Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have been long time friends, and if this doesn’t confirm that birds of a feather flock together, nothing else does. According to the latest billionaires’ ranking by Forbes, the two men come in at number two and three, with a net worth of $96.5 billion and $82.5 billion respectively.
Buffett serves both as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a company that he has grown leaps and bounds with. According to Bill Gates, the secret to his friend’s success is relatively simple, and we could all do it.
You must be dying to know what made the man a reputable billionaire, right?
Daily Reading
As Mr. Gates puts it, Warren Buffett reads daily. This makes you wonder – apart from texts and emails, how often do you read?
The man also confirmed as much in a documentary about his life that aired on HBO, stating that he spends a minimum of five hours daily perusing through newspapers and books he can get his hands on.
According to the third richest man alive, reading opens his mind up and prompts him to contemplate on business ideas and how to circumnavigate hurdles he may encounter in his investment decisions.
Additionally, the billionaire is of the mind that his practice keeps him updated on the latest happenings in the business world, offering him a competitive advantage.
Truth be told, not many people spend their time with heads buried in books or newspapers. This, according to Buffett, is what separates him from his competition.
As he puts it, it’s not that they can’t read as much as he does. They just don’t like it. If they did follow in his footsteps, he is sure that they would level the playing field.
Susan, Buffett’s late wife, was also in the HBO documentary and confirmed how deep seated her husband’s love for reading was. According to her, he would sit in solitude in his office devouring new information, knowing that it would come in handy later.
Cuban Does it too!
Another entrepreneur who mastered the art of reading early on is Mark Cuban. Have you immediately though Shark Tank? You must have!
The shark who is in every sense of the word a self-made tycoon devours books as much as Buffett does, and he’s also admitted that it has helped him immensely in pushing his career forward.
As he published in his blog, he’d get great ideas from books and magazines, and the $20 and $3 he spent for each respectively were worthy investments on his part.
Cuban also takes the same stand as Buffett, saying everything he reads is public material, just that people aren’t that interested in it. We better get reading folks!
The shark also goes on to highlight the importance of the advantage reading gives you over your competition, saying that with little experience but adequate knowledge, you have an edge over experienced guys who are out of touch with contemporary events. Makes sense, doesn’t it?