3 Lessons I Learned From My Billionaire Friend

"I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad..." Bruno Mars famously once sang.

Sooo, what're the odds Bruno reaches his goal, dahling? ??

Well, given that right now there's?8,085,215,872 people in the world yet fewer than 3,000 billionaires, this brings?the odds of becoming a billionaire to about?0.0000345%.?

Hey, but have no fear...

...After all, just as money is power, knowledge is power, too.?

This means:?

If Knowledge is Power → Money is Power → Knowledge = Money

In short, of the world's 2700 billionaires, I know two and count one as a good friend.

And so, with that being said, here are 3 lessons I've learned from my billionaire pal, who I'll call "J."?

1.?If you wish to get rich — immediately start viewing “saving” as earning

I recall once while dining at Le Bernardin, I asked J to name a few of his must-read books.?

I expected to hear references to, say, Think & Grow Rich or maybe even Warren Buffett's fave?(The Intelligent Investor), but so much for assumptions.?

"I never go a day without reading a page of?Poor Richard's?Almanack," he said while casually sipping from a glass of?Chateau d Yquem.

I scratched my head. After all, hearing a billionaire say his favorite book has "poor" in the title sounded like hearing a priest mention his favorite hookah lounge.

Quite naturally, I stayed quiet. After all, I learned long ago why you're better off keeping your mouth shut and letting people wonder if you're dumb than to open it and remove all doubt.

Thankfully J helped me fill in the blanks.?

"Goddess, Benjamin Franklin — that smart guy whose face is painted on our $100 bill — used to yearly publish this almanac," he said.

I cleared my throat.?

"You see..." he continued, "within these almanacs, Franklin essentially taught Average Joe how to become 'Rich Joe,' if Joe cared to pay attention."?He winked.

I nodded.?

"So when Franklin cautioned that 'a penny saved is a penny earned,' he was essentially saying this:?by saving a penny, you earn a penny."?

Again:

?? "Saving" money is a nickname for "paying" yourself.

I had my aha! moment.?

J went on to explain that the typical American is a consumer, not a seller. Hence most people live paycheck to paycheck.?

"Goddess, ever wondered why uninformed parents raise uninformed children to crave the latest gadgets, such as iPhones?" he shook his head. "Yet that same $800 bucks used for buying an iPhone could've been used as capital with which to buy several shares of Apple's stock."

He flashed a smile.

I clapped.

Such insight leads to J's second lesson.

2. Capital is a rich servant but a poor master

"Most people work for money, but to become truly affluent — your money's got to work for you!" J patted himself on the back for this one.?

Perhaps what I love most about being in J's company is his wealth consciousness influences mine.

Take for instance something as seemingly commonplace as the word "money."

To J, the word "money" is a dirty word. Seriously lol. "It's vulgar to call 'capital' that," he says.

"Capital allocation" is J's favorite expression.

Whether he's speaking to me, to his colleague, to his daughter, to his PA, or to his?chauffeur, J always hammers home Warren Buffett's classic insight:?

?? “If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

"Every dollar you earn is a seed," J teaches. "Now, it's up to you to plant that seed in stocks, in real estate, in startups. Yet no matter the ground, you must invest somewhere. Here lies the secret to wealth, dear Goddess."

Such insight leads to J's third and final insight.

3. Money chases value

"So tell me, Goddess, name the individual endowed with the highest capacity for capital allocation in the world?" J asked me.?

It took a second for me to translate his question into who's the richest person. "Elon Musk," I answered.?

"And why is Musk endowed with so much capital?"?

I cleared my throat and winked my eyebrows at him.

He laughed. "Well, I'll tell you why... Musk bet on his original idea. Yep! With his majority owner's stake?in Tesla eclipsing 411 million shares, those darn electric cars turned out to be a great investment."

"Amazing!" I blurted.?

"You see this same theme with Zuck and his original idea?+ majority owner's stake in Facebook... Gates's original idea?+ majority owner's stake in Microsoft... Bezos's original idea?+ majority owner's stake in Amazon—"

I cut him off. "In other words, dahling, you're saying:

??Money chases value...

J smiled and lifted his glass for a toast.?

Cheers... ??

The End.