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All billionaires have tremendous ambition, ridiculous smarts and a ton of luck. Here are some lesser-known billionaire traits.http://www.gewsacramento.org/
The ability to crunch numbers is typically a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.
September BirthdaysOf the 380 self-made American tycoons who have a
ppeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month. (Maybe that's because September is the month Forbes publishes the list of the 400 richest Americans.)
Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of CollegeForget everything your guidance counselor told you:
You don't have to go to college to be successful. Close to 15% of the self-made American moguls on the Forbes 400 never finished college. Many of the list's drop-outs made their fortunes in tech, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Dell (Dell), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook.)
Skull and Bones
Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith.
Goldman SachsA stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for achieving greatness on Wall Street. Of the 61 tycoons on our list who derive their fortunes from finance, at least six cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry.
Getting an M.B.A. From a Top-Tier Business School
A graduate degree from a top-tier school is no guarantee of success. But it can't hurt, especially if you get an M.B.A. from Harvard, as did 19 of the self-made entrepreneurs on the Forbes 400. Another 19 took home M.B.A.s from Stanford, Columbia or the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
Failure
Many billionaires developed their uncanny attention to detail after experiencing scarring failures early in their careers. Hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan saw his entire life savings wiped out in the stock market crash of 1987. Since then, he has shied away from using leverage, a defensive posture that has served him well. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop. Says Kirk: "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one."
Working at the Bass Family Investment Office
Originally founded as a vehicle for the brothers' oil inheritance, Bass Brothers Enterprises became a Mecca for gifted young investors in the 1980s. Private equity mavens David Bonderman and Jim Coulter met in the offices of the Bass family's private investment vehicle. Others members of the Forbes 400 who worked for the family include real estate guru Tom Barrack, investor Richard Rainwater, hedge fund manager Marc Lasry and private equity maven Nicolas Berggruen.
By: Duncan Greenberg
Sources: Forbes
