Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Several of my neighbors have more than 10mil. Several of folks at my club have more than 10mil. They gained their wealth as doctors, entrepreneurs, small business owners, farmers, bankers, and other traditional methods. None of them won the lottery.
how did they get rich and how did they find the specific niche that allowed them to get rich?
Thanks
Hi stevechang103--
The only person I know with the eight-plus digit worth is my grandfather, on the stepdad's side. He got his $ first as a corporate attorney, eventually rising to senior counsel at Ashland Oil (if you don't know them, look it up - it's the Fortune 500 company you've probably never heard of), and then after that got into a franchise business with two other guys. Cottman was the name of the company, I think. They sold their respective stakes some 15-odd years ago and his stake was something on the order of $20 million. How did he do it, you say? Hard work and probably more than a little bit of luck.
The most common way to earn an 8 digit worth is through investments. Yes, you might win the lottery, inherit or be given a CEO job in a major corporation.
It is unlikely.
If one had, in 1980, invested in Johnson and Johnson $100, 000.00 and taken the dividends since then, their worth would have gone up by fifty-five times. Patience in investment goes a long way.
Alternately, the person who was the angel investor in the Blair Witch project had to put a mere $60, 000.00 to fund the whole thing and it pulled in $160 million worldwide.
The only person I know with the eight-plus digit worth is my grandfather, on the stepdad's side. He got his $ first as a corporate attorney, eventually rising to senior counsel at Ashland Oil (if you don't know them, look it up - it's the Fortune 500 company you've probably never heard of), and then after that got into a franchise business with two other guys. Cottman was the name of the company, I think. They sold their respective stakes some 15-odd years ago and his stake was something on the order of $20 million. How did he do it, you say? Hard work and probably more than a little bit of luck.
Most folks are familiar with Valvoline, which is the retail arm of Ashland Oil. Ashland produces many store-brand lubricants, as well.
I know a few, although most are more like $100M than $10.. The $100m plus friends I have are all old money... Think magazine /newspaper founders, oil and gas company founders, media and entertainment moguls, etc. The $10m are just well off mostly normal folks.... bankers, private equity, general counsel, etc.
Old money. At least one kid in every generation was sent to Wharton or the like so that someone would be able to manage the family millions or billions.
I have to say, the deca's and mega's are, in my experience, lovely people when you interact with them in a casual, social situation.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,775 posts, read 15,776,851 times
Reputation: 10880
My parents were friends with a couple who were just regular middle-class people. Husband was very bright and started an electronics company. He made it BIG. I think he found his niche because he was interested in the field and had the smarts to back it up. I believe he developed/invented something that was needed in the field.
A friend of mine likely is a decamillionaire by now. He is super frugal and investing is his life. He made some aggressive bets when we were young and hit 1 million in his mid/late 20's. Both he and his wife have good paying jobs and live waaay below their means. His hobby is saving and investing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
