6 Habits that Make Bill Gates the Richest

(SELIM Webzine, Jul 2016 No. 60)

How did Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, get to be the richest person in the world, which a net worth around $80 billion (approx. KRW92,280 billion)?  Being in the right place with the right products, e.g. operation system program and web browser at the dawn of the personal computer era certainly had a lot to do with it.       

The experts evaluate that these smart approach to his work and life could create these innovative programs that enable him to build the world-class enterprises.  Regarding this, the ‘Inc.com', economic media in America introduced the 6 effective habits that helped make Bill Gates the richest man on earth.

Gates is famous for being a Harvard dropout, but the only reason he dropped out is that he and Paul Allen saw a window of opportunity to start their own software company.  In fact, Gates loves learning and often sat in on classes he wasn't signed up for. That's something he had in common with Steve Jobs, who stuck around after dropping out of Reed College, so that he could take classes that interested him.

◎ He reads everything

"Just about every kind of book interested him - encyclopedias, science fiction, you name it," Gates's father said in an interview.  Although his parents were thrilled that their son was such a bookworm, they had to establish a no-reading-at-the-dinner-table rule.  That love of reading continues, with Gates publishing an annual list of his favorite books of the year.  Reading a lot is a great habit to cultivate.   

◎ He gets plenty of sleep

Gates makes sure to get seven hours a night, because he says he can't be creative otherwise.  That's definitely a good habit that everyone should follow. 

◎ He gives credit to people he works with

When asked in an interview to name the best business decisions he'd ever made, Gates replied, "I'd say my best business decisions really have to do with picking people."  He went on to say that choosing Allen as a business partner was at the top of that list, but it's the smartest thing to give the credit to the people you work with whenever possible. 

◎ He's conservative with cash

"I wanted to have enough money in the bank to pay a year's worth of payroll even if we didn't get any payments coming in" he told an interviewer.  "We have almost $10 billion (approx. KRW11,540 billion) now, which is pretty much enough for the next year to cover payroll just in case something bad happens." 

◎ He learns from his mistakes

In an interview, Gates credited some of Microsoft's success to his and his leadership team's ability to quickly recognize a mistake, and said that he's certainly made plenty of mistakes but quickly recognized it and tried a different approach. 

by SI Kwon, journalist (kstt77@kormedi.com)

(quoted from www.kormedi.com and www.inc.com)