Curious how to become a billionaire? This is the question that made me think…
Earlier this year, I was browsing social media and came across an interesting post. Someone asked a specific question, which seemed especially relevant since I was in Las Vegas at the time. “What do you have to do to become a billionaire?”
With all my personal knowledge of finance and business, I started thinking about my most important piece of advice. I came up with two answers very quickly. Here are my thoughts on how to become a billionaire.
Ways to become a billionaire
I was a little late to the party but I was on my way to watch Succession when I was asked a question about how to become a billionaire. Given the subject of the show, the question seemed even more interesting, as I had a fictional billionaire family, loosely based on the Murdoch family, in mind.
I’ve been lucky enough to meet a billionaire several times in my life, and my business school education was primarily focused on making as much money as possible in finance. So, with all this knowledge and experience, what is my answer to the social media question?
I think you have two options:
- Marrying a billionaire
- Start a multi-billion dollar company
As much as we’d like to believe that hard work and a budget can lead to a massive reward for our finances (it’s possible, by the way), these steps are unlikely to make you a wealthy billionaire. Working your way up the career ladder in a lucrative career while carefully managing your money is a realistic path to becoming a millionaire, even several times over. But to get a thousand million, you’ll probably need to do one of two things.
Note: There is a third way – inheritance. However, 90% of family wealth disappears by the third generation. If you have billionaire parents or grandparents, you’re probably a millionaire (or millionaire). But it will be difficult to maintain billionaire status after dividing property with siblings, paying taxes, and more.
Marrying a billionaire
Marrying a billionaire is not impossible if you belong to the right social circles. If you go to the right university, like Harvard, Oxford, or KAUST, you might befriend a billionaire and find yourself in a whirlwind romance. After all, it worked out for Kate Middleton — even though her family was already in the tens of millions club when she met her Prince Charming at university.
Outside of college, making huge donations to nonprofit organizations through annual charity galas or going to other exclusive events can put you in the billionaires’ orbit. The annual Davos conference is filled with people with net worth in the 10 figures. Or maybe you can meet the son or daughter of a billionaire family at a Masters tournament featuring top golfers.
Remember, you’re setting your sights on a billionaire, so some actors or musicians like Jerry Seinfeld (net worth about $950 million) or Tom Cruise (net worth about $600 million) won’t do it. Even Taylor Swift barely made that cut with a net worth of about $1.5 billion.
At the end of 2025, Forbes There are 3,188 billionaires listed worldwide, up from 2,762 billionaires in 2024. If you can secure a date with one of them or their heirs, you could be on track for the private jet and yacht lifestyle before you know it!
Related to:
How to become a millionaire at any age
Start a multi-billion dollar company
Among those who have achieved billionaire status without inheriting a million dollars, hard work and a little luck are the most common path to the billionaire title. But when you work for someone else, they get most of the profits. If you want to join the world’s richest elite, you’ll need to Start your own business Pushing it to a multi-billion dollar valuation.
In the last generation or so, some of the most successful billionaires have come from Silicon Valley startups. The founders of companies like Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, Google, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat, Pinterest, Dropbox, and other tech companies earned their B-card by creating multibillion-dollar companies and maintaining a stake of at least $1 billion.
Most multi-billion dollar companies raised money from investors during fundraising rounds before going public on the stock market. Every time an angel investor, venture capitalist, or venture fund puts money into companies, they get a share of ownership. So, just starting a billion-dollar company is probably not enough to make yourself a billionaire. Your best bet is to create a company worth tens of billions, and hope that your share will make you a billionaire.
Related to: How to become a millionaire at 25 years old
Is billionaire status exaggerated?
Billionaires make up some of the most admired and hated people in the world. But maybe it’s easier to get rid of the haters when you take your helicopter to land on your private yacht for a little R&R.
But in reality, you don’t have to join the top 0.00000037037037% of the world’s population for financial stability and happiness. Most of us start out as millionaires, and are fortunate enough to grow into millions.
If you manage your career and money well, or marry someone who has great wealth, you may find yourself with enough wealth to live a comfortable life.
