Millions To Billions: How many years the world’s most well-known 24 billionaires make their first million

CEOWORLD magazine recently released data showing that most of the 100 wealthiest people – 62 percent — are self-made. But how long did it take for billionaires like Warren Buffett and Elon Musk to make their first million?

CEOWORLD magazine’s research showed that usually, it took nine years for people to become members of the two-comma club after starting their businesses. Further, the wealthiest people in the world began their extremely profitable companies when they were 29 and made their first million when they were 38.

In the case of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, it took just four years for the Tesla CEO to hit the milestone. Musk’ current net worth is reported to be over $225 billion, which keeps him at the top of the Billionaires List.

Jeff Bezos, it took just three years for the Amazon founder to hit the milestone in his early 30s. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, it took twice as long to hit his first million (though Gates was younger than Bezos at the time, in his mid-twenties). The forth richest man in the world took six years to make his first million, culminating in a current net worth of $108.5 billion. Business magnate Warren Buffett took five years to make six figures.

Mexico’s richest man Carlos Slim Helu spent four years working towards his first million. For Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, his first million was a slower burn as it took him 11 years to get there.

Here is a list of some of the world’s 24 most well-known billionaires, their current net worth and how many years it took to make their first million:

• Jeff Bezos
  Net worth: $148 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 3 years
• Michael Bloomberg
  Net worth: $96.3 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 7 years
• Warren Buffet
  Net worth: $112.6 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 5 years
• Ma Huateng (Pony Ma)
  Net worth: $32.1 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 3 years
• Mark Zuckerberg
  Net worth: $109.5 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 2 years
• Phil Knight
  Net worth: $41.1 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 16 years
• Elon Musk
  Net worth: $225 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 4 years
• Li Ka-Shing
  Net worth: $36.3 billion
  Time it took to make their first million:8 years
• Larry Ellison
  Net worth: $128.8 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 9 years
• Hui Ka Yan
  Net worth: $3.1 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 3 years
• Larry Page
  Net worth: $114 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 1 year
• Leonid Mikhelson
  Net worth: $24.1 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 9 years
• Bill Gates
  Net worth: $108.5 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 6 years
• Lee Shau Kee
  Net worth: $26.4 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 2 years
• Amancio Ortega
  Net worth: $84.7 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 11 years
• Jorge Paulo Lemann
  Net worth: $14.2 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 3 years
• Sergey Brin
  Net worth: $109.4 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 1 year
• Wang Jianlin
  Net worth: $6.2 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 3 years
• Steve Ballmer
  Net worth: $9.7 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 6 years
• Carlos Slim Helu
  Net worth: $86.7 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 6 years
• Michael Dell
  Net worth: $66.9 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 4 years
• Francois Pinault
  Net worth: $30.3 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 25 years
• Jack Ma
  Net worth: $25.1 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: Less than a year
• Masayoshi Son
  Net worth: $22.5 billion
  Time it took to make their first million: 2 years

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