Bill stone children
An entrepreneur who spent 5 years interviewing 21 self-made billionaires asked every single one how they made their first million dollars — here's what they said
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Many of the world's richest billionaires built their wealth from scratch.
Rafael Badziag, an entrepreneur and expert in the psychology of entrepreneurship, spent five years conducting face-to-face interviews with 21 self-made billionaire entrepreneurs around the world (defined as those with a net worth of at least $1 billion) and researching their lives and companies.
In his book "The Billion Dollar Secret: 20 Principles of Billionaire Wealth and Success," he shared how each of those billionaires made their first $1 million.
Some earned it through the businesses they founded, while others earned it through investments or by working for someone else's company.
For the purposes of this slideshow, unless otherwise specified, we assumed that any of Badziag's subjects whose net worth we were not able to verify with Forbes' net worth listings is worth at least $1 billion.
All information on the billionaires comes from Badziag's book.
Mohed Altrad made his first million in the scaffolding business.
Net worth: $ billion
Altrad is the founder and chairman of Altrad Group, which offers services and equipment for the construction industry in more than companies and is a world leader in scaffolding.
Altrad owns the Montpellier Hérault Rugby Club and has written three novels.