Well-known financial sharks who managed to build a business from scratch In order to name and describe all the happy owners of billions in capital, a whole book is not enough.

Most of the participants in the Forbes rating lists are businessmen who made their capital through the privatization of assets. large enterprises and firms. But we will talk about those who created their financial empires starting from the bottom.

So who are the top 10 entrepreneurs who own multi-billion dollar companies built from scratch?

The first place is occupied by the Russian businessman Sergey Galitsky, who is the director trading network"Magnet". Galitsky began his career as a student, helping the deputy manager of a Krasnodar bank. Such a non-dusty position allowed him to acquire useful connections and influential acquaintances.

Having managed to get initial capital in the amount of $ 30,000, Galitsky chose to invest them in the purchase of a commodity that was popular at that time, namely cosmetics and perfumes. Such a first investment fully justified itself and paid off in full, after which Galitsky registered the first distribution company Trans-Asia, which became the prototype of the future Magnit.

At the moment, the general condition of a businessman is estimated at $3 billion.

The second place was taken by billionaire Aras Agalarov. In a short period of time, the businessman turned from a graduate of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions into an influential general director of the Crocus company.

Agalarov took his first steps in business by exporting souvenirs from Russia, in return importing computer equipment and accessories. Despite the success in trade, it was decided to stop this type of activity and establish a new, exhibition business format.

Aras Agalarov is the creator of the first Moscow boutique, located on Stoleshnikov Lane. At the moment, the main business that brings Agalarov income in the amount of $1.5 billion is his company for the construction of large shopping centers.

The third place went to the alcohol tycoon with Georgian roots Rustam Tariko, whose determination can only be envied (of course, white envy). As Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russian Standard Bank, he successfully provided assistance to Italian tour operators, settling tourists in the Rossiya Hotel, which was inaccessible at that time.

The appearance of new influential acquaintances from among Italian businessmen helped Tariko conclude a contract for the supply of elite Martini alcohol. It was an unheard of success that gave a financial impetus to the further development of the Tariko empire.

The businessman's fortune is estimated at $1.5 billion.

The fourth place rightfully belongs to Alexander Dzhaparidze (state about $1.1 billion). Success came to him after Japaridze, being an ordinary geologist as part of a geophysical expedition, led a joint project with the Americans, the purpose of which was seismological exploration of the area.

After the collapse Soviet Union Alexander Japaridze managed to buy the necessary equipment and provide seismic services on a private basis.

Fifth place was headed by the owner of the Fashion Continent, and concurrently the governor of the Tula region, Vladimir Gruzdev. got mine start-up capital by issuing a loan in the amount of $500,000 by Sberbank. This became possible after the successful management activities under the leadership of the famous businessman Oleg Boyko.

The governor's fortune is estimated at $950 million.

Thus, the first LEK cooperative was created. Having received the long-awaited loan, Rogachev within three years engaged in the supply of such equipment. The next source of income was the business of resettling communal apartments. After Andrei Rogachev left for the banking business, the beloved Pyaterochka retail chain was founded.

Seventh place went to the insurance magnate Sergei Sarkisov (capital $950 million). Favorable ground for the creation of an insurance company was provided by connections in Ingosstrakh.

Being fluent in Spanish, Sarkisov was able to attract Spanish insurance company Iberia Seguros, which has made a significant contribution to the development of a unified "Russian-European Insurance Company".

Eighth place was taken by the founder of Maxi-Invest, Nikolai Maksimov. Together with his wife, he was engaged in the trade of wood and paper, after a preliminary loan of 75,000 rubles. Over the years of existence, the Niktan company could boast of millions of turnovers. Guided by the desire to expand the business, Maksimov started buying up shares of large metallurgical plants. This was the beginning of the creation of the now famous Maxi-Group. The capital is almost $950 million.

Ninth place belongs to Viktor Kharitonin, the owner of the Ufa-based pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard. The total capital is valued at $900 million.

Mine labor path, Kharitonin, began while still studying at the institute, opening an intermediary organization Creditinform LLP. Later, having moved to Moscow, he became the founder of a brokerage company specializing in exchange trading in vouchers. A big leap in creation big business, was the purchase of shares in the company "Ufa-Vita".

The tenth place is proudly occupied by Samvel Karapetyan, President construction company"Tashir". Karapetyan is a graduate of the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. He achieved his first financial success by creating a sewing cooperative "Zenith", specializing in sewing overalls and fashionable at that time T-shirts with the image of pop stars.

After moving to Kaluga from his native Kalinino, Karapetyan became the head of the Kalugaglavsnab company, it was on its basis that the Tashir corporation was created. The core issues of the company are the construction and operation of shopping centers and exhibition halls.

And finally Reading a brief history career of each of the 10 people mentioned, it may seem that the process of creating a business from scratch is an elementary procedure that does not require ordinary mental and financial capabilities. Only now if financial question can be solved with the help of loans, with ingenuity, everything is not so simple. Definitely, these people are special in their own way, if they were able to achieve such heights. It remains only to wish them good luck and professional success.

In this section, we have collected biographies of the richest and most successful people in the world. The goal is to understand what helped them earn millions and billions of dollars, what skills and abilities they have, what qualities they develop in themselves and what values ​​they are guided by.

As one of them said, in order to become a millionaire, you must first become a person in a million. And we will add from ourselves, in order to become a person in a million, you need to study the stories of successful personalities, try to get into their heads and learn to think like them. We hope our materials will help you with this. We wrote them primarily for ourselves.

The section is constantly updated, so bookmark the page or subscribe to the site news to learn about the release of new biographies.

Bill Gates is the legendary founder who owns the most popular operating system in the Windows world. He is the richest man on the planet for more than a decade, he is also a charismatic business leader, innovator, knight of Great Britain and the father of three children. What events from the biography of Gates and the qualities of his character helped him become what he is?

Warren Buffett is the genius of the financial world, the most successful and unsurpassed investor in the world, who is also one of the richest people on the planet. Do you want to know the secrets of his success?

Steve Jobs, co-founder of the company "", as well as several other companies, including the animation studio Pixar, an innovative businessman who gave the world a lot of interesting, intelligent toys, such as iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.

Henry Ford

Ray Kroc - American entrepreneur, founder of McDonald's, a chain of restaurants fast food. For the contribution of a businessman to the formation and development of the industry Catering, Time magazine in 1998 included him in the TOP 100 most significant people XX century.

Thomas Edison is a famous American inventor and businessman, co-founder of General Electric Corporation. For the period of his professional activity, Thomas received 1093 patents at home and about 3000 outside the United States. He improved the telegraph and telephone, designed the phonograph. Thanks to his perseverance, millions of incandescent bulbs lit up in the world.

Coco Chanel is an outstanding fashion designer, the founder of a Fashion House, who proved that elegance is impossible without convenience. Her design fantasy includes a little black dress, pantsuit, chain bag and other branded items that create a sophisticated style.

Walt Disney is a legendary American artist, producer and director. The creator of the first musical and feature-length cartoons in the history of cinema, released about 700 cartoons, won 29 Oscars and 4 Emmys, received honorary degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities, and was awarded the highest civilian government award in the United States - the Medal of Freedom. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, two stars are dedicated to Disney, one for the development of television, the other for his contribution to the cinema.

Richard Branson is one of the most brilliant and talented businessmen in the world, a billionaire, the founder of the international corporation Virgin, a champion in aeronautics, and the owner of his own island.

Donald Trump is an American construction magnate, owner of the Trump Organization, who later became President of the United States. Also known as the owner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant, host and executive producer of the reality show The Candidate. Time magazine named him Person of the Year in 2016.

Madonna is one of the most successful women in the world who was able to break through to the top from poverty itself. There was a period in Madonna's life when she spent the night in attics, and sometimes even checked the contents of trash cans in search of food. But it didn't break her. What helped our heroine to break through to the very top and become one of the most influential women on the planet?

Elon Musk is an American entrepreneur, inventor, co-founder of PayPal, founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, member of the Board of Directors of SolarCity. The Model S electric car released by Tesla accelerates to 96 km / h in 2.28 seconds. For his contribution to the commercialization of space, Elon Musk was awarded the Heinlein Prize and received $ 0.5 million (2011). He was named "Businessman of the Year" by Fortune (2013) and "CEO of the Year" by The Wall Street Journal (2013).

Mark Zuckerberg

Pavel Durov is a Russian businessman, programmer, developer and co-founder social network"VKontakte", led VKontakte as CEO from 2006 to 2014, currently the founder and head (CEO) Telegram messenger.

Phil Knight is an American businessman, co-founder of Nike, which has an annual income of $20 billion. He is the richest resident of his native state of Oregon, and in 2015 he was in the TOP-20 the richest people planets.

Mary Kay is an American entrepreneur and founder of Mary Kay Inc., a company specializing in the production and sale of cosmetics and skin care products.

George Soros is an influential investor, financial guru, founder of charitable foundations in 25 countries, father of five children, and also the man “who collapsed the Bank of England”, a supporter of marijuana legalization, a master of market speculation.

Robert Kiyosaki is an investor, entrepreneur, financial advisor, and author of the best-selling Rich Dad vs. Poor Dad series. He is not one of the richest people on the planet, but at the same time, his fortune will seem fabulous to many. We are primarily interested not in his condition, but in what helped him become financially free and independent.

Carlos Slim Elu - what is the secret to the success of the richest man in the world? What needs to be done to achieve such heights? What skills and qualities do you need to develop in yourself in order to climb the podium of wealth and fame?

Zhou Qunfei is the richest woman in China and the richest woman in the world to make a fortune from scratch, as well as the youngest self-made woman billionaire. Founder and CEO from Lens Technology. The company is included in the Global 2000 lists, among its customers are Apple and Samsung corporations.

"How to Succeed Big Starting from Scratch, or the American Dream in Action: The Starbucks Version" is the essence of Howard Schulz's book Pour Your Heart Into It. The author tells the story of the transformation of a once modest network of three coffee shops in Seattle into a powerful corporation.

Howard Schultz showed by his own example that anyone can achieve success if they really want to. But the point for Starbucks is not only that the corporation brings in multimillion-dollar profits.

2. Walter Isaacson - "Steve Jobs"

This biography is based on conversations with Steve Jobs himself, as well as with his relatives, friends, enemies, rivals and colleagues. Jobs had no control over the author. He frankly answered all questions and expected the same honesty from the others.

This is a story about a life full of ups and downs, oh strong man and a talented businessman who was one of the first to understand that in order to succeed in the 21st century, you need to combine creativity and technology.

3. Henry Ford - "My life, my achievements"

In 1911, Henry Ford changed the world. He went down in history as the inventor of the assembly line and one of the most honest millionaires.

He made mistakes, lost his fortune and got rich again, sued for patents, won and lost lawsuits, he pulled America out of the Great Depression and became a symbol of the most powerful economy in the history of mankind.

His ideas and methods of organizing production, described in this famous book, have been introduced into the activities of thousands of enterprises and deserve the attention of everyone who creates own business.

4. Donald Trump - "Think Like a Billionaire"

To become a truly rich person, you must learn to think like a billionaire. This is where real estate genius, best-selling author and television star Donald Trump comes to your rescue.

He will show you how to properly relate to money, career, own talents and life in general. In this book, you'll find great expert advice on investing in real estate, from how to communicate with brokers to advice on building renovations and real estate appraisals.

5. Richard Branson - Naked Business

This book is not an updated version of Sir Richard Branson's autobiography Losing My Virginity, nor is it an expanded version of his abridged version of Fuck It! Get It Done. In fact, this is the author's first book entirely devoted to the history of creation and the peculiarities of running his business.

"Instead of ranting in these pages about my success, I simply wrote the whole truth about my companies," writes Sir Richard.

In addition to the candid stories of the successes and failures of the Virgin group, this book is invaluable with advice and quotes from a real entrepreneur's notebook. Guided by the set of rules created from them, you can make almost any business project successful.

From the book you will also learn what qualities Sir Richard Branson appreciates in his subordinates, how he conducts difficult negotiations, how he plans his time, what businessmen he admires and much, much more. Enjoy reading!

6. Tony Shay - "Delivering Happiness. From Zero to Billion. A First-hand Story of Creating an Outstanding Company"

About how Tony Shay became a businessman, starting at the age of nine with ... a worm farm. And about the circumstances due to which the Zappos company he created (somewhat later) was eventually bought by Amazon for $ 1.2 billion (and before that, Shay sold another business he created to Microsoft, also for impressive money).

It is one of the most hilarious and upbeat business books, thanks to the author's writing talent, and one of the most impressive and rewarding, thanks to his entrepreneurial genius.

7. Sam Walton - "Made in America. How I Created Wal-Mart"

Extremely modest, but always confident in his abilities and capabilities, Sam Walton shares his observations, honestly and openly talks about the "rules traffic"in big business.

Why is the book worth reading?

The author of the book, Sam Walton, in just a few decades turned a small store in the center of a provincial town into the world's largest chain. retail.
This book is not just a success story. This is a kind of textbook on the conduct of a trading business, written by a true professional in his field.
- It tells the story of creating an outstanding business in the first person - with the utmost honesty, thrilling and funny.

8. David Wise, Mark Mulsid - "Google. Breakthrough in the zeitgeist"

This book is the gripping story of the most successful internet company in the world. AT recent times financial results activities of Google Inc. exceeds even the wildest expectations of investment analysts.

Purposefulness, scientific talent, creative search, courage and love for the experiment of the founders of the company - former Muscovite Sergey Brin and a native of Michigan Larry Page - paved the way for the long-term success of the company.

Under their leadership, Google's search engine has become a popular resource that users love for its convenience and already have a strong emotional attachment to it. A new verb "to google" has appeared in everyday life, denoting the search for something on the Internet, which indicates the unconditional surrender of competitors.

The authors of the book outlined in detail the company's business strategies, allowing to establish mutually beneficial cooperation with advertisers and websites, and also revealed the essence of its motto "Do No Harm!". The book will serve the reader not only as a unique guide to a non-standard approach to doing business, but will also give pleasure from easy and exciting reading.

9. N. V. Kononov - "Durov's Code. Real story"VKontakte" and its creator"

About the power of digital media, the creators of which become invisible leaders of a new type. About how to go to your dream, getting rid of fear.

10. Torekul Bertil - "The Saga of IKEA"

The IKEA Saga was based on numerous interviews with the "father" of the company, Ingvar Kamprad. This book is about a man who single-handedly founded a small firm, which later turned into a huge company with a worldwide reputation.

Today IKEA is successfully conquering the Russian market. Born on an old farm in Sweden, this company now meets the most demanding requirements of today's customers. Every year, more than 400 million people visit IKEA's 220 stores in 33 countries.

But first, they look with interest at the IKEA catalogs, which have a circulation of 160 million copies. You will learn about how, thanks to unique business qualities the most cherished dream Ingvar Kamprad.

conquest Russian market was difficult for him. You will read about how the history of these “love” relationships developed in one of the chapters of the book. More than just a business story, this is a guide for those who want to get into business and succeed.

16.02.2016

Greetings, followers of successful businessmen! Today, especially for you, I will tell you popular business success stories from scratch. After all, other people's luck is contagious. In addition, examples of effective business ideas can be very useful for you.

Billion dollar ideas

Many of the richest people in the world started from scratch, without huge cash investments, wealthy parents and winning the big lottery. They just invented an amazing business idea, knew how to work "by the sweat of their brow" and go towards their goal, no matter what! And, of course, these people were distinguished by an extraordinary mind, non-standard views on life.

I hope you are one of those people who, after reading business success stories from scratch, will reconsider their lives and take action! After all, if you just think that where are you up to such accomplishments and give up, it will not work. So read short biographies the most famous billionaires in the world and absorb the energy of wealth.

Biographies of the richest people

So, now I turn directly to the success stories of millionaires and billionaires. By the way, you can learn an interesting Internet profession and earn your first million here.

Sheldon Adelson

This man was born in Boston in the family of an ordinary taxi driver. From the age of twelve he began a small entrepreneurial activity selling newspapers. After that, various jobs followed - a financial consultant, a mortgage broker, a court reporter, a salesman of tours. However, all this was only a difficult path to future success. 1979 was a landmark year for Adelson. He organized COMDEX - an exhibition-fair of computer topics, which for 20 years was the most famous event dedicated to computer technology.

9 years after the creation of the fair, Sheldon buys a hotel, a casino in the largest gaming city of Las Vegas and instantly increases his material wealth, which, according to general estimates, is $ 26 billion.

Roman Abramovich

An example of a billionaire comes from Saratov. The childhood of this famous oilman passed under the upbringing of close relatives, since the boy's parents died. In his youth, Abramovich had excellent organizational skills. 1980-90 - the year when he created a small business for the manufacture of polymers, toys.

This was followed by trading, intermediary activities, developing into oil raiders. Then, after establishing useful ties with B. Berezovsky, B. Yeltsin's family, Roman Arkadyevich noticeably improved his financial situation. They say that it was thanks to them that he took possession of Sibneft. Abramovich's further career growth is the post of deputy, governor, contributing to the expansion of the oil business. The next step to enrichment is the purchase of the Chelsea football club. The approximate amount of the entrepreneur's income is 23.5 billion dollars.

Li Ka-shing

Chinese businessman who earned about $26.5 billion. He began his career at the age of fourteen. In order to earn a living after the death of his father, the boy dropped out of school. At first he worked as a trader in plastic products. A few years later he was able to open his own business - the company Cheung Kong Industries, which later became a major investment corporation in Hong Kong, and Ka-Shing - the richest person in China.

Maxim Nogotkov

This is the youngest Russian businessman who has earned more than one billion. Nogotkov started working as a schoolboy, selling copies of PC programs. Already 2 years later, without graduating from higher education, he, together with his comrades, opened his own business - the Maxus company, to engage in the wholesale trade in equipment on the radio markets. The organization then became a distributor of Siemens radiotelephones.

Start trading mobile phones did not bring success. But the purchase of salons cellular communication allowed to reach a new horizon, as a result of which the Svyaznoy brand appeared. Today's turnover of the company is more than five hundred billion rubles.

Fred De Luca

An American entrepreneur, along with a friend, started their business by opening a regular diner. Then Fred was only 17 years old. The original plan was to open 32 eateries over a ten-year period. Thanks to further franchising, the chain of stores has expanded significantly. Now outlets SUBWAY brand have become popular all over the world. Their number exceeds 21 thousand in different countries world, which exceeds the number of other popular fast food brand McDonald's.

It's just 5 stories successful business from scratch. But there are actually a lot of them. Re-read the biographies of the most famous rich people in order to trace the patterns of ascent from poverty to prosperity, to be inspired by other people's successes. It will definitely work if you are determined to start your own business and think like a millionaire.

Sincerely, Ivan Balashov!

Ksenia Sobchak is a name that is familiar to almost every resident former USSR. Her life is a vivid example of determination and self-confidence. She was able to achieve considerable success on television, the journalistic field, and journalism. The biography and personal life of Ksenia Sobchak often become the subject of discussion. We decided not to be like the "yellow press" and will briefly talk about the difficult path to recognition that she managed to go through.

Today we will talk about who Donald Trump is: biography, rise to the top of business, political Olympus and other main facts from his life. At the moment, Trump is the 45th President of the United States and therefore is in the spotlight, but there are many interesting points in his biography, which we will consider in this article.

Every year, the popular American magazine Forbes publishes a ranking of the richest people in the world. Moreover, not only men, but also women fall into it. These days, women have gained financial independence - they build their own empires, earn billions, open charitable foundations and chasing success. strong women inspire all representatives of the beautiful half of humanity and serve as an example for them. Many, and we are sure not only women, will be interested to get acquainted with the latest statistics from Forbes Woman magazine. We will talk about all the successful ladies who got to the top of the list of rich people in 2016 in our article. Enjoy reading!

Robert Kiyosaki is one of the most successful investors and businessmen of our time. His life principle is not to go with the flow, but always look for non-standard ways to solve problems in the business sphere. This approach motivated the entrepreneur to write a whole series of motivational books, the main one of which, according to experts and critics, is Rich Dad Poor Dad. Now Kiyosaki conducts trainings all over the world. His books have been translated into 51 languages ​​and are sold in over a hundred countries.

Carlos Slim owns a holding, which he began to develop back in the late 60s, and the America Movil telecommunications corporation. The richest man in the world believes that the main thing is to change your children for the better, and not give them something ready-made.

The richest people in the world and on earth

Let's see who it is - the richest people in the world. For most people, wealth is associated with the success of its owner in society. This is so and not so. Hundreds of thousands of people consider themselves successful people without significant funds. They live in prosperity, but do not have wealth. Since the wealth of individuals arises, and what it takes to become rich: the life goal of constant enrichment; luck or luck; unique ability or talent; high education and knowledge? Let's look at these people, their biographies and maybe we will understand what is the mystery and clue of acquiring wealth.

The generally recognized rating of the world's rich is published annually by the American magazine Forbes, the first copy of which appeared in 1917, and the first rating of rich people was published in 1918 and John Rockefeller occupied the first line in it. In Russia, the magazine has been published for 10 years, assessing the wealth of the richest people in Russia every year. This is the most authoritative source of information about the wealth of people and its rating on the pages of the magazine is considered the most reliable.

Forbes rich people ranking 2015

The richest people in the world in Forbes are 1826 people, they own 7 trillion dollars, with an average fortune of about 4 billion dollars. Of course, the magazine does not list all 1826 people on its pages, but only lists the 300 richest people in the world, and we will only list the top ten richest people in the world:

1. Bill Gates (USA) - founder of Microsoft with a fortune of $79.2 billion;
2. Carlos Slim Elu (Mexico) - the owner of a telecommunications network with a fortune of $ 77.1 billion;
3. Warren Buffett (USA) - the largest investor with a fortune of 72.7 billion dollars;
4. Amancia Ortega (Spain) - founder and owner of Zara, worth $64.5 billion;
5. Larry Alison (USA) - founder of the software company Oracle with a fortune of $54.3 billion;
6. Charles Koch (USA) - construction and oil refining business with a fortune of $42.9 billion;
7. David Koch (USA) - construction and oil refining business with a fortune of $42.9 billion;
8. Christy Walton (USA) - co-owner of the Wal-Mart retail chain with a fortune of $ 41.7 billion, and the richest woman in the world;
9. Jim Walton (USA) - banker and co-owner of the Wal-Mart retail chain with a fortune of $40.6 billion;
10. Liliane Bettencourt (France) is the owner of the cosmetics empire L'Oreal and the richest woman in Europe with a fortune of $40.6 billion.

Rating of rich people in Russia 2015 according to Forbes

1. Vladimir Potanin - owner of TMK Norilsk Nickel, fortune $15.4 billion;
2. Mikhail Fridman - controls the financial and industrial company Alfa Group, worth $ 14.6 billion;
3. Alisher Usmanov - owns the assets of the metallurgical giant Metalloinvest, the mobile operator Megafon and a number of other assets, a fortune of $ 14.4 billion;
4. Viktor Vekselberg - owner of the Renova group of companies and a number of other assets, worth $14.2 billion;
5. Alexey Mordashov - owner of Severstal company with a fortune of $13 billion;
6. Vagit Alekperov is the owner of the largest private oil company Lukoil, worth $12.2 billion;
7. Leonid Mikhelson - the owner of Novatek with a fortune of $11.7 billion;
8. Vladimir Lisin - the owner of the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works, a fortune of $ 11.6 billion;
9. Gennady Timchenko - the owner of many assets with a fortune of $ 10.7 billion;
10. Mikhail Prokhorov is a banker, media tycoon, co-owner of the world's largest producer of potash fertilizers, Uralkali, worth $9.9 billion.

Of course, the richest people in Russia are not limited to this list and their distribution within the list is very often modified, for example, for the last two years it was headed by Alisher Usmanov.

Biographies of the richest people in the world

Analyzing the life path of each of the richest people on the planet, they can be divided into heirs of huge fortunes and people who have risen to this list from the very bottom, or who have achieved their fortune with organizational talent, a sense of time and other abilities necessary for a successful business.

The biography of the richest people in the world shows the features of the ways to achieve wealth by each of them. Of the ten richest people in the world according to Forbes, only three inherited huge capital: Christy Walton, Jim Walton - the heirs of the largest retail chain Wal-Mart, and Liliane Betancourt, who inherited L'Oreal from her father Eugene Scheller. Of course, there are a lot of rich people on the Forbes lists, whose fortunes were made by their fathers and even grandfathers. Among them are well-known names: Rockefellers, Morgans and others. Preserving the wealth inherited is also not an easy task, but much easier than making a multibillion-dollar fortune from scratch.

The richest people in the world are described Rich people are not so few as it seems at first glance.

The ranking of the richest people in the world begins with Bill Gates (William Bill Gates), a man who made his fortune with his intellect, organizational talents, and the gift of foresight. His company Microsoft is the world's leading manufacturer of software for personal computers, the general development of which, Gates foresaw. He did not even finish his studies at Harvard University and, having left his third year, founded Microsoft. Gates was actively involved in the development software products and developed the Microsoft development strategy.

The list of the richest people in the world was occupied by representatives of the United States, but for some time, from 2010 to 2013, it was headed by a representative of Mexico, of Arab origin, Carlos Slim Elu, a man who has achieved everything he has, with his work, perseverance, knowledge and desire to win. I must say that the basis of the future capital of Carlos Slim Elu was made by his father. After graduating National University in Mexico City and having received an engineering degree, at the age of 25 he set about creating the future Grupo Carso empire. In 1982, taking advantage of the crisis in Mexico, he bought shares of many famous companies, and in early 1990 he bought the telecommunications company Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico). He further specializes in this industry and buys telecommunications companies throughout Latin America. He was included in the Forbes list in 2002.

Warren Buffett, the richest and no less famous investor in the world, was born in the family of a stock trader and from childhood he was familiar with financial transactions, the stock exchange. He made his first stock purchase at age 11, buying several shares of Cities Service at $38. The stock quickly fell in price to $27, but later rose to $40. Warren immediately sold it, earning $5. A few days later, the shares jumped in price to $200. After that, Buffett formed one of the most important principles of investing: "patience is rewarded." Unlike Bill Gates, Buffett received an excellent education, graduating from Columbia University and earning the nickname "The Oracle of Omaha" for his later career as a successful investor. "The main secret of successful investing is to choose good stocks in right time and keep them as long as these stocks are good" - this Buffett principle is used by thousands of investors around the world.

Biographies of Russian billionaires are not so impressive. Although it is believed that their wealth was created from scratch, the rich people of Russia made their fortunes through certain financial schemes, the legal purity of which is of questionable nature. And biographical information is not always available.

Among the dozen names of Russian billionaires, Mikhail Prokhorov looks like an example of a typical growth from a simple entrepreneur to the Forbes list. Prokhorov in 1989, after graduating from the Financial Academy, worked until 1992 at the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, where Vladimir Potanin became his business partner until 2008. Then he went his own way, developing his business.