This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
Entrepreneur Rafael Badziag's five-year study of 21 self-made billionaires reveals a paradoxical trait that contributed to their success but also led to their downfall.
Published on July 3, 2019, Badziag's research found that billionaires' independent thinking and reliance on their own judgment propelled them to success, but also made them prone to making costly mistakes.
"Billionaires are nonconformists who demonstrate individualism at an early age when they break more than a few rules," Badziag wrote in his book, The Billion Dollar Secret: 20 Principles of Billionaire Wealth and Success. "Over the years they learn to trust their instincts and go against the grain, even when everyone around them thinks they are out of their minds and advise them against taking chances."
However, this same trait can also lead to a lack of cooperation and a failure to seek help when needed, as seen in the case of billionaire Brian Kim Beom-Su, founder of South Korea's No. 1 gaming company, Hangame. Beom-Su told Badziag that passing up an opportunity to partner with a competitor was one of his biggest career mistakes.
Dr. Greg Reid, who interviewed 100 of the world's wealthiest people, found that partnering with competitors is a key strategy used by the super-rich to get to the top and stay there. "What can you do to partner with your competitors and improve the image of your industry?" he wrote in an article for Business Insider.
