As you know, America is a country of great opportunities for running or expanding various businesses. It goes without saying that at the same time you should have certain skills and human qualities that in total allow you to reach a fairly high material level. It is no secret that the overwhelming number of billionaires in the world are precisely the inhabitants of the New World. In this article, we will find out who the richest people in America are, what they own and how they came to their success.
Richest family
According to Forbes, the Walton dynasty is the richest in the United States. Her fortune is estimated at an simply inconceivable amount - 130 billion dollars. The business was founded in 1962 by the brothers James and Sam. Both have long since gone to another world, and today their offspring are being developed by their heirs, of which there are six people. Actually, the team’s activities are based on the total control of the largest retailer on the planet Wal-Mart.
Koch industries
Charles Koch is another richest man in America. This entrepreneur and philanthropist was born on November 1, 1935 in Kansas, USA. He has a brother named David Koch, with whom they inherited from his dad a very large business based on the production of gasoline. Today, the corporation managed by Charles Koch, in addition to the chemical and petroleum industries, pays close attention to the production of various polymers, the implementation of many environmental programs, and even animal husbandry. The brothers' business capital is approximately $ 115 billion, of which David Koch owns $ 42.9 billion.
Former Mayor of New York
Born February 14, 1942 in Brighton, Michael Bloomberg is today not only a successful entrepreneur, but also one of the richest people on our big planet. From January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2013, he headed the New York City Hall. Like many of America’s richest people, the businessman is a native of a Jewish family and has a prestigious education (he graduated from Harvard Business School). Michael Bloomberg owns one of the world's leading news agencies - Bloomberg. The empire of this outstanding American is composed of many television channels, radio stations, and a worldwide financial news computer network. Michael’s success is based on his ability to think progressively and efficiently. It was he who first came up with the combination of current quotes of exchanges taking place in real time with detailed analytics. Such a service allowed Bloomberg to become in some way a monopolist of the information field in the financial sector.
As mayor of New York, Michael determined a salary of one dollar a year and completely abandoned public housing, using only his business income. As of 2016, Bloomberg’s fortune was approximately $ 40 billion.
Young billionaire
Relatively recently, the list of billionaires was replenished by a native of the suburbs of New York, Mark Zuckerberg. This outstanding polyglot and programmer was born in 1984 and at the age of twelve he created his first ZuckNet program, which made it possible for all his relatives and friends to communicate on a local network. After school, Mark was educated at the elite educational institution Phillips Exeter Academy. The financial condition of Mark Zuckerberg has increased many times after he developed a social network called Facebook. Initially, it was intended to expand the communication opportunities of Harvard students, but the network began to grow rapidly, and at a certain stage the young American realized that it was urgent to invest big money in this promising project in all respects. Therefore, he left the university and put all his savings into his brainchild. After some time, Mark was able to attract wealthy investors, who helped to bring the social network to an international level. Mark Zuckerberg's fortune for February 2016 was in the range of $ 50 billion. At the same time, the young man does not lead a rave lifestyle, does not flaunt his wealth and lives happily with his wife, whom he has known since his student days, and brings up a little daughter named Max.
Dynasty mars
In 1911, Forrest Mars Sr. created the confectionery company Mars. Nowadays, it is controlled by the three heirs of the founder of the corporation. By the way, today the brand produces not only sweets, but also pet foods such as Pedigree and Whiskas. The scale of production of the company inspires respect. Only one candy called M & M's in the USA produces about 400 million pieces daily. As for the state of the family, for 2016 it amounted to approximately 78 billion dollars.
Owner of the largest online store on the planet
The American Jeff Bezos is another example of the ability to quickly navigate trends and draw the right conclusions in the struggle for success.
Jeff was born on January 12, 1964 in Albuquerque, USA. Having received an excellent education at Princeton University, the future billionaire began working for Fitel, a company that specialized in developing high-quality exchange trading programs. But already in 1994, Jeff met with an analytical forecast for increased sales via the Internet and realized in which direction he should work. Since 2000, the American has allocated part of his finances to a project called Blue Origin, which is to launch spacecraft into low Earth orbit.
In 2013, the businessman bought one of the most famous publishing houses - The Washington Post. Jeff spent $ 250 million on this acquisition.
Today, Jeff Bezos is the founder and owner of the world's largest online store, known as Amazon. The billionaire adheres to the thesis “the client is always right”, and in relation to subordinates he is demanding, one might even say picky. According to the beginning of 2017, Bezos has a fortune of 71.2 billion dollars.
Head of Oracle
Lawrence Ellison is an outstanding American entrepreneur who is well known for his charisma, impulsiveness and extravagance. However, one cannot fail to note his significant contribution to the development of modern software.
The future billionaire was born in August 1944 in the Bronx. Surviving adolescence, Lawrence was extremely obstinate and independent, which is why he often argued with his adoptive father, who considered him an absolute loser and a complete fool who was incapable of anything in life. After school, Larry became a student at the University of Illinois, who never graduated. After some time, he again becomes a student, but already at the University of Chicago, where he was expelled in the first year of study.
But still, the guy was destined to become successful. He had the ability to fully absorb new information and quickly became a programmer. And in the 1970s, he became the founder of Oracle, which exists to this day and brings billions in profits to its owner. Even then, the richest people in America understood that computer technology was the future, and therefore Allison had many competitors, such as SAP and Microsoft. This led to the fact that in 1990, the American company was on the verge of complete bankruptcy. However, he did not lose heart and took rather radical steps: he dismissed many of his managers, and he took the place of a programmer, improving database management applications.
At the same time, Larry was very demanding on his subordinates. In his corporation, all departments competed among themselves, competition between personnel was encouraged, and the pace of work was such that the vice president of the company married the girl he met, because he clearly understood that he would have no time to look for another lady of the heart if he parted with this.
Confrontation with competitors
The main rival in the business world for Oracle is Microsoft. Moreover, their confrontation reached even a personal level. For example, Larry flew on his plane over Gates’s house on a low-level flight and often criticized his opponent, accusing him of incompetence. Nevertheless, Allison could not get around Gates in the ranking of rich people, even taking into account the fact that he won a lawsuit from him and received $ 5 billion for it.
The world's largest investor
Buffett Warren, whose fortune is estimated at $ 65.5 billion in February 2017, is nicknamed the Seer for his ability to perfectly figure out various situations and material investments in advance.
The billionaire was born in Nebraska in 1930 and, at the age of thirteen, filed his first tax return in his life. The first serious financial achievement of the American was $ 10,000 and was made possible by the installation of gaming machines in the premises of hairdressers. Warren's core business is Berkshire Hathaway, which he acquired in 1965.
Buffett was educated at Columbia University under the direction of Benjamin Graham. In his strategy, Warren adheres to the principle of long-term investment, that is, the ownership of a share of a company, in his opinion, should last at least 10 years. The businessman is known for his generosity towards charitable foundations. In the summer of 2010, he donated 50% of his finances to five such institutions. This act is still considered the most generous manifestation of charity on the planet in the entire history of the existence of our human race.
Buffett had quite serious health problems. In the spring of 2012, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but the disease was diagnosed at an early stage, and the billionaire from imminent death was saved in time by a course of radiotherapy.
The richest man in the world in 2015
Bill Gates (USA) from 1996 to 2007, as well as in 2009 and 2015, was officially recognized as the richest man on earth. This man was born in 1955 and became famous not only for his wealth, but also for his appeal to another billionaire to give half of his fortunes to charity.
Surprisingly, the future computer genius was expelled from the university just two years after the start of his studies at it. Gates' main business partner is his friend Paul Allen, who in their tandem initially dealt exclusively with technical issues. Bill himself took over the negotiation processes, communication with customers and the signing of contracts. In 1976, young Americans created the now-famous Microsoft company, in which Gates owned 64% of the shares.
By the way, despite the reputation of a very adequate and calm person, during his life, Bill was arrested three times for driving without documents and in a state of intoxication.
Some facts about a billionaire
To date, Gates has completely relieved himself of the authority to head the corporation, but at the same time he is the largest holder of its shares. Also, the billionaire is quite modest in everyday life and dresses very modestly. However, his home is a high-tech building that impresses visitors with its technical highlights.
Gates is very fond of books and reads them in the amount of 50 pieces per year. In his honor was also named a fly - Eristalis gatesi. In addition, the American owns the largest island of the Republic of Belize.
Forbes Rating
According to the respected Forbes print publication, at the beginning of 2017, a list of billionaires. In it, the main American billionaires are ranked relative to each other in terms of their wealth. The list is as follows:
- Bill Gates.
- Warren Buffett.
- Jeff Bezos.
- Mark Zuckerberg.
- Larry Allison
- David Koch
- Koch Charles.
- Michael Bloomberg
- Larry Page
- Jim Walton
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would definitely like to note that the richest people in America are not only well-educated, but also purposeful, mature, independent in all respects individuals who were not afraid at the right time to challenge both the society around them and themselves, overcoming the the most diverse fears and self-doubt. Many of them are hereditary billionaires thanks to their ancestors, but the ability not only to preserve capital, but also to increase it makes us respect these businessmen and value their business qualities.