The wealth formula of 3,311 billionaires: What does it take to go from 0 to 10 digits?

There are currently 3,311 billionaires in the world, controlling a wealth of $11.8 trillion. Want to know how they did it?

Breakdown of Wealth Sources for the Rich

• 60.8% self-made
• 28.9% Self-struggle + Inherited Mix
• 10.2% pure inheritance

Interesting data: 87% are male, with an average age of 66 years, the youngest is only 19 years old (German pharmacy chain heir Kevin David Lehmann). The highest proportion is from the United States (975 people), followed by China (400 people), and New York is the city with the most billionaires in the world (138 people).

Key Finding: Most wealthy individuals are not born that way. They rely on long-term thinking rather than overnight riches.

4 Replicable Paths to Wealth

1. Start your own business

60% of self-made billionaires have achieved their wealth through entrepreneurship. Gates transformed the computer industry with Microsoft; Musk's Tesla and SpaceX have made him the richest person in the world; Bezos's 10% stake in Amazon is enough to place him among the top three globally.

Key: Create new products or services with market demand, and then accumulate wealth through company equity.

2. Participate in M&A

Billionaires in the United States have participated in more than 33 merger and acquisition deals on average. Why is this strategy effective?

• Obtain resources and assets that cannot be independently owned.
• Introduce talents with new thinking
• Accelerate the speed of business expansion (much faster than going solo)

This is the shortcut to getting big quickly.

3. Entering high-growth industries

Key Data Comparison:

• Tech industry: 93% of billionaires are self-made.
• Industrial sector: Only 43% is self-created.

Why is it easier to produce billionaires in the tech sector? Low entry barriers + rapid cross-regional expansion. You can start small and scale quickly.

4. Invest in Real Estate

Real estate is the third largest source of wealth for billionaires worldwide (after finance and industry). The strategy is simple: start with small investments and gradually expand the portfolio. Through precise decision-making and risk calculation, real estate investments can yield huge returns.

Underlying Logic

The key to becoming a billionaire is not speed, but direction and patience. Avoid the traps of quick wealth (such as futures trading, altcoins, etc.) and build assets that can appreciate over time. Whether it's entrepreneurship, mergers and acquisitions, high-growth sectors, or real estate, the essence is: create value → establish tradable assets → hold and expand for the long term.