Asides the movie-trope scenario of being a secret illegitimate child to an UHNI who only gets discovered when his Will is read after death, what are the other one-in-a-million ways (including all of the outlandish & more realistic rare meand) of gaining extreme wealth without being born into an affluent family (asides hitting a lucky break in Alternative Investing)?
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Based on the highest ranked content on WSO, here are some of the more realistic and outlandish ways to achieve extreme wealth without being born into an affluent family:
Entrepreneurship: Starting your own business remains one of the most viable paths to extreme wealth. This includes tech startups, which have the potential for high scalability and massive returns. Think of stories like Jeff Bezos starting Amazon or Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook.
Innovation and Inventions: Coming up with a unique product or service that revolutionizes an industry can lead to substantial wealth. Examples include inventors like James Dyson or entrepreneurs like Elon Musk who have significantly impacted multiple industries.
Venture Capital: While this requires access to considerable capital, becoming a successful venture capitalist involves investing in high-potential startups and helping them grow, which can yield significant returns if one of these companies becomes highly successful.
Real Estate Development: Engaging in large-scale real estate development projects can generate significant wealth, especially in high-demand areas. This could involve commercial, residential, or industrial real estate.
High-Stakes Trading: Engaging in financial markets with strategies like quantitative trading, or high-frequency trading can lead to substantial wealth, albeit with high risk.
Intellectual Property: Creating or owning intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks, or copyrights, that can be licensed or sold can generate significant ongoing revenue.
Entertainment and Sports: While incredibly competitive and reliant on exceptional talent, becoming a superstar in sports or entertainment can lead to substantial wealth through salaries, endorsements, and media deals.
Writing and Publishing: Writing a best-selling book series or creating a popular media franchise (like J.K. Rowling with Harry Potter) can also lead to significant wealth.
Political and Social Influence: Accumulating influence in political, social, or cultural spheres can sometimes be parlayed into opportunities for wealth, though this is often controversial and ethically dubious.
Lotteries and Gambling: While certainly not advisable as a plan, there are indeed rare cases where individuals have gained vast wealth through lotteries or gambling.
These methods range from highly realistic and industrious endeavors like entrepreneurship and innovation to less likely and more speculative ventures like high-stakes gambling or hitting it big in the entertainment industry. Each path requires a unique set of skills, risk tolerance, and sometimes a bit of luck.
Sources: Moving from extreme poverty to wealth via IB, At MBB soon. Steps to take to generate long-term wealth and passive income, Can you really be rich by working as an investment banker?, How Do Bankers Become Billionaires?
They made a whole show about this in the 60s called the Beverly Hillbillies. Go watch and report back
Make a product that appeals to a billion people and sell it like hot cakes.
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