth goal in about 2 years from start to finish, starting at nothing.

What are your thoughts?

"Let's ask Donald Trump"

He had 400 million in family money to start with.

"Or Warren Buffet."

He was the son of a stock broker and Congressman. Have yet to find the net worth he had to start with, but I have to imagine that the connections of your dad being a Congressman certainly help.

You have to realize that most billionaires don't start with 0. They had a parent, grandparent or great grand parent that did. The only guys that maybe did that come to mind were at the dawn of the tech age much the same way a couple guys at the dawn of the industrial age did. This is not to dissuade you from your goal but to give you some perspective.

Honestly, starting with 0 and no connections, a lifetime goal of 5-40 million is most definitely an achievement of the American dream and is very noteworthy. And think of the connections you will be able to set up for your kids and grandkids..... Your achievement of these smaller goals now will set them up to become centi-millionaires and billionaires should they decide follow your lessons.

Tim

A person, who I greatly admire and consider a mentor from afar is Sam Zell. A self-made billionaire who achieved that wealth through whose own means.

So, yes it is possible.

I think it is possible. But, I a movie quote (from Apollo 13) I find myself saying when there is a big hurdle to overcome is, "Let's work the problem people."

That is look at the goal or task and then reverse engineer it to solve or create the solution. So, that means coming up with the tactics ncessary to create 1B of wealth.

I am losing my butt in FL. I would love to just be back where I was before that. Any advice from any of you on how to make a few bucks right now, would be appreciated. I am wanting to start small. I want to redeem myself and regain my self-respect after my bad decisons in FL.

The developer Jorge Perez started at nothing and exceeded $1 billion. Do a search on him, he also wrote a book I really enjoyed.

Brian

Just a theoretical question , I know a few have done it.

As for working with my brother, so far it's been OK , unfortunately his G/F is starting to have a say in everything and it's not going as well as I had planned.

On a good note, our net worth isn't doing bad at all, hopefully we can cash some of it out and buy more property.

1B Net worth. Ya it is possible. As a matter of fact, the Forbes 400 is littered with people who started with no money whatsoever. Sam Zell, Kirk Kerkorian, David Murdock, Alex Spanos, Thomas Flatley, Jorge Perez, Sheldon Adelson, George Argyos, Roland Arnall, Ronald Burkle, Wayne Huizenga, and a whole bunch of others.

Someone posted earlier about Sam Zell. I highly admire him as well. He had $35 in his wallet when he was 23 years old. As of right now I think he's worth over $5Billion. Started with a small 3 unit building which he bought for no money down by exchanging management services for a cut of the deal. As of 2000 his companies owned over 220,000 units of apartments, and over 135 Million square feet of commercial real estate, this was all done in less than 40 years. Is it possible?? If you think it is, then it is.

Also look up Kirk Kerkorian and a guy named Philip Ruffin. Kirk dropped out of 8th grade, and now owns half of the casinos on the Las Vegas strip. Ruffin started out flat broke, now owns RE all over the country including 40 acres on Las Vegas Blvd. the list goes on and on.... A guy named Stephen Seigel is on his way, google him he bought his first apartment building in his 30's in 2001, flipped it a year later and made $4Million. Now his companies own 20 hotels, 3 casinos and a bunch of other stuff. Yes, it is possible..... will you have to sacrifice a lot? No doubt.... just depends how far you can go and how bad you want to know what can be accomplished.

But, what do I know. I'm not a billionaire just a 25 year old trying to duplicate what Sam Zell did, and so far I'm ahead of where he was. Hopefully it continues to stay that way.

Numerous people have hit that mark. Bill Gates for one. They all have one element you cannot just go get or earn, though -- LUCK! They all worked hard, and that's an essential element. Without hard work you cannot get there. But even with hard work, you have to have a lot of pieces you don't control fall into place.

A couple of very interesting books related to this topic are "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell and "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Outliers specifically deals with very successfully people, and investigates the factors that led to their success. Many people, know, for example, the story of how IBM initally tried to acquire an operating system from the PC from Digital Research, but were turned away and ended up getting one from Gates. Less known is the background that led to that point. Going to the right high school, having rich moms who funded computer time back in the days when that was an expensive proposition and having access to people with knowledge he could leverage. There are no doubt many, many people with the same level of brainpower as Mr. Gates and at least some of those who were just as motivated. Nobody else, though, had all the stars in alignment and made a fortune from that opportunity.

The black swan is more general, and deals with how events we don't control often have more impact on our lives than the things we do control. We plan and account for what we understand and control, and make what we think are the correct decisions. We learn from past results what we can expect. Then, bam, something unexpected happens and all our plans are disrupted. The change in lending in 2007 had a drastic impact on many investors, for example. Some saw something coming, but even folks who saw it didn't see how quickly or radically the environment would change.

I think it is real easy to have $1 B ... if you star with $2 B.

Serously, I would answer "Yes." You will have to make working and learning your #1 priority. Visit Amazon or a book store and pick up books (plural) about the people mentioned by the others (above). Start reading at least one book per month. I suggest adding "The Richest Man in Babylon" to the top of your reading list.

I'm reading "Carolyn 101" by Carolyn Kepcher - the young female judge from The Apprentice.

You will have to involve a lot of other people too.

As Zig Ziglar says "You can get anything that you want as long as you help enough other people get what they want."

Of course a good dose of hyperinflation would bump your dollar denominated net worth up too.