HEARTH & HOME
Want to Be a Millionaire?
By Donald Broughton
O
f all the most basic questions I am asked about
creating wealth, the most basic is, “How do I become
a millionaire?”
The answer is very simple and straightforward,
but most people are unwilling to do what it takes.
What does it take? It’s simple. Put way more than a million of value
out into the universe, and a million will come back to you. If you want
to be worth $10 million, put $15 million of value into the universe.
Want to be worth $100 million? Put $150 million of value into the
universe, and see what happens.
Before you say that’s a trite answer and stop reading, stop and think
about it. Of all those you know who have wealth of any kind that they
created, think about how they created that wealth (set inherited
wealth aside).
Use any of the modern age, self-made billionaires as examples:
Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Phil Knight, Reed Hastings,
Michael Bloomberg, Fred Smith or Marc Andreessen. What did they
do? They created something that had value and put it out into the
universe. Sure, it took years of effort, talent and some luck, but in each
instance the value they have created far exceeds what they received in
personal wealth.
Pick one of them – Spielberg, for example. When he directs and
produces a movie, do all of the ticket proceeds go to him? Of course
not. In creating movie after movie that entertain us, he has grossed
almost $10 billion in box office receipts, and that’s not including all of
the other revenue generated from items such as royalties. Yet his net
worth is only $3 billion. He put more than $10 billion in wealth out
into the world, and $3 billion of it came back into his bank account.
This example can be extended to writing the software used to create
open access to the internet (sorry, Al Gore, it was Marc Andreessen,
not you) or modern running shoes (thanks, Phil Knight) or the
ability to easily access almost every piece of information necessary
to be a better investor (thanks, Michael Bloomberg) or be able to ship
anything from anywhere to anywhere overnight (thanks, Fred Smith)
… you get the idea.
Wealth - of all types - doesn’t just happen. It requires our time, our
talent, our toil and our participation. I realize that everyone you love,
everyone you help, everyone you build something for, everyone you
create something for, will not pay you back fully. In fact, almost no
one does. That is why I said put way more than a million of value out
into the universe.
Along the way, we are allowed to decide that there are those for
which we shouldn’t provide any more value. They only take and
don’t repay. It’s OK to decide you don’t want to be taken advantage
of anymore. It is also OK to believe in people and investments, and
continue to add value into people and investments that haven’t paid
you back a single dime. This is especially true if you can see the vision,
the potential, and are willing to stick with it until they or it becomes
successful. If you want to be a millionaire, put over a million in value
out into the world, and wealth will beat a path to your door.
As founder and managing partner of Broughton Capital, Broughton is a frequent guest on
CNBC, “Nightly Business Report”and Fox. He is regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal,
where he is also recognized as a top stock picker, as he is by Fortune, Zacks and StarMine.
SAVVY I SOPHISTICATED I SASSY
47