Zero to Billions: Beginning, Beliefs, Behavior, Billionaire or Bankrupt

From Zero Dollars to Billions Dollars? How is it possible? This sound too good to be true. .
Well, it is entirely possible. I built up a database of all the self-made billionaires in the world, and I have found hundreds of people have gone from zero dollar to billions of dollars. So, it definitely can be done. The purpose of this book is to show how.
By all measures of human achievement, the self-made billionaires should be ranked equal to Nobel Prize Winners. This is because they have the power to benefit millions of people by (1) creating universities and hospitals (2) creating foundations (3) building museums (4) saving millions of baby lives by giving out free vaccines etc. For example, without Rockefeller, there would be no University of Chicago. The University of Chicago is directly or indirectly responsible for 89 Nobel Prize Winners.
My approach to this book is 50% know-how and 50% story telling. I find this balance makes the book both fast-paced and more entertaining. The following 12 men and 1 women self-made billionaires are chosen for their inspiring stories.
1. Albrecht, Karl: German Discount Supermarket
2. Ambani, Dhirubhai: India’s Petrochemical Prince
3. Carnegie, Andrew: Scottish Steel King
4. Chung Ju-Yung: South Korean Hyundai
5. Disney, Walt: Children Entertainment
6. Edison, Thomas: Perspiring Prolific Genius
7. Ford, Henry: Cars
8. Franklin, Ben: America’s First Self-made Billionaire
9. Livermore, Jessie: Triumph and Tragedy in Wall Street
10. Matsushita, Konosuke: Inventor to Consumer Electronics
11. Mera, Rosalia: Fast Fashion and World’s Richest Self-made Woman
12. Rockefeller, John: Oil Monopoly
13. Wang Yung Ching: Formosa Plastics
The following 13 Beliefs and Behaviors are what catapult any from Zero to Billions.
1. Self-education beats Formal Education
2. Extreme Hard Work Creates Genius
3. Create own Rules, not follow rules
4. Change the Status Quo
5. Rejection is a Good Word
6. Extreme Frugality is a Must
7. Think Decades Ahead
8. Do not Listen to Customer Needs
9. Extreme Failures precedes Extreme Successes
10. Dream Big, Dream Global
11. Invent the World
12. Never Give Up
13. The journey should be both fun and adventure
Not all the chosen billionaires are inventors. Not all of them practice extreme frugality. Not all of them practice “do not listen to customer needs”. But on the whole, all of them work extremely hard, think decades ahead, want to change the status quo, dream big and never give up. Above all, they all have loving family and children and their lives are full of fun and adventures.
The biggest surprise of the research is that the most successful of the self-made billionaire share one thing: a troubled and turbulent childhood. Ben Franklin, the US first self-made billionaire, had one year of formal schooling and did not get along with his father and his brother. To achieve his dream, he ran away at the age of 17. Similarly, Dhirubhai Ambani dropped out of school at age 17, and went on to build the biggest Indian company and India’s first Fortune 500 Company. Rosalia Mera dropped out of school at age 11 to work as a seamstress, co-founded Zara Fashion, and became the richest self-made women in the world. Maybe the hardship and the struggle of survival forge the necessary iron will and conviction to succeed later in their lives.
Finally, the reader should apply the simple formula called Einstein Theory of Extreme Entrepreneurs (EEE)
EEE = BBBB
The four Bs are (1) Beginning (2) Beliefs (3) Behaviors and finally (4) can either be Billions or Bankruptcy. For the billionaires, if they go bankrupt, they will just try again from the beginning. Their biggest secret is never give up.