Richest man

Chapter 1 Introduction: The Origin of Species of "The Richest Man" Wu Xiaobo (1)
This is a group of legendary people.They are low-key, calm and round, like gold coins with different shapes but similar functions.They are all incredibly rich, and in the eyes of most people, those wealth can only be consumed in the way of imagination.

They are the richest person in a country, and there is only one person in the whole country.In this society where business dominates everything, this is not just a concept of monetary figures, but more symbolic and allegorical.Therefore, the interpretation of this ethnic group goes beyond the scope of business strategy, and has the meaning of examining life.In the past period of time, my assistant and I conducted a "story sorting" of the richest people in 2005 countries and regions based on the latest [-] global rich list released by "Forbes", and some impressions we got And the conclusion may be a little bit of a surprise to many people when they read it.They do everything they can to keep themselves unknown
American writer Ehrenburg commented on the Russian poetess Tsvetayeva: "She made every effort to keep herself unknown." This sentence seems to be more appropriate for many richest people.

Sometimes, the low-key of the richest people is even unbelievable. In 2004, the total assets of the Albrecht brothers in Germany reached 411 billion U.S. dollars, of which the elder brother Karl became the third richest person in the world with 230 billion U.S. dollars.It turns out that the last interview with the brothers was in 1953, and that the most recent newspaper that published their photos was published 16 years ago.The only thing everyone knows is that their elder brother Carl is now 83 years old, and his younger brother Theo is also 81 years old.

Spain's richest man, Amancio Ortega Gona, is another old European man who puts himself in a cover.The son of a railway worker and a housewife has now become the second richest man in the world's fashion industry. The fashion chain stores he runs are located on the most prosperous urban avenues in the world, but they are listed in almost all Spanish newspapers. There is not a single piece of news about him, and he never appears in the media.Someone managed to find two photos of him, one of which was a report on the listing of a company under him in 2003, and the other was a picture of the report after the company's stock listing. What's more interesting is that this The chubby Ortega was wearing the same dress in the two photos.

In Japan in Asia, Masayoshi Son, the president of Softbank who once surpassed Bill Gates with a stock market value of US$775 billion and was the "world's richest man" for a day, is no longer in glory. His assets have shrunk by 98%, and are currently only US$15 billion. Instead, he was replaced by a 55-year-old tea and wine merchant who took over the job at the age of [-] and never appeared in the media—the president of Suntory Group, Nobutada Saji.Even in Japan, he is hardly a public figure.

Introduction: The origin of the species of the "richest man" Among the vast majority of the current richest men—especially in continental Europe, low-key seems to be their common character trait.Completely different from what many people imagine, they often do not settle in metropolises like London and Paris, but live in some unknown small villages and cities all year round.They almost never attend star-studded parties or carnivals, although many of these extravagant events are organized or paid for by their companies.They also seldom appear in business events such as the "Fortune Forum" and the annual meeting of business leaders in Davos. The world seldom hears them preach their wealth wisdom, or write books for themselves-"without words" It seems to be an unwritten "tradition of the richest man". Rockefeller, the richest man in the United States at the beginning of the [-]th century, strictly forbade his descendants to write a biography for him in his will.They just accumulate their wealth figures day by day in obscurity, and let the glittering money block any curious eyes on them.

Along with understatement comes simplicity and frugality in life.Kamprad, the richest man in Sweden who was once thought to be wealthier than Bill Gates, is the founder of IKEA.The son of a farmer and a second-generation German immigrant, he spent his life building a formidable furniture chain empire.This is how he was described: Kamprad never lacked a flashy look. He didn't have fashionable clothes, expensive watches or luxury cars, and he always traveled economy class when he traveled.He would be very annoyed if the company booked him something expensive.For working lunches at IKEA headquarters, he would pay with bills from his wallet.He likes to drink, but it doesn't have to be expensive, a cheap bottle of whiskey makes him more enjoyable.He would drive around in an old Volvo, or take a bus to the vegetable market to find cheap vegetables...

Among today's richest people, figures like Aristotle Onassis, the world's richest man in the 60s, have been blown away by the wind.After the assassination of US President Kennedy in 1968, the "world ship king" married his widow Jacqueline very sensationally. When Monaco, a famous casino city in the small Mediterranean country, encountered financial difficulties, Onassis even tried to annex Monaco. It even caused an uproar in the world.

Today, those legendary figures in the eyes of the media are different in the tribe of the richest man.Obviously, excessive swagger, star temperament, and enthusiasm for public affairs are often negative numbers for the accumulation of wealth.According to Berlusconi of Italy, a rare political star among the richest men, since he entered politics, the judiciary has opened dozens of investigations into his business activities and drafted 87 documents against him and his business interests. For this reason, judicial officials visited the offices of his family business more than 470 times, and more than 1500 court hearings were held just about him.

Lin Shaoliang, the richest Chinese man in Indonesia, is another example.In his early years, he had a close relationship with then-President Suharto, obtained various franchise rights, and was called a unparalleled red-capped businessman at that time.Lin's assets once reached as high as 160 billion US dollars, known as "the eighth richest man in the world".However, after Suharto stepped down, Lin Shaoliang gradually lost power. After the Asian financial crisis hit hard in 1997, the Lin Group was precarious. Although it is still the richest man in Indonesia, its assets have shrunk to US$10.3 billion.

Excellence is often irrelevant to trends

"From good to great, a company has nothing to do with whether the industry it is engaged in is in the trend. In fact, even a company engaged in a traditional industry, even if it is initially unknown, may eventually move towards excellence." Kim Collins in " The Law of Corporations discovered in Good to Great still holds true when looking at the richest people.

Judging from the industries that the richest people are engaged in, it seems that they are not as particularly favored by heaven as imagined.The industry they enter does not have too high a threshold.Among the [-] richest men, [-] run chain stores, [-] work in the media, and [-] sell beer.If there are any business secrets, "globalization under a professional background", "channels are king" and "core resource monopoly" are the three answers to the mysteries that make today's richest man.

A hundred or even decades ago, with the advancement of industrialization and urbanization, land was once the biggest breeding ground for the birth of great wealth.In the early days of the rise of every commercial country and region, the value of land soared exponentially, giving birth to one after another invincible richest man.Li Ka-shing in Hong Kong, the Guo Henian family in Malaysia, and the Guo Lingming family in Singapore are all products of this model.Even in the old British business empire, the Duke of Westminster, who owns hundreds of acres of land in the center of London, has been the richest man for a long time. The Russian magic boy Roman Romain, who was transferred to British nationality two years ago, Abramovich over.In 1990, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the founder of the Japanese Seibu Group engaged in the real estate industry, became the richest man in the world with a net worth of US$160 billion. This humble "concubine child" bought one-sixth of Japan's land in 1650 years , the market value of the Group's assets is US$[-] billion.At that time, when the Japanese economy was in full swing, the land value of Tokyo and the three surrounding areas exceeded the total market value of all the land in the United States plus the sum of the market value of all American listed companies on the New York Stock Exchange.

Today, the myth of wealth creation caused by land value appreciation and sharp increase in assets has become obsolete in those commercially mature countries and regions.Among the richest men in Europe and America in 2005, none of them had real estate as their main business.In Asia, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who was once prominent, was jailed for financial fraud in his seventies.Among the rich Chinese, except for the fortune of the richest man in the Philippines, Chen Yongzai, whose fortune is not closely related to real estate, the rest have deep ties to real estate.Today, those who have made a better transformation, such as Li Ka-shing, can be regarded as advancing with the times, and their wealth growth momentum has not diminished.The richest Chinese are generally older than those in Europe and the United States. If there is no special opportunity or a radical transformation, it seems that it is only a matter of time before they are surpassed by other upstarts.

Except for the Asian region, among the richest people in Europe and the United States, almost none of them is a diversified consortium.On the contrary, globalization in a professional context is a popular trend.

In the past [-] years, the strategy of globalization has made some traditional companies that are not outstanding leaped out of reach.

Heineken was originally a Dutch company on the verge of bankruptcy. In 1971, Freddie Heineken became the company's president. He had the foresight to foresee the emergence of a unified European market. Heineken went out of the Netherlands and became the first multinational company to implement Development strategies of European beer companies.Today, Heineken is already the beer enjoyed by people from different countries in the world.

Similar to Heineken, Sweden's IKEA, France's L'Oreal, Spain's Zara, Japan's Suntory, including South Korea's Samsung, have achieved a generation of hegemony because of timely and long-term adherence to the transnational strategy.It is said that in L'Oreal, its employees come from 45 nationalities, and among the 4.8 employees, 3.6 are outside France; among the 400 senior managers, there are 40 Spaniards, 70 Italians, and 40 Germans. and 35 Brits; out of 8000 managers, 2000 have stock options.It is not difficult to understand why L'Oreal's turnover rate is quite low: the average service time of employees is 14 years.

Related to the characteristics of globalization, those companies that focus on improving channel capabilities are exuding unprecedented wealth charm. The survival and expansion concept of "channel is king" has been proven time and again in the business world.

If Sam Walton, founder of retail giant Wal-Mart, were alive today, he would be worth twice as much as Bill Gates, the world's richest man.In this year's "Forbes" Global Rich List, the Wal-Mart family occupies five seats from No.14 to No.45.Ingvar Kamprad, the richest man in Sweden and founder of IKEA, ranked sixth, and Carl Albrecht, the richest man in Germany and founder of the Aldi supermarket chain, ranked eighth.In this rich list, [-] of the top [-] richest are chain retailers, which is an impressively high proportion.Among the [-] richest people in each country, there are [-] chain retailers, including Huang Guangyu of Pengrun Gome, the new richest man in Mainland China.In the past year, the assets of Ingvar Kamprad alone have increased by US$[-] billion, and this figure exceeds all the assets of Lee Kun-hee, the richest man in South Korea, who leads the Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The group is already the world's best growing comprehensive electronics company.

The unrivaled competitiveness of these chain retailers mainly comes from two aspects, the first is the scale effect produced by modern chain business, and the second is the innovation ability of rapid response.The Zara clothing company founded by the richest man in Spain, Amancio Ortega Gona, never puts a penny in advertisements for his chain stores, but he employs 200 designers and launches as many as 2 fashion styles every year More than one species.

"Monopoly is the only source of huge profits", this Jewish business law seems to have not expired so far, and a little progress is that the meaning of monopoly is becoming more extensive and "commercialized".

From the end of the 70th century to the middle of the [-]th century, through marriages or transactions with the political power, countless giant businessmen owned the monopoly rights of mines, railways, ships and major agricultural products, thus bloodily completed primitive accumulation and became the richest man in a country.With the improvement of the national system and the progress of commercial civilization, this path of getting rich is becoming more and more impossible.Among all the richest men today, the only ones related to resource-based monopoly are probably only two. One is the Oppenheimer family in South Africa, which controls [-]% of the world’s diamond resources; Hongsen Ho, he took control of the local gambling industry.

The richest people in other countries, without exception, maintain an absolutely dominant market share in their respective main industries through the means of complete market competition, forming another sense of monopoly benefits.Bill Gates, the richest man in the United States, basically controls the desktop systems of computers all over the world. The richest man in Italy holds 80% of the national commercial TV market share. The richest man in Australia controls 80% of the magazine market in the country. The richest man in Canada monopolizes newspapers and periodicals. The new richest man in India owns 70% of the world's annual steel production.

(End of this chapter)