目前，全世界有1,826位億萬富翁。能成為其中之一絕對(duì)是了不起的成就。不過，億萬富翁比其他人更了不起。

下面幾位億萬富翁都是白手起家，并且以最快的速度積累起自己的財(cái)富：

約翰?D?洛克菲勒——標(biāo)準(zhǔn)石油公司（Standard Oil）

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：25年

趣事：洛克菲勒被認(rèn)為是有史以來最富有同時(shí)又最熱衷慈善的億萬富翁，其凈資產(chǎn)在現(xiàn)代相當(dāng)于3,450億美元。他創(chuàng)立了芝加哥大學(xué)（University of Chicago），卻拒絕用自己的名字命名，因?yàn)樗幌Ｍ约旱拿盅谏w學(xué)校的光彩。

成功歷程：由于當(dāng)時(shí)尚沒有反壟斷法律，因此他通過創(chuàng)建標(biāo)準(zhǔn)石油公司，積累了財(cái)富。他于1870年在俄亥俄州的克利夫蘭創(chuàng)建標(biāo)準(zhǔn)石油公司，當(dāng)時(shí)他只有31歲，之前曾是一位產(chǎn)品經(jīng)紀(jì)人。他在數(shù)年內(nèi)，收購了克利夫蘭幾乎所有煉油廠，成為美國最有影響力的人之一。

到19世紀(jì)90年代初，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)石油公司控制了美國90%的石油，他也成為美國第一位億萬富翁，也是因?yàn)檫@一原因，美國現(xiàn)在才會(huì)對(duì)壟斷企業(yè)進(jìn)行嚴(yán)格監(jiān)管。

比爾?蓋茨——微軟（Microsoft）

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：12年

趣事：蓋茨在15歲時(shí)，賣掉了由他設(shè)計(jì)的監(jiān)控街道流量的程序，賺到了20,000美元。

成功歷程：1978年，創(chuàng)建微軟三年之后，蓋茨手下有25名員工，收入已經(jīng)達(dá)到了250萬美元。到1983年，全世界30%的計(jì)算機(jī)均安裝了微軟的系統(tǒng)。

1986年，微軟上市，蓋茨的凈身價(jià)達(dá)到3.5億美元。當(dāng)時(shí)他只有30歲。很快，他的凈資產(chǎn)便超過了十億美元，讓他成為了美國最富有的書呆子。

謝爾蓋?布林與拉里?佩奇——谷歌

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：8年

趣事：谷歌成立時(shí)，布林和佩奇合作寫了一篇文章，解釋了他們?yōu)槭裁匆獎(jiǎng)?chuàng)建一家靠廣告收入的公司?，F(xiàn)在，廣告占到谷歌總收入的90%。喔噢。

成功歷程：布林和佩奇在斯坦福大學(xué)（Stanford）完成一個(gè)學(xué)校項(xiàng)目時(shí)，想到了谷歌的點(diǎn)子。建立好原型之后，兩人曾打算以160萬美元的價(jià)格，將公司出售給門戶網(wǎng)站初創(chuàng)公司Excite。佩奇告訴Excite，他需要600,000美元現(xiàn)金，700,000美元股份，剩余300,000美元捐贈(zèng)給斯坦福大學(xué)。

謝天謝地，Excite還價(jià)到750,000美元，但佩奇拒絕了。幾年后，谷歌上市，布林和佩奇在30歲出頭便成為了億萬富翁。

肖恩?帕克——Facebook

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：6.5年

趣事：在Facebook進(jìn)行融資之前，帕克說服一位藝術(shù)家，在第一間Facebook辦公室畫了一幅壁畫。這位藝術(shù)家沒有接受60,000美元現(xiàn)金，而是要求用Facebook的股份交換。這位藝術(shù)家大衛(wèi)?崔所獲得的股份，如今的價(jià)值已經(jīng)超過了2億美元。

成功歷程：在成為Facebook首位總裁之前，帕克創(chuàng)建了Napster和Plaxo。幾年后，Napster關(guān)門，并被訴賠償一萬億美元（千真萬確），帕克被Plaxo掃地出門，他也陷入了破產(chǎn)的境地。他不得不在朋友家的沙發(fā)上過夜。

好在在Facebook成立六個(gè)月之后，24歲的帕克遇到了22歲的扎克伯格。后面的故事已經(jīng)眾所周知了。

杰夫?貝佐斯——亞馬遜

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：4.5年

趣事：亞馬遜成立于1994年，當(dāng)時(shí)貝佐斯開給自己的工資是60,000美元。如今，他的年薪已經(jīng)漲到了168萬美元。但其中僅有81,840美元是他的工資。剩余160萬美元用于他的安全相關(guān)費(fèi)用。

成功歷程：貝佐斯辭去了在一家紐約投資公司的高薪職位，創(chuàng)建了亞馬遜。當(dāng)時(shí)他31歲，父母提供了300,000萬美元幫助他創(chuàng)業(yè)。亞馬遜最初只是一家賣書的網(wǎng)站，在成立后的兩個(gè)月內(nèi)，網(wǎng)站銷售額僅有20,000美元。三年后，亞馬遜上市，貝佐斯很快便成為了億萬富翁。

他父母的投資現(xiàn)在價(jià)值接近120億美元，所以，貝佐斯現(xiàn)在可以用印有“世界上最偉大的兒子”的杯子喝咖啡，一邊證明自己就是名副其實(shí)的最偉大的兒子（這也是他最了不起的成就）。

馬可?扎克伯格——Facebook

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：4年

趣事：2012年，扎克伯格已經(jīng)是全世界40位最富有的人之一，但他還是貸款600萬美元買房，因?yàn)樗?jīng)過談判獲得了1%的貸款利率。這意味著當(dāng)通脹達(dá)到3%時(shí)，他的貸款是免費(fèi)的。

成功歷程：Facebook于2004年在哈佛大學(xué)（Harvard）成立，前24個(gè)小時(shí)便擁有了1,500名用戶。在七個(gè)月內(nèi)，扎克伯格離開哈佛，將公司搬到了帕洛阿爾托，并為公司融資500,000美元。2006年，扎克伯格拒絕了雅虎（Yahoo）10億美元的收購要約。

皮埃爾?奧米迪亞——eBay

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：3年

趣事：eBay上價(jià)格最貴的商品是一艘價(jià)值1,680萬美元的游艇。

成功歷程：1995年，28歲的奧米迪亞創(chuàng)建了第一版eBay，作為一個(gè)分支項(xiàng)目。但在九個(gè)月內(nèi)，網(wǎng)站帶來了足夠的收入，因此奧米迪亞辭掉了工作。在第三年，eBay上市，奧米迪亞成為了億萬富翁。

安德魯?梅森——Groupon

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：2.5年

有趣的事實(shí)：Groupon最初的名字是The Point，受到了馬爾科姆?格拉德威爾的《引爆點(diǎn)》（The Tipping Point）一書的啟發(fā)。

成功歷程：所有人都知道Groupon是什么，但多數(shù)人并不清楚，它是有史以來發(fā)展最快的公司。Groupon在成立17個(gè)月后便融資1.35億美元，估值達(dá)到十億美元。此外，據(jù)《福布斯》（Forbes）報(bào)道，Groupon用七個(gè)月時(shí)間便實(shí)現(xiàn)了盈利，僅用兩年半便達(dá)到了十億美元收入。

當(dāng)然，我必須說明，Groupon最近的熱度已經(jīng)大幅下降，否則便有隱瞞信息的嫌疑。

蓋瑞?溫尼克——Global Crossing

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：1.5年

有趣的事實(shí)：雖然電信業(yè)崩潰讓溫尼克損失了多數(shù)財(cái)富，但他依舊擁有一座位于洛杉磯的豪宅，價(jià)值2.25億美元，建筑仿造了白宮的橢圓形辦公室。2013年，這棟豪宅被掛牌出售，當(dāng)時(shí)被認(rèn)為是美國最貴的房子。

成功歷程：1997年，溫尼克創(chuàng)建了Global Crossing，這家公司的主要業(yè)務(wù)是鋪設(shè)跨越大西洋的光纖電纜。美國電話電報(bào)公司（AT&T）、微軟和其他公司，均使用Global Crossing的線纜，為亞洲客戶提供服務(wù)。一年后，Global Crossing上市，溫尼克在18個(gè)月內(nèi)便成為了億萬富翁；他也是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫為數(shù)不多的勝利者。

四年后，Global Crossing申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)，并被指控欺詐。溫尼克不得不向股東支付了3.35億美元。如果什么事看上去好的令人難以置信，那么你最好別信。

杰伊?沃克——普利斯林

個(gè)人財(cái)富達(dá)到10億美元的時(shí)間：1年

趣事：創(chuàng)下億萬財(cái)富之后，沃克開始收藏圖書。目前，他擁有全世界最令人震撼的圖書館之一。

成功歷程：在成立Priceline之前，沃克曾經(jīng)創(chuàng)建過一家金融初創(chuàng)公司Synapse Group，后以3億美元的價(jià)格將其出售。沃克利用出售Synapse的資金，在1998年成立了Priceline。在前四個(gè)月內(nèi)賣出了40,000張票。1999年，公司上市，沃克成了億萬富翁。

2000年，沃克離開公司，當(dāng)起了甩手掌柜。夠快！

譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

There are 1,826 billionaires in the world. Becoming one is an extremely impressive feat. However, some billionaires are more impressive than the rest.

Here are a few of the fastest self-made billionaires:

John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 25 years

Fun Fact: Rockefeller is considered the wealthiest and one of the most charitable people of all time, with an adjusted net worth of $345 billion. He founded the University of Chicago but refused to have the school named after him because he didn’t want his name to overshadow the school.

How he did it: Thanks to nonexistent laws regarding monopolies, Rockefeller made a fortune by founding Standard Oil. He started Standard Oil in 1870 when he was 31-years-old in Cleveland, OH after his early career as a produce broker. Within a few years, he bought nearly every refinery in Cleveland and became one of the most powerful men in America.

By the early 1890s, Standard Oil controlled 90% of oil in America, making him America’s first billionaire and one of the reasons why monopolies are now highly regulated.

Bill Gates – Microsoft

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 12 years

Fun Fact: When he was 15-years-old, Gates made $20,000 by selling a program he designed to monitor street traffic.

How he did it:In 1978, three years after starting Microsoft, Gates had 25 employees and $2.5 million in revenue. By 1983, Microsoft powered 30% of the world’s computers.

In 1986 Microsoft went public, giving Gates a net worth of $350 million. He was 30-years-old. Soon, that number increased to billions, making him the riches in America.

Sergey Brin & Larry Page – Google

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 8 years

Fun Fact: The year Google launched, Brin and Page co-wrote a paper explaining why they didn’t want to start a company funded by advertising. Advertising now makes up 90% of Google’s revenue. Hmm…

How they did it: Brin and Page came up with the idea of Google as part of a school project at Stanford. After building a prototype, the pair tried selling the company to web portal startup Excite for $1.6 million. Page told Excite that he’d take $600,000 in cash, $700,000 in stock, and the remaining $300,000 would be given to Stanford.

Thankfully, Excite countered with $750,000 and Page declined. Brin and Page became billionaires a few years later while they were in their early 30s when Google IPO’ed.

Sean Parker – Facebook

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 6.5 years

Fun Fact: Before Facebook raised funding, Parker convinced an artist to paint a mural in the first Facebook office. Instead of accepting $60,000 in cash, the artist asked for stock in Facebook. The artist, David Choe, is now worth over $200 million today because of his stock.

How he did it: Prior to becoming the first president of Facebook, Parker started Napster and Plaxo. After a few years, Napster shut down and was sued for (literally) a trillion dollars and Parker was forced out of Plaxo, leaving him broke. He was forced to stay on his friends’ couches.

Thankfully, 24-year-old Parker met 22-year-old Mark Zuckerberg six months after Facebook launched. The rest, as they say, is history.

Jeff Bezos – Amazon

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 4.5 years

Fun Fact: When Amazon was founded in 1994, Bezos paid himself a salary of $60,000. Since then his total annual pay has risen to $1.68 million. But only $81,840 goes to his salary. The other $1.6 million covers his security detail.

How he did it: Bezos left his high-paying gig at a New York investment firm to start Amazon. He was 31-years-old and had the help of $300,000 from his parents. Amazon, initially just a book-selling site, had sales of $20,000 two months after launch. Amazon went public three years later, which soon made Bezos a billionaire.

His parents’ investment is now worth close to $12 billion, giving Bezos the right to drink his coffee out of a “World’s Greatest Son” and have it be true (arguably his greatest accomplishment).

Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 4 years

Fun Fact: In 2012, when he was already the 40th richest person in the world, Zuckerberg took out a $6 million loan to buy his house because he negotiated an interest rate of 1%. With inflation at around 3%, this meant he borrowed the money for free.

How he did it: Facebook launched in 2004 at Harvard, and had 1,500 users in its first 24 hours. Within seven months Zuckerberg left Harvard, moved the company to Palo Alto, and raised $500,000 in funding. In 2006, Zuckerberg turned down an acquisition offer of $1 billion by Yahoo.

Pierre Omidyar – eBay

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 3 years

Fun Fact: The most expensive item ever sold on eBay was a $168 million yacht.

How he did it: Omidyar created the first version of eBay as a side project in 1995 when he was 28-years-old. Within nine months the site was making enough money for Omidyar to quit his job. In year three, eBay went public, making Omidyar an instant billionaire.

Andrew Mason – Groupon

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 2.5 years

Fun Fact: Groupon was originally called The Point and was inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point.

How he did it: Everyone knows what Groupon is, but most people don’t realize that it’s the fastest-growing company ever. Groupon landed a billion dollar valuation after raising $135 million only 17 months after launching. Additionally, according toForbes, it took Groupon seven months to become profitable and only 2.5 years to do over a billion dollars in revenue.

Of course, I’d be withholding information if I didn’t let you know that Groupon isn’t doing so hotnowadays.

Gary Winnick – Global Crossing

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 1.5 years

Fun fact: While Winnick lost most of his wealth in the telecom crash, he still owns a $225 million mansion in Los Angeles, which has a replica of the Oval Office. When it was for up sale in 2013, the house was considered the most expensive home in America.

How he did it: In 1997 Winnick created Global Crossing, which laid fiber optic cables across the Atlantic Ocean. AT&T, Microsoft, and other corporations used Global Crossing’s cables to access their Asian customers. A year later Global Cross went public, making Winnick a billionaire in 18 months; one of the few winners of the dot-com bubble.

Four years later Global Crossing filed for bankruptcy and was accused of fraud. This resulted in having to pay $335 million to shareholders. If it looks too good to be true, it is.

Jay Walker – Priceline

Time it took to reach $1 billion: 1year

Fun fact: After making his billions, Walker started collecting books. He now has one of the most impressive libraries in the world.

How he did it: Prior to founding Priceline, Walker was the founder of Synapse Group, a finance startup that was acquired for $300 million. Walker started Priceline using the funds from the Synapse sale. Priceline launched in 1998 and sold 40,000 tickets within four months of launching. In 1999 the company went public, making Walker a billionaire.

Walker did the business equivalent of dropping the mic as he left the company in 2000. Talk about a fast ride.