Paths to reach 100 million before 35
What are the paths to making this much money at such a young age? Having money well into your 50s or 60s is great, but at that point, you have 10-15 more years in the tank and are more focused on your family. Having an exorbitant amount of money while young would be 1000x better. I understand this post seems unrealistic, I don't care.
Heres what I can think of: Pro Athlete, Actor, Music Artist, Entrepreneur of a startup that IPOs, HF / investing prodigy, inheritance, marrying into wealth
If you subtract naturally gifted people (pro athletes / music artists) and lucky people (actors, IPO'd entrepreneurs, inheritance) you'll notice that most of those making that much money so young acquired it through fraud, insider trading, or both. Works especially well in underdeveloped countries.
Interesting that you filed entrepreneurs and even actors under "lucky" people...
I consider that an actor's career is greatly influenced by his social network, i.e., his family as well as the persons he meets. Of course being an actor requires at least a bit of talent, but if the said actor never meets a producer willing to have him in his movie, he'll never become famous (and rich). Network is everything, especially in Hollywood, and being born in the right circle is a decisive advantage because competition is extremely intense (compared to the general population of actors, only a few of them are millionaire in the end).
The same way, an individual can be an excellent entrepreneur but simply lack the idea or opportunity that would allow him to express his talent. Take Ray Kroc, who was basically a nobody salesman until he met the McDonald brothers at the age of 52, developed their idea and became a billionaire.
Those categories are just a simplification of course. Niccolò Machiavelli provides a more accurate description when he explains that one's destiny is the sum of virtù and fortuna, roughly of talent and luck. Some people can have great skills, but be confronted to shitty external circumstances, the same way that some people can have absolutely no talent at all but encounter great luck, by being born in a family that is already rich for instance.
actors are lucky (unless born into wealth, in which case that's still a form of luck) some entrepreneurs like mark cuban get lucky, and if they're not lucky then they're crooks (mark zuckerberg, ray kroc, george soros, and many many more)
Statistically speaking, it really boils down to creating your own business and having a massive exit. That’s at least how a majority of the ultra wealthy legally got their money (I won’t divulge into being born into a royal family or being Putin).
Finance, tech, and real estate have been the main drivers of wealth in recent history.
1 - Get lucky in the film industry, become a star from doing one film 2 - Be a good singer/dj. I don't understand how some djs/singers are so popular but once you get popular, sky's the limit 3 - Become a boxer. Heavyweights have it the easiest in this regard as competition is less fierce (it has picked up a little lately). Drop weight as much as possible to fight at the lowest weight class. Be entertaining. Profit$$
I agree with your second point. You don’t have to be super gifted or talented anymore. You need to have a decent voice (sound engineering will do the rest) and a good producer/beat.
I would argue that being a talented songwriter is far more important. Putting together a well-constructed song (good lyrics, strong melody, catchy chorus) can take you super far. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to understand marketing a bit.
agreed. marketing is everything in music now unfortunately. Prime example: Taylor Swift. Above-average songwriter, below-average singer (as far as professionals go), incredible marketer. That’s why she’s one of the most successful artists out there. She knows how to play the spotlight to her advantage
Ownership, ownership, ownership (equity, equity, equity) is the only way to make what you’re saying
yep. would highly recommend listening to acquired's recent podcast episode on oprah. oprah made insane money as talent, but w/ help of her lawyer/ agent realized that being the owner of her IP was what would make take her to the next level.
You are a freaking immature fool who has yet to realize that money does not bring happiness. When you are sitting on your 1st million and have no one to share it wit hor talk to, then you will realzie that the pauper has a better life than you
While I kinda agree with you (I think your second point is way hyperbolic), this really isn't the place to rail against having money, the OP isn't asking if he should aim for $100m or even why one would want it, just asking about the mechanics of how. He even admits in the post that it's unrealistic, it's just a thought experiment.
It's tough. There's quite a few startup guys who have 100 mill + in equity, but the money is illiquid unless they sell out.
One of the appeals of a high paying job is liquidity. Someone making 500k+ at a HF/PE has better lifestyle than a startup founder with a 100k salary but 10 million in illiquid equity.
I’m not sure if that is actually correct post IPO. Granted, most of the money can’t be sold off. But you can still sell off quite a bit.
Pre-IPO yeah, it’s all paper money
I mean that was his point. Post-IPO isn’t illiquid...
If it's post-IPO or a mature stable private company, you don't even need to sell. You can just borrow against your assets to fund your lifestyle indefinitely.
Easy BB IB internship -> becoming Lloyd Blankfein
Everything starts with IB ;)
I seriously think there’s an untapped market of being an IB guy and social media savvy. Think big youtuber/tiktok guy/ IG influencer. you probably wouldn’t hit a 100 million this way but there are definitely some YouTubers who are millionaires.
It’s not as out there as assuming you’ll find the next Facebook lmao
bruh do you think some analyst is turning up to pop smoke at 3 am doing the renegade on tik tok while getting hit with the plz fix tks
Q Park, former iBanker turned youtuber
Every reference to IB that I've seen always happens to be some cringy black or asian female giving shitty and generic advice on tiktok.
legal or illegally?
You could rename the post to "Paths to reach 100M at 55" and I'm not sure the answers would be that different. Now 25M would be a different matter.
alright so how about 25 mil what's your game plan?
$25 mil is doable. I have come to like companies with 'widgets' and unlimited upside. Find a good widget and you'll find your $25 mil.
I think all your own answers basically imply "be the top 0.01% of what you do," since the average pro athlete, actor, music artist, entrepreneur, investor etc. isn't going to have 25M in the bank by 35. I'm pretty sure the top 0.01% of finance professionals could also have that amount in the bank by that age, but that'd probably be because they're entrepreneurs/owners to some extent (started own shop, carry, trading profits, etc.).
In any case it's generic advice and not sure that it helps--celebrity and entrepreneurship just about covers it all (and as I see it the former is just a particular form of entrepreneurship).
When I was in my 20s, I had this same mentality. I looked at my managers in their 30s and 40s and thought - fuck no I don't want to make only 400K, 600K, 800K, 1.2M - I want 500 million. I want 1 billion. T Boone Pickens said the first $1 Billion is the hardest - so let me just get there.
So I left the corporate world and went out on my own. Did I make hundreds of millions of dollars? Fuck no. Not even close - I barely made anything. But, I sure did try. I had 80%, 100% equity. I had my own business and could reap all of the rewards. I learned valuable lessons, unteachable in business or academia and lessons that you just have to see and live through to learn.
Do I wish I stayed in the corporate world to make my easy $600-800K? Not really. I learned a lot during this time and for the most part stepped away to spend time with family.
Is $1 billion still out of reach? I don't think so. Anything is possible. But, I'm not 35 anymore. I understand the risks that it takes and the rewards that are given.
I have a friend who was paid nicely by an HF (7 figures), but he hated his boss and wanted to make 8, 9, 10 figures trading his own capital, so that’s what he did. He quit and went out on his own. The head of the hedge fund was making 10 figures - why couldn’t he?
I never heard much from him after that; maybe he is doing better, maybe not. But, the feeling of potentially having unlimited upside is one like no other in this world.
Only fans is the way to go bro. Also read zero to One from Peter Thiel, insightful
Easy, just go to Zimbabwe.
OP left out the denomination. You won.
How can I get to 4 or 5 million before 40?
Surprised no one has mentioned winning an incredibly unreasonable lawsuit for something that had a minimal impact on you.
Depends, do you consider divorce a lawsuit ?
![https://media1.tenor.com/images/c8ddb463c0dab1a3e6729f5b5845fe82/tenor…]
lollol
Keep joining finanical or govt institutions and whistleblowing everything. You'll hit a few jackpots at times.
I genuinely feel bad for you
Make 100 MM one time, make 10 MM 10 times, make 1 MM 100 times, make 100,000 1000 times, make 10,000 10,000 times, make 1,000 100,000 times, make 100 1,000,000 times, make 10 10,000,000 times, make 1 100 MM times
Why don't you go for a more reasonable goal, like $40ml by 60? Won't be easy but certainly very possible
Step 1. Marry Mckenzie Bezos
Step 2. Divorce
Step 3. ???
Step 4. Profit.
Marry the MD's daughter. Make sure she's is the only child.
Life is like slumdog millionaire. If you are in the right place at the right time with the right information, you can potentially make millions. If you're leveraged the fuck up - billions.
This life could be an unsuccessful walk for you in many ways - but always be cognizant of what you know about the markets. You don't need to know everything about the markets - only really what you can trade successfully on. So be aware that in this life you could be sitting there and have your life changing moment. You could see how to move and more importantly WHEN to move, which is the most important part of the equation. You better have people you know that you can call to leverage the fuck up instantly.
Take that moment, hold on to as much equity as you can in the deal, leverage your brains out and go for it - and you might just have your $100 million.
So read books, read the papers, read whatever you think will propel you in having a successful investor mindset. And be aware that one day you will put your balls of steel on the table and leverage everyone you know with the confidence of a tiger in its prime just waiting for the kill. Seize that moment and when its all said and done, buy a 3 comma club hat or T-Shirt to remember the occasion (if you earn the 3 commas obviously).
So always be learning. People are quite good at that on here. And be waiting - for your moment. You could see the tides change in the market and have something just click in your mind one day. Be ready. Always be ready.
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