Top 37 Billionaire Quotes About Life and Success

Updated Feb 14, 2023.
Billionaire Quotes

There's a popular saying that goes, “To be a millionaire, you have to think like a millionaire”. Now let's take it a little bit higher. To be a successful billionaire, you have to think like a successful billionaire.

You have to think, to become. And what better way to think like a billionaire than to fuel your mind with successful billionaire quotes?

These quotes are from real-life billionaires who have amassed so much wealth for themselves and grown powerful businesses. As you read on, I guarantee you will have a strong mind shift.

Ready?

Let's go.

Billionaire Quotes About Money

What do billionaires have in common?

Money, plenty of it.

But to control their wealth, they have to develop the right money mindset. Developing a good money mindset goes beyond filling your head with money quotes. It also includes cultivating the right money habits.

Wealthy people are always thinking of ways to multiply their wealth. It is a mindset they have built over time.

Money is not meant to be wasted but used to generate more wealth. This section contains practical billionaire quotes about money to help you change your mindset and cultivate the right money habits.

01
“Money is just a consequence. I always say to my team, ‘Don't worry too much about profitability. If you do your job well, the profitability will come.”
— Bernard Arnault.

Money is an asset that multiplies but there are principles governing how it works.

Money doesn't just fall from the sky. You have to be great at what you do if you want to be rich. What this means is that the focus should be on “doing your job well” and not getting money.

As much as everyone wants to become financially free, the future of how much you have in your bank account is very dependent on the quality of work you put in.

Hence, it is best to always readjust your focus.

Anytime you notice that you are beginning to work for money and not because you love what you do, ask yourself what changed and retrace your steps.

02
“There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn't very interesting.”
— Evan Spiegel.

Self-discipline is one of the biggest secrets that billionaires have mastered. It is what separates the common man from the wealthy one.

The truth is that it is not every day you will feel productive or ready to get out of bed. But being disciplined is about starving yourself of your feelings and doing what needs to be done.

Rewards and appraisals are good and they help you to be more motivated but the reality is that these things will not be there every time.

Sometimes there will be a huge lack of motivation but you must always remember “why you are doing this” and keep moving in the best direction.

03
“Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, dare to follow your heart and intuition.”
– Steve Jobs.

People will always have different opinions on what you do, eat, and even wear but you must be able to identify your voice among others.

Recognizing your inner voice is key to gaining financial freedom because everyone's journey to success is different.

As humans, we have 3 inner voices; the voice of judgment (VoJ), the voice of cynicism (VoC), and the voice of fear (VoF)

Each of these voices is a huge point to how we feel and what we think about things. What is most important is that you recognize your own, not someone else's.

Billionaires pop up every day. In fact, China is stipulated to be the region with the most billionaires by 2027. These incoming billionaires are probably working hard now to build themselves.

Where the Billionaire Population is Growing Fastest
Source: Statista

So whenever you feel low, just remember that you are at your building stage. Focus on investing in your future and drown out the negative voices.

04
“The reason I've been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money.”
— Oprah Winfrey.

Your focus affects your life's journey. It directs the course of your life because it is what your mind truly believes and this would tell in the actions you take.

People who are focused on money will always be absent-minded when it is time to do the work without realizing that this is no way to success.

Success requires you to be excellent, which means; to do more than what is expected. But if your focus is always on the reward, your mind will be too distracted to stay working.

If you want to be successful, fix your focus.

Ask yourself why it is important for you to get to where you want to get to and give honest answers.

After doing this, observe the patterns of your answers to see if you are more material-driven or truly passionate about what you do.

05
“After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The game is what counts.”
– Aristotle Onassis.

After talking with over a hundred young entrepreneurs, I discovered that the primary reason many of them started their own businesses is to be rich. About 95% of them do not have any other motivation or need to create better products or services. Their only focus is on how much money they can make from the business.

Don't get me wrong, money is good. You should aspire to be rich. But money should not be your only motivation. It shouldn't be the primary motivation.

Why?

I have seen many entrepreneurs with such money hunger fail within the first few years of launching their businesses. They pursued money so much that they lost their vision.

Many things are more important than money.

Things like finding your purpose, being there for your loved ones, and focusing on what brings you happiness.

It is a better idea to find what makes you happy, do the things that make you happy, and then try to monetize those things.

06
“I've never chased money. It's always been about what I can do to motivate and inspire people.”
– Tyler Perry.

True wealth isn’t just about how much money you have in your bank account. It is about the value you have added to society. Anyone can forget a rich man but it is difficult to forget a person that adds value to the world.

Albert Einstein once said, “Do not become a man of only success, rather strive to become a man of value”.

If there is one thing that matters more than money, it's people.

A true definition of someone who has made a difference is not someone who has a trillion but someone who has affected people's lives positively.

It is not a crime to want to make money but even much more, you should want to make a difference.

07
“I can understand having millions of dollars. There's meaningful freedom that comes with that, but once you get much beyond that I have to tell you, it's the same hamburger.”
— Bill Gates.

Everyone desires to live in abundance and prosperity. But many people desire it so much that they lose themselves in the process.

Money is not meant to be pursued. It comes to those who know what they are doing. The moment you start pursuing money, you start losing who you really are.

Although money is very resourceful, it doesn't solve all problems, even in business. So your only focus shouldn't be all about money but about making an impact on society.

08
“Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.”
— Warren Buffett.

One secret about money is that it doesn't change people. Instead, it amplifies a person's true character.

Just because someone is rich doesn't mean they are generous. Having money doesn't determine whether you will be a good leader or not.

In truth, billionaires are not moved by money. Instead of letting money control them, they control it.

09
“If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”
— Warren Buffett.

There are two types of income; active income and passive income. Yes, it is important to have an active income but if you want to be financially successful, then you must have a passive income.

Take a look at the top business tycoons in the world. They all have one thing in common — multiple streams of passive income.

Active income is any income that requires you to actively put in 100% of your energy, effort, and attention daily. A clear example of an active income is a 9-5 job.

Passive income, on the other hand, is any money you earn without much effort.

Initially, it takes a lot of effort to set it in motion. But once it is set, you can make money from your sleep and you don't need to go to work every day.

There are 6 categories of passive income;

  • Profit income,
  • Interest income,
  • Dividend income,
  • Rental income,
  • Capital income, and
  • Royalty income.

Many passive income ideas can fetch you thousands of dollars, even while you sleep. For example, you can start an eCommerce store, launch a blog, sell online courses, or even become an affiliate marketer.

You can develop high-income skills and use them to your advantage, or invest in stocks and properties.

The main idea of getting a high-earning passive is for you to set yourself up in a way that you can earn by doing nothing but overseeing all the things that you already set in motion.

10
“If you have less than $1 million, you know how to spend the money. [At] $1 billion, that's not your money. … The money I have today is a responsibility. It's the trust of people in me.”
— Jack Ma.

Another thing billionaires have in common is that they all have people who invest in them or their businesses.

This comes with a lot of responsibilities that you must be prepared for.

For you to get to a higher level in your business or whatever you do, you will surely need to take responsibility for every penny that comes your way.

11
“If we were motivated by money, we would have sold the company a long time ago and ended up on a beach.”
— Larry Page.

The reality is that money will always come and go. But one thing that must stand whether money is present or not is your source of motivation.

What this means is that money cannot be what motivates you to work hard, or else you run the risk of shutting down completely when you don't have it.

Only very few people understand this, which is why most entrepreneurs find it difficult to stay committed to their businesses.

Money should only be seen as a little reward or spur in the right direction that shows that you are on the right track.

12
“I am not a person who pursues luxury. I am not like those people who, once they have money, compulsively squander it or show it off.”
– Wang Jianlin.

Money management is a skill that every billionaire possesses. It is a skill you must learn if you want to be financially stable.

The biggest lesson I have learned about money is that money has wings and it can fly away at any moment if you don't treat it well.

This is also a secret many millionaires and billionaires have discovered. Money is not permanent unless you make it so.

If your only motivation for getting money is to spend it, then you will lose it faster than you can even imagine.

One thing that people forget is that not every money is to be spent. You save some and spend others.

Therefore, whenever you get money, you should create a detailed budget in a way that allows you to invest some of it.

The 50/30/20 rule is best for budgeting because it helps you to properly calculate how much you need to save, spend, and invest.

Powerful Billionaire Quotes about Life and Business

Everyone wants to get rich quickly but not everyone knows that the actions they take affect how far they go in life.

Billionaires do not just live their lives like every random person. They have habits and patterns that they live by to be successful.

These habits and patterns are guided by a mindset, called the Billionaire Mindset. This section contains the best billionaire quotes that reveal the mindset of a billionaire.

13
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
– Mark Zuckerberg.

In life, there are risk-loving and risk-averse people. You should be the former. You need to learn to take risks once in a while if you want to grow.

In fact, the biggest risk you can ever take is not taking any at all. I will never recommend it.

The important thing about taking risks, in life and business is that you need to make a list of the pros and the cons. Doing so will help you determine if taking that risk is a smart move or a grave mistake.

Any risk that the pros do not outnumber the cons is not good and should not be taken. Before you take any risks, I always advise entrepreneurs to check their financial situation to know if they can handle the consequences or not.

14
“Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it.”
— Mark Cuban.

The truth is that your passion will always show in the quality of work you put in.

The first step to being successful is finding what you love and monetizing it.

This might sound very cliche but when you love something, you will go for it no matter what it costs. You will be willing to make sacrifices for it.

In business, there is too much at stake for you not to love what you do. Every day will feel like torture so do not involve yourself in doing something that you do not love for your lifetime.

Make your sweat and years of hard work worth it.

15
“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.”
– John D Rockefeller.

Legends are people who refused to live according to the status quo. Take a look at the world's richest billionaires and successful entrepreneurs. They let go of the old boring way of doing things and focused on their inner creativity.

They looked beyond what we thought was regular and let their imagination take over.

Who says you have to do what everyone else does? You will only end up looking just like everyone else and the world doesn't need that. What the world needs are solutions to their problems from a fresh perspective.

If you ever want to get to higher levels in your career and business, you must remember that nobody's path is the same as yours.

One secret formula to becoming a billionaire is for you to break free and walk your path.

16
“I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.”
– Mukesh Ambani.

Growth is essential at every level and in every field of life.

The human mind can expand and improve in so many ways.

What this means is that as long as we do not hinder ourselves from growing, there will always be something new we can learn or unlearn.

A growth mindset is not only needed in business but even in our personal lives. It is always so refreshing to be around people who are willing to grow.

A growth mindset allows room for new ideas and intentions to come up. You can start cultivating the habit of developing a growth mindset by filling up your mind with some inspiring growth mindset quotes.

17
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
– Oprah Winfrey, American Media Proprietor and Producer.

Gratitude is a sign that you can handle more than what you have already been given.

There is always something to be grateful for in business and our personal lives but many people do not recognize this.

You can only celebrate and be happy if you are grateful for what you have.

18
“I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better. I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”
– Elon Musk.

Feedbacks have a truckload of benefits both at a professional level and a personal level.

They help you to see with clarity what your growth has been. They are also necessary to retrace your steps and judge what you can improve on.

However, there are ways to accept feedback that will lead to improvements.

Firstly, do not fight it, or else you will miss the message. You don't need to be defensive towards the person giving you the feedback, all you need to do is listen.

Take note of every single comment; the good, the bad, and the ugly because they will all play their parts in developing you.

The good will make you see your progress so far, the bad will make you see all the things that you can do better at and the ugly will motivate you to act fast.

Feedback is needed in every workplace because they help to build workers in the right ways.

19
“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”
– Ted Turner.

Creativity can thrive in a relaxed environment and not a strict one.

Rules are great for organization and discipline to be guaranteed in a business. But at the same time, the atmosphere in a workplace should not always be intense.

For workers to perform up to their full potential they must be allowed room for spontaneity.

Of course, you can allow supervision to make sure workers do not move too far off the vision board.

20
“Relentlessly strive to come up with new and better products and produce them more efficiently than the alternatives.”
– Charles Koch.

Some people allow themselves to be limited by their achievements instead of striving to beat their records every time.

Being satisfied with your achievements can make you stuck in your comfort zone. This is why you need to keep setting the pace higher. Set higher goals.

For every completed milestone, set higher ones.

One thing that is common to every billionaire is that they are never satisfied with what they have achieved because they know that they can do so much better.

This is not to say that one should become overwhelmed with any form of pressure.

There should always be a place for rest and rejuvenation but we should also always remember that greatness lies in everybody.

21
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.”
-Jeff Bezos Founder of Amazon. 

The quality of your mindset is what shapes your life.

Honestly, if you think that just because you are a woman, you cannot be a successful entrepreneur, you are right.

Do you know why? Because you are the one who thought about it.

But know one thing, many successful women entrepreneurs around the world are making history. They didn't let gender or negative thoughts hinder them from achieving their goals. So you might want to rethink and change your mindset.

Visualizing and manifesting is the best way to attract good things to you.

However, manifestation is only possible when you believe it in your mind else it is merely words.

22
“Vision is perhaps our greatest strength… it has kept us alive to the power and continuity of thought through the centuries, it makes us peer into the future and lends shape to the unknown.”
– Li Ka-Shing.

The mind has the power to make us into something that we initially were not. It is so powerful that it makes you see an image so clearly that you start to believe it.

This can be negative or positive depending on the person. Some people live in depression because their mind has told them that they are not beautiful or good enough when they are.

Every billionaire understands that the human mind needs to be seriously controlled.

You might be wondering, how then do they control their minds?

You actively create positive images in your mind about your business and yourself.

How you see yourself and your business is exactly how you will become and you can easily control your mind by using your words.

Create a vision board that encompasses where you want to be and visualize what you want to see because all you need to do is believe it and it will be yours.

Inspiring Billionaire Quotes About Success

How do billionaires see success? What does it mean to be a “successful” billionaire? Find out how billionaires perceive success.

This section contains billionaire quotes that show the billionaire's mindset towards success.

23
“ Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.”
– J. Paul Getty.

The key to becoming anything relevant in life is consistency. Consistency is a huge factor that determines if we eventually succeed at something.

All dreams are valid but turning them into reality highly depends on what you do about them.

You cannot be inactive and expect a miracle to happen overnight. You have to constantly strive toward it.

With consistency, there is a conscious attitude to your actions and when you are consciously going for your dreams, it is only a matter of time.

24
“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think about what can be done better tomorrow.”
– Ingvar Kamprad.

The feeling of achievement can be a blessing and a curse depending on how you choose to view success.

Life should be seen as a continuous journey and not one that ends with a single victory.

We should always want to achieve more.

The excitement that you get should of course be enjoyed but don't dwell on it forever.

After all the excitement fades off, find new things that you can do, and write down new goals because there is no limit to the number of successes that you can have.

25
“Whether you've found your calling, or if you're still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life's work.”
– Michael Dell.

There are two things that every human being must find to live fulfilled lives; purpose and passion.

Finding your purpose means discovering what the reason for your being on earth is. We all have different purposes and we need to know what our purpose is to avoid misusing our gifts and talents.

On the flip side, your passion is discovering what you love to do that everyone does not.

Your passion is what you feel strongly about and what motivates you.

The first thing to do is identify your passion.

It could be things you refer to as “hobbies” or your gifts and talents.

Find all the things that make life exciting to you and then connect the dots. How can you use what you have to make a difference? These things will lead you to uncover what your purpose is.

Be intentional about this process and also know that it takes a long time so be patient with yourself too.

26
“Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.”
– H. Ross Perot.

Quitting should never be in your dictionary if you desire to succeed.

Many people ask if successful entrepreneurs are born or made. The truth is that they are made. No one is born successful. You have to work your way up the ladder of success and it is not easy. However, you can never get there if you quit.

The journey to success can be very long and tiring but giving up should not be an option still. This is why resilience is very important.

Whenever you want to give up, always remember that no successful person got their status easily.

We learn resilience from experiences that toughen us up. So let those experiences shape and teach you to stand strong no matter what. You should get some resilience quotes to help toughen you up.

27
“If you're not stubborn, you will give up on experiments too soon. And if you're not flexible, you will pound your head against the wall and you won't see a different solution to a problem you're trying to solve.”
– Jeff Bezos.

Many people have given up on their dreams just before they were about to hit their goals.

This is not because they are unfortunate people but because they are humans. As humans, we tend to lose hope if we do not keep our eyes fixed on the target.

There will be times when you feel tired and stressed out. This is when you take a break.

Taking a break does not mean giving up.

It simply means recharging. The best way to do that is by spending time with the people that inspire you.

It could be your family, friends, or even mentors. Taking advantage of the gift of people will remind you of the reason why you started.

Most people that gave up on their dreams did so because they forgot about their reason for starting and lost every form of motivation.

Therefore, go back to the drawing board and discover your purpose all over again.

28
“America is built around this premise that you can do it, and there are an awful lot of people who are unlikely to have done it.”
– Michael Bloomberg.

Our mind controls the direction of our lives and negative thinking will always lead to unproductivity.

It is essential to be mindful of what we let into our minds. Negativity can be easily spread to you if you are always around negative people.

Surround yourself with positivity at all times because this is the best way to feed your mind.

29
“What other people label or might try to call failure, I have learned, is just God's way of pointing you in a new direction”
– Oprah Winfrey.

We need to rethink our definition of failure because in life, failing never makes anyone a failure.

What makes you a failure is giving up just because you failed at something.

There is a right attitude to approach our setbacks with because when we see our failures as lessons, we won't be under any form of pressure.

As humans, we all fall sometimes but what matters is how willing we are to get up, evaluate our fall, and then try again.

30
“I feel like in a world where we all try to figure out our place and our purpose here, your passions are one of your most obvious guides.”
– Nick Woodman.

Our purpose is discovered in those little things that we love to do.

Discovering your purpose requires a lot of study and reflection. But once you take out time every day to identify what you love and what you hate, the rest will be easy.

Your purpose is simply how you can use what you love to stop what you hate.

31
“For me, businesses are like buses. You stand on a corner and you don't like where the first bus is going? Wait ten minutes and take another. Don't like that one? They'll just keep coming. There's no end to buses or businesses.”
– Sheldon Adelson.

There is nothing new under the earth and this is the reality of business.

There will always be someone that does what you do but in a different way.

What this means is that the world of business might be populated but every business has unique features that make it stand out from other businesses.

To customers, you might sell the same things as someone else but if you apply the right strategy, they will see the clear difference between your brand and other brands.

Be intentional about your quality and service because these two things are absolute game changers.

32
“Wealth isn’t the same thing as intelligence.”
— Larry Ellison.

IQ is a strong factor in determining the possibility of students' success in life but it isn't always accurate because some people are just not book-smart.

Intelligence can only be judged according to the category you are checking for. So a person might not be intelligent in one thing but is intelligent in another.

There is a popular statement that goes “knowledge is power” but this is not exactly true. Knowledge itself does not have any power but its implementation does.

In this same way, intelligence does not equate to wealth but the implementation of that intelligence will eventually lead to wealth.

33
“Life's too short to hide who you are because you're afraid of getting hurt.”
— Lauren Asher.

Hurt is inevitable in life because as humans we all have our differences.

Unfortunately, hurting people and getting hurt by people is unavoidable. What you can do is develop a strong resistance against this hurt by building and developing yourself.

Avoiding people is equivalent to avoiding good opportunities. There are just as many good people in the world as there are bad people.

Every great thing in life comes from building good relationships, even in business. If you need to grow your business, you need to network with top investors.

Why do you think there are clubs like “The Billionaire Club”? It's an opportunity for billionaires and aspiring billionaires to network, build relationships, partner together, and support each other.

Instead of being afraid of getting hurt, start building relationships. Learn to network with other entrepreneurs. You can encourage yourself with some inspiring networking quotes. But the most important thing is that you build positive relationships that would benefit you.

What you should never do is shrink yourself just because you are scared of being hurt by people.

Be yourself and build yourself up. This is what attracts the people that are for you to you.

34
“All you have in business is your reputation. So, you must keep your word.”
– Richard Branson.

In the world of business, reputation is a very important asset that could either help your business succeed or crumble.

Have you ever heard of the popular saying that goes, “A good name is better than silver and gold”?

There is massive competition that comes in every line of business and the reality is that the customers direct the flow of things.

Therefore, you should always try to impress your customers at every chance. The best way to do this is to always keep to your word.

If you promise quality, quantity, and great delivery, make sure you try to even exceed what you said you will do.

Customer loyalty only works when trust has been earned and you need to keep to your word to gain this trust.

Conclusion

Becoming a billionaire is not impossible or specific to only the rich and creative.

Everybody can become a billionaire but every billionaire must possess certain attributes.

Some of these attributes like resilience, persistence, and hard work can be learned while some other attributes are inborn.

However, you can still succeed whether you possess the natural attributes or not.

What matters is how willing you are to keep trying until you get to where you want to get to.

Image Credit: Image by iconicbestiary on Freepik

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Martin Luenendonk

Editor at FounderJar

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.