Mar 7, 2024
Everyone loves a get-rich-quick story, but what about a slow-burn-to-riches story? As it turns out, a slow climb to billionaire status is far less common.
Forbes discovered that those who worked their way to the top — aka. “hired-hand billionaires” or “corporate ladder billionaires” — are the least likely of all the rich folk to land a spot on the publication’s list of the world’s richest people.
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Almost the entire 760 American billionaires that appeared on the Forbes list are either founders (69%), such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, or heirs (27%), such as the Mars or Walton families. If you do the math, you’ll realize that those names made up a whopping 96% of the list.
The awkward leftovers are just 26 people: the “corporate ladder billionaires.” This exclusive club includes former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Most of us aren’t company founders or wealthy heirs. But is it possible to maximize your 9-to-5 and reach the top of the corporate ladder to become a billionaire?
Make your money make money
Steve Ballmer is currently worth $120.5 billion, according to Forbes. But when he started working at Microsoft in 1980, he was nowhere near that wealthy. In fact, The Washington Post once reported that Ballmer made $50,000 a year back then (which is $184,874.04 today).
Even though he was low on the corporate ladder, The Washington Post also noted that Ballmer knew how valuable his 5-10% company shares were — especially the longer he stayed with Micosoft. So, Ballmer slowly worked his way up the ladder and eventually became CEO of the company in 2000.
However, Ballmer knew that Microsoft wasn’t the only place where he could make money. Forbes reported that, when he retired in 2014, he used his Microsoft salary and shares to make even more money by buying the L.A. Clippers for $2 billion.
Forbes estimated that the team has now doubled in value and is worth $4.65 billion today.
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Sure, most of us won't be able to amass the funds needed to buy a professional sports team, but one of the keys to accumulating wealth is turning your paycheck into more money.
It’s not just for billionaires like Ballmer. It’s how teachers become millionaires in their retirement: they diligently invest in their 401(k)s every month and let their wealth compound over time. You can do the same.
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Find a (lucrative) passion project
Tim Cook is currently worth $2.1 billion, according to Forbes. But what netted him all that wealth had nothing to do with money.
“Don't work for money, it will wear out fast, or never be enough,” he advised students at the University of Glasgow in 2017.
Cook has mentioned various iterations of the “do what you love” mantra on several occasions, according to Inc. We can probably take this to mean that he wouldn’t have stayed in his role as Apple CEO if he didn’t love it.
After all, between filling Steve Job’s shoes and dealing with government crackdowns on Apple, Cook’s job is no walk in the park. If he was only in it for the money, he likely would have quit by now (although his $2.1 billion fortune probably makes his stay a little easier).
Other billionaires have also said that passion is key to their success. Two of these passionate guys are Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. They both believe that if they hadn’t kept up their respective interests in investing and computers since they were kids, they would never be the billionaires they are today.
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Sabina Wex is a writer and podcast producer in Toronto. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Fast Company, CBC and more.
