With financial risk comes a chance to earn financial rewards in terms of profit. Apart from financial gain, entrepreneurs are also motivated by innovation, disruption, making an impact, etc.
What makes a successful entrepreneur?. What made the richest entrepreneurs so successful?.
I believe entrepreneurial success depends on the following traits:
- Strategic mindset
- People management skills
- Holding nerve during a downturn
- Perseverance
But entrepreneurship isn’t easy & definitely not a recommended career line for the faint-hearted ones. Having said that, it does provide an immense opportunity to change the world for the better. Had an entrepreneur not taken a risk, products like social networks, search engines, messenger apps & digital wallets would not have been invented.
With numerous global challenges now, the world needs more & better entrepreneurs. But, unfortunately, entrepreneurship hasn’t picked pace like other professions due to various business factors like increased competitiveness. As per a study conducted by CNN, the number of Startups in the US had hit a 40-year low in the year 2016.
So, now let us go through a list of the top 10 richest entrepreneurs (as per Forbes latest report)
TOP 10 RICHEST ENTREPRENEURS
1. Jeff Bezos
Born in 1964, Jeff Bezos is the founder & CEO of the e-commerce giant Amazon. With a net worth of $131 Billion, he tops the list of richest entrepreneurs. He founded Amazon as an online bookstore in the year 1994. After that, there was no looking back for Bezos as he kept adding new categories of products. Today, Amazon is the world’s largest online shopping platform and has diversified interests in many other businesses like Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Junglee, Audible, etc.
2. Bill Gates
Bill Gates is the founder of the PC software firm Microsoft corporation. With a net worth of $97 billion, Gates is at number second on the list. He is widely credited as one of the pioneers who revolutionized the personal computing industry with Microsoft’s operating system ‘Windows.’ Started in 1975, Microsoft now has diversified interests in various companies, including Skype, LinkedIn, Yammer, Microsoft Mobile (Earlier known as Nokia). He is also actively involved in various philanthropic projects.
3. Warren Buffett
Warren Buffet is one of the most successful investors of our time. With a net worth of $82 billion, he is at the number 3 spot on this list. He owns Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including Geico & Duracell. He has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth to charities.
4. Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault is the chairman & CEO of the fashion conglomerate LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company. With a net worth of $76 billion, he also happens to be Europe’s richest person. LVMH has more than 70+ brands under its belt.
5. Carlos Slim Helu
Carlos Slim Helu owns America Movil, Mexico’s biggest mobile telecom company. With a net worth of $64 billion, he is at #5 on this list. Also, he has diversified interests in other sectors like construction, consumer goods, mining, real estate & media.
6. Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega is the co-founder of Inditex, which runs the popular fashion chain, Zara. With a net worth of $63 billion, he is at number 6 on this list. Inditex has 8 brands & operates more than a whopping 7,500 stores across the world.
7. Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison is the co-founder of the software company Oracle. With a net worth of $62 billion, he is at #7 on this list. Oracle is mainly in CRM databases. And, with its recent acquisition of NetSuite, it took a giant leap in cloud computing.
8. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is the famous co-founder & CEO of the social network Facebook. With a net worth of $62 billion, he is 8th on this list (also the youngest). Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has grown leaps & bounds. Recently, Facebook acquired social network & messenger apps called Instagram & WhatsApp, respectively. Zuckerberg has pledged to donate 99% of his Facebook holdings towards charity.
9. Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg is the co-founder & CEO of the media giant Bloomberg. With a net worth of $ 55 billion, he is at #9 on this list of richest entrepreneurs. As you may be aware, Bloomberg is also a financial services & software company. He is also a member of ‘The Giving Pledge,’ where he has pledged to give away half of his wealth as charity.
10. Larry Page
Larry Page is the co-founder & CEO of Alphabet Inc., the holding company of Google. Apart from being the world’s largest search engine, Google also runs many popular digital services like YouTube, Maps, Drive, Cloud, Gmail, etc. Alphabet is also taking various innovative initiatives in the health & smart home appliances sectors. With a net worth of $ 50 billion, he is at #10 on this list.
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