Customer Reviews

How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Contrary to its title, this painstakingly researched and entertaining book does not belong to the genre of financial self-help. Rather, it chronicals the business successes (and some failures) of a group of self-made billionaires. It is not celebrity biography, either, which tends to treat these individuals as pure anomolies, as if their wealth descended from heaven on lightening bolts. Rather, Fridson explores the histories the ultra-successful as actions of extraordinary businessmen operating in the ordinary economy. This brings their achievements to human scale and provides useable lessons for would-be billionaires, even if some of the advice seems toung-in-cheek ("dominate your market" - If I knew how to do that ....) Perhaps it is self-help, after all.

Imagine having the courage to write a book that is aimed at budding entrepreneurs who want to be billionaires. Millionaires, sure. But billionaires? How many of us would be willing to even discuss with our friends the thought of giving it a shot by taking a systematic approach to making billions? It is fascinating that someone would seriously spend that much time researching the strategies that were purportedly used by billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Ross Perot, etc. Even more amazing that they would write a book about it. That alone convinced me to buy the book. Okay, I also got it during the after-christmas sale at amazon.com for 70% off, but frugality is one of the key principles followed by the billionaires.

When you start reading the book, you realize that the author is very serious about teaching you how to be a billionaire if that is your goal. The book follows this format - the first chapter which is 28 pages long is definitely worth reading multiple times. It introduces the concept of 'Overcoming the Levelers' which in this day and age are the 'Menace of Competition' and the 'Obstacle of Social Conventions' and some ideas to overcome these. This chapter also talks about the obvious and not so obvious paths that have NOT been taken by billionaires, like 'playing the stock market' or 'salary'. The different key principles shared by the billionaires along with some of the strategies they followed are briefly described. Most importantly, this chapter provides some very deep insights into how these very successful people did it.

The rest of the book goes into the 9 different strategies that were employed by the billionaires in reaching their current position. This is a fascinating journey into the details of how they became so successful. There are also a couple of important chapters on choosing the right industry and some tidbits for the readers who are putting their own plans together. For those of us who spend a lot of time staying on top of the world financial news and trying to figure out how certain mergers end up in 'the whole is more than the sum of the parts' situation will find this book a treat. There are examples of these mergers where the author explains the theories behind high stock valuations. And it is all a very easy read. I have been unsuccessfully tyring to figure this out on and off for about 3 years and this book helped me understand this concept in just a few minutes.

As the authors rightly point out, a lot of people on the planet are very interested in making enormous sums of money - as witnessed by the popularity of state lotteries across the country and the world. Of course, most of us don't aspire to actually make this the central focus of our lives (lottery addicts excluded) for good reasons - lack of information on how to do it being the number 1 reason. There may be more certainty in taking the path to become a sports star, movie star or earn a doctorate than in making enormous sums of money. It just isn't clear how one can do it. That is obviously why there are so few billionaires in the world.

But this book is a fascinating read that can help you decide whether to really pursue this dream or set less lofty goals (like making enough money for a comfortable retirement) and stop trying to convince your spouse that you are going to become a billionaire some day, if only the economy would turn around or if only someone would give you a chance or if only ... This book has been helping me set clearer targets for myself by coming to terms with the fact that it is an almost impossible task to make that kind of money from nothing. Instead, it has helped me define a path and set a goal that is in tune with my own capabilities.

Get a copy of this book and read it cover to cover if spend more than 2 hours a week talking to friends about making a lot of money. I wish you the best of luck with this very important pursuit!

Nowadays being a millionaire is much like being well dressed at the prom: "you look good but you're not really special." Billionaires however have attained a level of wealth that truly sets them apart. "How to be a Billionaire" recognizes this and masterfully tells the story of today's most famous titans of wealth such as Bill Gates, Ross Perot and older money like H.L. Hunt and John D. Rockfeller. The Book is organized along priniciples such as "Copy don't Innovate" and utilizes the highly specific examples of wealthy industrialists like Gates to clearly explain these kernels of wisdom. Great Book. Read Think and Grow Rich if you want motivation and to feel empowered. But if you want to make "Billions" read this book.

Mr. Fridson has clearly dissected for us all the possible ways of achieving a net worth beyond a billion. The book is written in a clear, concise manner. It's almost like a tree diagram, if you will. Meaning the goals are like the nodes of the tree and the pathways to get to the goals are like the interconnections in a tree diagram.

He has backed up each section and node with examples of individuals who have travelled those paths such as H.L. Hunt, Ross Perot, Sam Walton, John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Paul Getty, and Warren Buffet just to name a few. This book is an extremely good starting point if you would like to reach the top ranks in net worth. As the author correctly points out, we are lucky to have such a book in existence today, since even a decade ago people were not lucky enough to have a powerful source of information at their disposal.

A word of caution for the individuals in the investment field: Mr. Fridson points out and proves that to amass billions just by mere investments is not possible. He proves that to achieve billions in the investment field, one must acquire a substantial stake in a company and control the management and the direction of the company as a whole. This is precisely what Warren Buffett has accomplished (in despite of the common myth that he is just an investor).

The book is concluded in what I would say the most beautiful chapter. This is where we realize that tenacity and perseverence are traits ascribed to the great fortune builders. More than loving the money, self-made billionaires love the pursuit of money. We learn here that ordinary efforts and conventional approaches do not produce extraordinary results. One needs to do things differently and persistently to outmanage the competition.

To sum up, this is the greatest book (if not the only one) to teach us the pathways to amass billions and leaves the choices to us as to which path we like to follow to get there.

Good Luck!

Steve.

I had a difficult time with this book. I found the writing to be exceptional and the documentation to be very good as well. The problem I have with the book is that I fail to see how anyone other than a few extraordinary business people can find any use for the information contained in this book. I found the ideas to be sound, but let's be realistic. How many people reading this book are really going become billionaires? You're not going to do it by simply investing in the stock market as the author points out. There's really no other way than to start a business, dominate your market and go from there.

I would classify this book more as a book of profiles of billionaires. It mentions Bill Gates, Sam Walton, John D. Rockefeller and other living and dead billionaires. I found many of the stories interesting, but the title of the book kept throwing me off. According to the title, this book is supposed to tell me how to be a billionaire. I suppose by following the information contained in this book, that might very well happen. Then again, I'll never get married and have kids as a result. Not much to look forward to if you ask me.

I don't recommend this book to the average lay person at all. I do recommend this book to entrepreneurs and business owners. I found some useful information in here, particularly in Chapter 5 about dominating your market. The problem I have is that the two examples offered in this chapter are Bill Gates and John D. Rockefeller. Whenever I think of these guys, I think of my computer crashing and high gas prices. If you're a serious entrepreneur, you will probably find some information in here you can use or at least some inspiration. It's not written for the lay person. It's pretty heavy stuff, but if you read through it, you might find something useful.

I'm giving this book only 2 stars because it really doesn't appeal to a large segment of the population. Unless you're a big fan of big business, you won't find it interesting at all. The author is obviously very intelligent and the book is impeccably researched. As a business owner all of my short life, I found some good stuff in here but not a lot. If you're looking to become a billionaire, by all means read this book, but for me, I would rather have a life.

How to be A Billionaire, by Martin S. Fridson

Martin starts out with several fundamental strategies:
* Take Monumental Risk
* Do Business in a New Way
* Dominate your Market
* Consolidate an Industry
* Buy Low
* Thrive on Deals (my favorite)
* Out-manage the Competition
* Invest in Political Influence
* Resist the Unions

And key principals:


 Pursue the Money in Ideas
 Rules are Breakable
 Copying Pays Better Than Innovating
 Keep on Growing
 Hold on to Your Equity
 Hard Work is Essential
 Use Financial Leverage
 Keep the Back Door Open
 Make Mistakes, Then Learn from Them
 Frugality Pays
 Enjoy the Pursuit
 Develop a Thick Skin

I can tell you first hand that these concepts and strategies are key to growing a business and creating wealth. While building a real estate holding company with $25,000,000 in assets in less than 5 years many of the concepts in this book were a big help.

Take this excerpt which illustrates the point of being tough, having thick skin and self confidence:

"In a classic confrontation over Icahn's hostile bid for Phillps Petroleum, Morgan Stanley investment banker Joe Fogg declared the proposal preposterous. "What the hell do you know about the oil business?" he demanded to know. "You don't understand, Joe," Ichan calmly replied, "I'm not here for an interview"

I wend out and bought, "King Icahan: The Biography of a Renegade Capitalist" by Mark Stevens as soon as I read those lines.

There are several other great quotes, stories and examples for the business minded to further explore and tuck away in there mental business toolbox.

By Kevin Kingston, Author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate

I found this a very enjoyable study of the characteristics and practices of great wealth builders. The ideas here are applicable to building great businesses, whether you aspire to the Wealthy 100 list or not. For the most part the biographies both amplify the principles put forth and give interesting insights into the essence of the personalities behind these successes.

Use this book to refine your focus on the personality skills you need to further develop to attain the level of financial success you desire.

I bought this, not foolishing thinking it would actually tell me how to become a billionaire, but thinking it would offer some meaty insights, given the lofty financial position the aauthor holds (Merrill Lynch Managing Director), and because of his previous exceptional book on financial analysis. But it was pretty disappointing. Based around 9 trite truisms such as buy low and outmanage the competition, it never tells you how to achieve this. And the chapters describing each billionaire who is supposed to exemplify each truism are thin, filled with social commentary (who cares if Richard Branson throws people into swimming pools?) and few insights. But the books most glaring void - and the method most accessible to anyone really wishing to be (or is that become?) a billionaire - is its failure to focus on a new and certainly proven method of achieving the titles promise...develop a great internet business idea and take it public. In that the authors place of business has itself helped create a number of these makes this omission even more glaring.

This book is an extremely good starting point if you would like to reach the top ranks in net worth. It is not a simple collection of celebrity biographies of Wealthy 100. This is a complete spectrum of business strategies of billionaires -- H.L. Hunt, Ross Perot, Sam Walton, John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Paul Getty, and Warren Buffet just to name a few. Mr. Fridson explores the histories the ultra-successful as actions of extraordinary businessmen operating in the ordinary economy.

Mr. Fridson is a Merrill Lynch Managing Director. An important caution for the individuals in the investment field: author points out and proves that to accumulate billions just by investments is not possible. He proves that to achieve billions in the investment field, one must acquire a substantial stake in a company and control the management and the direction of the company as a whole. This is precisely what Warren Buffet has accomplished, in despite of the common myth that he is just an investor.

If you have intention to try to get billions for the first step read this book. This is a must.

This book is the ultimate guide to moneymaking! If you wanna be a huge player, this book is for you! The author, mister Fridson was doing a wonderful job by exposing the strategies employed by the best teachers you can have, the billionaires themselves. Their way of life, their way of thinking, the way they make deal. The hard way!

How to be a billionaire is the perfect tool if you want to emulates the titans of wealth. As you can see in my others reviews. I'm a self-taugh business student and a fan of those "How to be rich" book. And I've never seen a book as valuable as this book. And I never heard of something as useful and inspirational for any accumulator of wealth.

Some passages of this book are long and boring, but nothing is pointless. Every single line of this book are of worthy academic value in your quest of being superrich.

Before receiving this book, being billionaire was somewhat out of reach. But now, I'm fully loaded and inspirated by the strategies from the titans of wealth. I love to go to the extreme and I know everything is possible if you really want it.

So how bad do you want it?

The higher you aim, the bigger your gains!