Over a century ago, if you wanted to spot a billionaire , you had to locate a Rockefeller. However, in recent years, finding someone with 10-figure wealth isn’t as elusive as it used to be. In fact, here are some statistics worth billions:
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This might seem self-explanatory, but rich people are good at making money . There’s a common perception that the world’s elite just have magical money vacuums, but the companies they run tend to get impressive results.
Though it can certainly feel at times like billionaires achieve their status at the expense of low-income and middle-class families with their actions and political proposals, they’re from all backgrounds and walks of life, so you would think there is more common ground with the average person. However, to analyze this on a more molecular level, it’s interesting to examine the world’s richest people and what peculiar quirks they share. These traits, from personal habits to astrological signs, bind the world’s elite .
They Have Large Families
Most billionaires don’t tend to worry about their heirs splitting generational wealth , as there is usually more than enough to go around no matter how many children they have. The results of today’s list tell the same tale.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has four children, and Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of the luxury goods empire LVMH, has five. Even the controversial billionaire and current richest person in the world, Elon Musk, has 12 children with three different women, and has even made announcements that he’s hoping to produce more heirs.
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Their Sign Is Aquarius
Aquarius is the most popular astrological sign among billionaires, as a good percentage were born between Jan. 20 and Feb. 18. Billionaire Aquarians include Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, who was born Jan. 28, 1940, and Michael Bloomberg, who was born Feb. 14, 1942.
They’re Less Likely To Wear Glasses
In the United States, about 63.7% of adults wear prescription eyeglasses, and 66% of adults use some form of vision correction. Of the top 20 richest people in the world, only a few typically wear glasses, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
They’re Highly Educated (Even Though Some Are Drop-Outs)
The success stories of college dropouts like Apple founder Steve Jobs and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have been told and told again — but stay in school, kids. One of the richest men in the world, Michael Bloomberg, has a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Alphabet CEO Larry Page also has two degrees — a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s of science from Stanford.
Tech entrepreneurs might be more likely than billionaires in other sectors to lack a college degree. In addition to Jobs and Zuckerberg, other successful tech entrepreneurs who never got a degree include Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Dell’s Michael Dell, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Gateway’s Theodore Waitt.
They Are Less Likely To Be Bald
About 25% of the U.S. male population is affected by male pattern baldness, according to Healthline. Among male billionaires, only one of the world’s 10 richest people is bald, so just 10%. That would famously be Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who sports a completely shaved head.
To be fair, it’s hard to know who among the rich elected to go and get a hair transplant, which is something less well-off people may not have access to.
They’ve Had Major Failures
Some billionaires have credited failing early on in their careers with motivating them to be ultra-successful later on. For example, pharmaceutical mogul R.J. Kirk failed miserably with his first business venture, but he told Forbes that “failure early on is a necessary condition for success.”
Hedge fund manager Phil Falcone botched a company buyout in the early 1990s, but the experience taught him “several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success,” he said during a congressional hearing.
They Were Members of Skull and Bones
Former and current billionaires, including investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Steven Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith, were all members of Yale’s “secret” society Skull and Bones.
They Like To Give Back
Since her divorce from Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott has already established herself as one of the world’s top philanthropists, donating billions to causes like racial, gender and economic equality. Here are a few billionaires who give back:
They Drive Inexpensive Cars
Not all billionaires are cruising around in one-off supercars. Jeff Bezos drove a Honda Accord for years after he became a billionaire. Michael Bloomberg has been seen driving a sub-$40,000 Chevy Suburban, Google’s Sergey Brin drives a Toyota Prius and Mark Zuckerberg drives an Acura TSX or a Honda Fit to name a few of his affordable options.
They Had Normal First Jobs
Among self-made billionaires, the path to success is often long and winding — and many start at the bottom of the totem pole before making their way to the top. Some of the most successful people had normal first jobs, including Warren Buffett, who worked as a newspaper delivery boy, and Jeff Bezos, who worked as a grill operator at McDonald’s.
Golf Is Among Their Favorite Sports
The favorite sports of billionaires — both to play and to observe — are golf, football/soccer, skiing, tennis and basketball, Wealth-X found. Golf is the most popular sport among those whose net worth ranges from $1 billion to $5 billion, and football/soccer is the most popular sport among those whose net worth is over $5 billion.
They’re Usually Self-Made
The Wealth-X study found that only a little more than 13% of the world’s billionaires inherited their wealth, and some of the most successful people in the world come from humble beginnings. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison was born to a single teen mother and Oprah Winfrey grew up in poverty and overcame childhood abuse to become the media mogul she is now.
They’re Often American
Despite stiff competition in a global economy, America is still the world’s greatest one-percenter assembly line. The United States is home to 813 members of the three-comma club which is more billionaires than any other country on Earth.
While it’s true that the U.S. is still No. 1 when it comes to billionaire ZIP codes, China is coming up fast in the rearview mirror with 478. To round out the top three countries, India brings in the bronze with 200 billionaires.
They Like Finance and Tech
Banking and finance are the primary industries for a good chunk of the world’s billionaires. Some of the prominent billionaires who amassed their wealth in this industry include Warren Buffett, who is one of the most successful investors of all time; Joseph Safra, whose family made its wealth through banking in Syria; and Carl Icahn, the founder of Icahn Capital Management.
Banking and finance may have made the highest percentage of billionaires in general, but the game changes when you look at the truly elite billionaires at the tippy-top of the list. Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison are all in tech and all in the top five list of the Forbes Real-Time Billionaire List.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 14 Fascinating Things Big Billionaires Have in Common