For most entrepreneurs, reaching billionaire status is an indication of accomplishment. But not for Sir Richard Branson – in his eyes it’s “very sad” when people use their wealth as a measure of how well they’re doing in life.
In fact, the British entrepreneur insists that he even finds it “insulting” to be introduced as “the billionaire Richard Branson” fairly than the co-founder of the multinational conglomerate Virgin Group, he said CNBC Do it.
“Maybe ‘billionaire’ is a sign of success in America, but that bothers me,” said Branson, who has an estimated net price of $1.5 million $2.6 billionsaid.
Instead of defining themselves by how much money they make, Branson said aspiring people can be higher off judging themselves by whether or not they are making the world a greater place.
“It’s important to pay the bills at the end of the year, but what entrepreneurs around the world do today – and the sole reason for their success – is that they make a difference in other people’s lives,” Branson added . “And that’s all that really matters.”
For this reason, the daddy of three also recommends that those that aren’t their very own boss search for opportunities that make them completely happy – as an alternative of solely aiming to get wealthy.
“We only have one life,” Branson says. “We spend a lot of time at work and it would be sad if we did it just for our salary.”
Can it make an actual difference on the planet?
Whenever Branson starts a brand new company – including the airline Virgin Atlantic in 1984 and the communications company Virgin Mobile in 1999 – he said his approach boils all the way down to just two questions:
- “If I can do this, can it be better than what everyone else is doing?”
- “Can it make a real difference in the world?”
Although financial success did indeed occur, Branson reiterated that cash was never his driving force – and insisted that it had been the case since his first enterprise. Student magazinewhich he began on the age of 16.
“I wanted it to survive. And yes, I wanted to have enough advertising to pay the printers and paper manufacturers,” he recalls. “But money certainly wasn’t the motivation for running a magazine.”
Branson’s representatives at Virgin declined Fortune’s Request for comments.
Money can’t buy happiness – to a certain extent
Branson is not the only billionaire to advise against tying your self-esteem to your net price, and Ben Francis, founder and CEO of Gymshark, agrees that it’s “a completely unproductive way of living.”
Despite being Britain’s youngest billionaire, Francis insists money just isn’t a “real” measure of success since it is tied to assets whose value can fluctuate.
“It could double, it could [halve]”, emphasized the millennial entrepreneur, adding that “the connection between happiness and wealth diminishes once you’re capable of comfortably pay your bills and more.”
Researchers put the road between money and happiness at $100,000 for people fighting personal issues like grief, heartbreak and clinical depression. That number rises to $500,000 for many who say they’re already completely happy and would wish large sums to further improve their prospects.
“Success doesn’t necessarily depend on how much money you have,” serial entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban reiterated on LinkedIn.The way” podcast last yr.
“Success is simply setting a goal and waking up every morning feeling really good about what you’ve accomplished.”
