Money
How Long it Took Billionaires to Earn Their First $1 Million
How Long it Took Billionaires to Earn Their First $1 Million
Everyone has to start somewhere.
While the modern fortunes of people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates seem stratospheric in size, even the world’s richest self-made billionaires had to crawl before they could walk.
After all, the journey to becoming ultra-wealthy hinges on earning that very first $1 million – the initial pillar of wealth that helps provide the security and confidence to go all-in on later ventures and investments.
The Typical Journey
Today’s infographic comes to us from Slotsia, and it compares the timelines of the wealthiest self-made billionaires showing how long it took them to each earn their first $1 million.
As it turns out, joining the Two Comma Club is rarely an overnight endeavor.
On average, it took about eight years to get to the $1 million mark, with the most common age for hitting the milestone at age 36, and business ventures being the top source of this wealth.
Milestone Time, by Years
Of the top 100 billionaires on he planet, 65 of them are self-made – and here’s how long it took each of them to earn their first $1 million:
Time to hit $1 Million | Self-made billionaires | % of total |
---|---|---|
0-5 years | 25 | 38% |
6-10 years | 20 | 31% |
11-16 years | 16 | 25% |
17-25 years | 4 | 6% |
Impressively, about 25 self-made billionaires, including people like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma, and Wang Jianlin, were able to make this initial fortune in under five years.
Meanwhile, other founders like Phil Knight of Nike, took 16 years to hit the mark.
Milestone Time, by Industry
While the set of data is limited, here’s how long it took to hit the first million based on industry:
Time to hit $1 Million | Industry |
---|---|
3.0 years | Telecom |
4.8 years | Tech |
5.2 years | Metals & Mining |
5.8 years | Real Estate |
6.0 years | Diversified |
7.5 years | Automotive |
8.4 years | Energy |
9.5 years | Media & Entertainment |
9.5 years | Gambling & Casinos |
10.0 years | Finance & Investments |
10.0 years | Service |
11.25 years | Food & Beverage |
14.3 years | Fashion & Retail |
15.0 years | Construction & Engineering |
16.3 years | Manufacturing |
Billionaires in the telecom and tech sectors were the fastest to $1 million, while those in fashion, construction, and manufacturing businesses took much longer to get to the promised land.
Of course, reaching the first financial milestone is only one step in a much longer journey.
For further reading, see how long it took for the world’s wealthiest to make the jump from millionaire to billionaire.
Money
Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation
This graphic illustrates the amount of U.S. currency in circulation globally, by denomination, based on data from the Federal Reserve.
Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Have you ever wondered how much U.S. currency is in circulation?
Every year, the U.S. Federal Reserve submits a print order for U.S. currency to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The BEP will then print billions of notes in various denominations, from $1 bills to $100 bills.
In this graphic, we’ve used the latest Federal Reserve data to visualize the approximate number of bills for each denomination globally, as of Dec. 31, 2022.
Breakdown of U.S. Currency in Circulation
The following table lists all of the data we used to create the visualization above. Note that value figures were rounded for simplicity.
Type of Bill | Number of notes in circulation (billions) | Value ($B) |
---|---|---|
$1 | 14.3 | $14B |
$2 | 1.5 | $3B |
$5 | 3.5 | $18B |
$10 | 2.3 | $23B |
$20 | 11.5 | $230B |
$50 | 2.5 | $125B |
$100 | 18.5 | $1,850B |
$500-10,000* | 0.0004 | n/a |
*$500-10,000 bills are listed as a range, and a total circulation of 0.0004 billion. Not included in graphic.
From these numbers, we can see that $100 bills are the most common bill in circulation, even ahead of $1 bills.
One reason for this is $100 bills have a longer lifespan than smaller denominations, due to people using $100 bills less often for transactions. Some businesses may also decline $100 bills as payment.
Based on 2018 estimates from the Federal Reserve, a $100 bill has a lifespan of over 20 years, which is significantly higher than $1 bills (7 years) and $5 bills (5 years).
If you’re interested in more visualizations on the U.S. dollar, consider this animated chart which shows how the dollar overtook the British pound as the world’s most prominent reserve currency.
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