The Sunday Times Rich List was published this month revealing the personal fortunes of the UK’s wealthiest individuals and families.
On the surface it would seem that these people have a lot in common – hard work, good business and a little bit of luck – but scratch the surface and we find some very obvious contradictions as well.
For example, Billionaire Lakshmi Mital keeps a low profile, doesn’t talk to the media and was hardly known to most Britons until he purchased London’s most expensive house. On the other hand, Richard Branson regularly courts the media and enjoys his high profile.
Greg Coffey (38) has made a fortune trading commodities. He has never been creative enough to invent a product or innovate a new industry. He just knows when to buy low and sell high.
In contrast, Niklas Zennstrom has made his entire fortune from innovation. He has been on the forefront of internet innovation for the last 10 years and has built several cutting edge ideas (like Skype and Joost) into big public businesses without watching the price of stocks.
Then there’s Simon Fuller, the consummate Deal Maker. He is credited with making the Beckams rich, getting the Spice Girls the big money and recently took on the challenge of making tennis star Andy Roddick a few extra Millions. He doesn’t try to get in the limelight himself, he goes out and finds the big deals for his “talent”.
I have personally been reading the Rich List since I was about 15 years old (sad but true), and find it much more discernible since learning about Wealth Dynamics (www.wdprofiletest.com).
Wealth Dynamics tells us that, there are only eight strategies to create wealth. There are also only eight types of entrepreneurs. Massive wealth typically happens to people who are a good match between their natural strengths and talents and the strategy for wealth creation that they have chosen.
The first type of entrepreneur is called the “Creator”. They are masters of innovation. We see them inventing things, coming up with new business models and talking about their big vision for the future”.
James Dyson, Richard Branson and JK Rowling are all Creators known for their ability to keep innovating with their new ideas.
The next type is the “Star” entrepreneur. They make their money through their unique brand. They are of course the most well know people on the rich list. Paul McCartney, The Beckhams, Simon Cowel and Elton John are all on the Rich List this year with vast fortunes that have been built on their personal brand.
The third type is the “Supporter”. This is a born people person who makes their wealth through their connections and their leadership. Supporters know a lot of people, they can see connections between people who should be working together and they love to lead teams.
Recognised for her strong leadership skills, Jacqueline Gold has grown the family business, Ann Summers by building a team of Party Planners and Sales Assistants that numbers over 7500. She says the key to her success has been her ability to listen to her team and customers.
The “Deal Maker” is the next type of Entrepreneur. Grounded and patient these people take the time to get deals done that can make them very wealthy without ever having to invent anything at all.
Sir Phillip Green is a Deal Maker. He made his first small fortune doing deals on stock that manufacturers couldn’t clear, he’s an extravert, he’s well connected and he can often be found spending time in his stores.
Well known for their high flying lifestlyes the real “Trader” types are actually very grounded by nature. They get deeply connected to markets and they often just get a sense for the movement of markets. Great traders don’t seem to follow a completely fixed system, they actually get to know markets so well that they can hardly tell you the exact logic behind each trade – They just know.
Most famously Greg Coffey and Joe Lewis have made vast fortunes through their trading. There’s also the story of Anil Agarwal who reportedly made over £500M in a matter of weeks trading scrap metal.
The sixth type of Entrepreneur is the “Accumulator”. They personify the tortoise who beat the hare through the “slow and steady” approach to wealth. They are slow to make decisions, they do a lot of homework and they are often quite unassuming and therefore quite hard to spot.
Andrew Davis went from mild success trading property and art, to extraordinary success when he decided to buy and hold. He is so secretive about his wealth that he was almost rejected from the list based on the fact that the FT couldn’t figure out how he was getting his funding. He has carefully bought up hotel properties which he refinances to further add to his growing portfolio.
The “Lord” type entrepreneur is the introverted numbers wizard who loves to compete on price. They rarely court the media, they are notorious for being “penny pinchers” but it is that very nature that is the key to their success. Quite simply, no-one can compete with them on price.
Ironically, the Duke of Westminster is a perfect example of a Lord Profile. He makes his money from his vast property portfolio, he doesn’t court the media and he manages the family fortune with a frugal eye.
Sir Ken Morrison, the Chairman of Morrison’s Supermarkets, is also a Lord Profile known for his endless store visits and fastidious attention to detail.
Finally, the “Mechanic” type entrepreneur completes our set. The Mechanic type loves systems and processes. They try to simplify things so that their empires can expand without relying on any special talent. They make their business reliable and good value.
Marcus Evans is a Mechanic type. He took the complicated Event Conferencing industry and made it so simple that he is able to live in Bermuda and still run over 2000 events annually in 36 countries (I can personally confirm that it would take some pretty brilliant systems to do that). Despite having his name on the company, he never gives interviews and is rarely seen in the usual social circles.
As we study each entrepreneur on the list we can find that they each find their wealth through the strategy that was most suited to their personality. They found businesses that enabled them to play to their strengths and minimise their weaknesses.
If you want to find out more about Wealth Dynamics visit http://www.wdprofiletest.com.
– By Daniel Priestley
Wealth Dynamics 