When you hear the word ‘billionaire’, the usual suspects come to mind – Bill
Gates, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Larry Ellison, and the
indefatigable Donald Trump.
What most people don’t realize is that the billionaire population has grown over
1000% in the last 25 years. We chose 50 self-made men and women from the list of over
1,500 billionaires. And while you may not know their names, you will probably know of
their achievements.
Some of these stories will surprise you. For all is not sunshine and honey.
You will read about gambling addiction, billion-dollar divorce, suicide, forgery,
sweatshops, bribery, fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion, cocaine and murder.
Although they are very gifted and very rich, in the end most are just like you and
me...fantastic and flawed.