Money2Gold

The Next Generation of Billionaires

2008-08-25T04:29:00.030+08:00

"Building a billion-dollar fortune. This group has an early start."

Michael and Xochi Birch [internet]

When Michael Birch met an American brunette named Xochi at a college bar in London, he wasn't just meeting his future wife; he was beginning a beautiful business partnership.

With Michael handling the programming and Xochi running the business side, the couple began building Web sites.

They founded Bebo in 2005.

They were two of the first people to sign up for the social-networking site, which now has 20 million members. The growing popularity drew the attention of media giants, and AOL shelled out $850 million for Bebo earlier this year. Michael and Xochi's cut? About $600 million.

Tiger Woods [sport - golf]
(Age: 32)

Earlier this summer Tiger Woods captured the U.S. Open despite a torn knee ligament. That accomplishment is just as impressive as the golf virtuoso's bank account.

Forbes estimates Woods will become a billionaire in 2011.

Where's all the money coming from?

Woods' extraordinary marketability.

He has earned more than $750 million from endorsement deals during his career--and he's only 32. Big companies paying for the Tiger brand name include Nike and Accenture.

Nishita Shah [family business]
(Age: 28)

"My dad said I could study anything I wanted as long as it was business," cracks the glamorous Nishita Shah.

All joking aside, a business degree from Boston University has come in handy for the Thailand resident. She's just 28 but is one of the richest people in Thailand because of her stake in the sprawling family business.

Last month we estimated her net worth at $375 million.

When the stunning heiress is not poring over financial reports or gracing the pages of Thai magazines, she's planning her upcoming fashion line.

Elon Musk [internet]
(Age: 37)

Musk pocketed $22 million at age 27 after selling the dot-com company Zip2.

He then co-founded PayPal, and when the online payment processor was sold to eBay, Musk received nearly $170 million in eBay stock.

At 37, Musk isn't splitting time between vacation homes but between a group of ambitious new businesses, including SpaceX, which aims to provide cheap, reliable space travel for clients such as governments and satellite companies.

Tyler Perry [entertainment]
(Age: 38)

Producer, director and actor Tyler Perry earned $125 million last year, the sixth highest payday on our most recent Celebrity 100 list.

The New Orleans native banked more than Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise and Bon Jovi combined, thanks to his three movies and the sale of his sitcom to TBS. Next up is a role in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek prequel.

Building a billion-dollar fortune in the entertainment business is extraordinarily rare but certainly not impossible, as evidenced by Steven Spielberg, worth an estimated $3 billion, and George Lucas, worth an estimated $3.9 billion.

Kenji Kasahara [internet]
(Age: 32)

If you're Japanese and online, you probably have an account with Mixi, Japan's leading portal and social-networking destination. It's also what makes Mixi creator Kenji Kasahara worth $740 million at just 32.

One of Kasahara's plans to keep the company growing is to tap into the Chinese market--just last month Mixi established a subsidiary in Shanghai.

"I want to create a service that enriches people's lives and changes the world with the power of the Internet," says Kasahara.

Roelof Botha [venture capitalist]
(Age: 34)

Botha, a venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital, was one the first investors in YouTube. When the hit video Web site was sold to Google, Sequoia reaped a 65-fold return.

What did Botha see that others didn't?

The South African native says YouTube's founders "were always talking about ways to draw people in and make it better, not how they could tweak it so they could get a better acquisition price. That is a hallmark of all the great companies."

He sees more greatness in his latest round of investments, which include the instant messenger service Meebo and the Jawbone headset maker Aliph.

Chase Coleman [hedge fund]
(Age: 33)

This direct descendant of early New York Gov. Peter Stuyvesant learned from one of the best.

Coleman worked under billionaire Julian Robertson Jr. at Tiger Management. Robertson has an astounding track record of training rich-listers.

Other "Tiger Cubs" already on our list of the world's richest include Lee Ainslie III and Stephen Mandel. Coleman is well on his way to joining them.

According to Bloomberg, Coleman's fund, Tiger Global, returned over 70% after fees last year. Compare that with the 11% return that hedge funds averaged last year.

Coleman's amazing performance means a big paycheck: One estimate has him taking home up to $400 million.

Read the full article at FORBES.com

[All photos & article are belongs to their respective owner.]

Forex Investment: Is it for REAL?

2008-08-13T01:55:00.013+08:00

For so many times, I've been asking myself this question. Is forex investment is FOR REAL? Is it really open up to anyone who dare to invest their money to make (or lost) more money through foreign exchange trading?

For those who doesn't familiar with the currency trading, here are some of the most popular currencies:
USD = US Dollar => also known as Buck
EUR = Euro => also known as Fiber
JPY = Japan Yen => also known as Yen
GBP = Great Britain Pound => also known as Cable
CHF = Switzerland Franc => also known as Swissy
CAD = Canada Dollar => also known as Loonie
AUD = Australia Dollar => also known as Aussie
NZD = New Zealand Dollar => also known as Kiwi

Most of us might been asking, is it legally conducted?

Well, there are legal brokers out there who're legally trading forex. BUT, there are also some kind of scams who are trying to take advantage on us. Therefore, you should be really, really careful.

Hmmm... so many questions should be asked before you start your investment in forex. The risk is too high. You might lost all your money. But, perhaps you are one of the few lucky enough to make lots of money trading currency.

Forex investment is not as same as gambling. I repeat: Forex is not for gamblers.

There're market trend that you need to know and watch closely before you make any decision: either to buy or sell any currency. Also, whatever happens around the world might give impact to the currency trading.

Oil price, gold price, war, natural disaster, change of government, election, etc, has an impact on the trading activities.

There are also some graph or trends that you need to analyze before making any decision. This could help to maximize your earning, and also to minimize your loss.

You need to build up your knowledge and trading skills before you start to trade real money.

YES! You can start trading with virtual money provided by most of the forex brokers.

This is call the "Practice Account", whereby you can learn how to BUY/SELL currency during live market open.

For more info, search the internet using any search engine: just type "forex" or "forex investment" or "forex account".

Who knows, this could be one of your goldmine?

Investing in Gold

2008-08-06T03:48:00.020+08:00

Hah! This is a very interesting topic to talk about. GOLD!

Click here if you want to know more about gold.

Have you ever see a pure gold? I mean that 99.99% pure gold.

Most of us will never ever have the chance to hold it, or even to touch it (unless if you're working at the goldmine or gold processing factory or financial institute or at the gold bank).

Everyone knows that gold is one of the most sought-after precious stone on earth. Owning huge amount of gold shows that you're a very, very rich person. In the medieval time, it becomes the status symbol. The more you have it, the higher your ranking and the more powerful you are.

But, today, there is almost no more restriction for anyone to own pure gold (but, of course the only restriction is either you have the money or not to buy it). If you want to diversified your investment, therefore, you should add gold into the list.

WHY? Just see the gold price chart below and you will know the answer:

Surprise??? You should be!!! Because, in the past 10 years the gold price had climbed from about $275 per ounce to more than $900 per ounce. By the time you're working so hard to make money just enough for your family needs, the rich are getting richer and richer and richer just because they own golds... plenty of them.

But... don't worry. This is not the end of this world. You too can become rich. You too can start to have your own gold investment. Nowadays, there many ways for middle-class workers to start their gold investment.

1) Buy physical gold - coins, bar.
2) Buy gold certificates
3) Open a gold accounts at bank
4) Gold Exchange-Traded Funds (Gold ETX)
5) Gold Futures and Gold Options
6) Gold mining shares
7) Gold mutual funds

But, before you start to invest in gold, bear in mind that every investment does have its risk. The market might go up. And, it may also go down. Investing in gold is for a long-term investment. Therefore, please consult with the related institutions before you start buying gold.

6 steps to being your own boss

2008-08-04T00:34:00.016+08:00

Young entrepreneurs have to work hard to overcome inexperience and gain credibility.
These tips increase your odds of success when starting out and starting up.
By Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

Got that entrepreneurial spirit?

You aren't alone. In fact, two out of three teenagers who completed a recent Junior Achievement "Interprise" Poll on Teens and Entrepreneurship said they hope to start their own business one day.

But it takes more than a good idea and a desire to be your own boss to launch a successful venture.

Just ask Max Durovic. At 18, he increased his odds of making it with formal and thorough business planning. By taking the right steps, he built a booming business before he even graduated from college.

While a sophomore at Georgetown University, Durovic founded the inventive street-advertising company Aarrow Advertising. He began hiring 14- to 24-year-old students to carry sandwich-board sign ads for nearby retail chains and to perform trademarked tricks, spinning and tossing the signs to attract attention.

The sign spinners received hourly pay with a 10-cent increase for mastering each new trick. Durovic turned the idea into a booming livelihood by crafting a complementary team with an expert mentor, meticulously writing a business plan to focus his vision, following the financial feedback and continuing to plan. By age 22, he was leading 200 employees in five cities, and revenue was growing at an average rate of 10% per month.

Early on, Durovic faced one of the biggest challenges of enterprising young adults: the credibility gap.

Most entrepreneurs endure long hours, challenging management decisions and months without income, but young entrepreneurs may face larger hurdles. With minimal work experience, limited financial resources, fledgling credit histories and no start-up experience, they often have difficulty convincing people to take their business ideas seriously. Startups are already risky -- inexperience adds more risk. In fact, one in three new businesses fails by their second year.

How can you minimize your risks?

Use our checklist to get ready. We'll help you carefully weigh whether to trade valuable years of traditional work experience for your new business dream -- and then how to pull it off when you're ready.

Step #1 = Get some experience
Step #2 = Build a winning team
Step #3 = Fight inexperience with advice
Step #4 = Write a bulletproof business plan
Step #5 = Raise money
Step #6 = Follow the money

Read more

Photo from jobdig

Why Warren Buffett chose Coca-Cola

2008-07-31T05:12:00.017+08:00

Personal Investing article by Ooi Kok Hwa*

GIVEN the weak stock market, we think now is the best time to search for the good and solid blue-chip stocks for long-term investment. However, most investors always have difficulties in choosing the right stocks.

Today, we will look into how world famous investment guru Warren Buffett identified his favourite stocks. At present, The Coca-Cola Co is one of Buffett’s key stocks that he will practically hold forever.

We believe a lot of investors would like to know why Buffett chose Coca-Cola as one of his key long-term holdings when one Wall Street analyst at that time labelled it as a “very expensive stock”.

Established in 1886, Coca-Cola is the world’s largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of carbonated soft drink concentrates and syrups. At present, it operates in more than 200 countries and markets more than 2,800 beverage products. Besides, it also owns four of the world’s top five non-alcoholic sparkling beverage brands: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta.

Why did Buffett choose Coca-Cola? He likes caffeinated soft drinks. He acquired 7% of Coca-Cola stocks in 1988 for a total investment of US$1.02bil or at an average price of US$5.46 per share. As at Dec 31, 2007, Berkshire Hathaway owned 200 million Coca-Cola stocks, or 8.6% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Buffett’s original cost in this company was US$1.3bil. Based on the latest market value dated Dec 31, 2007, he achieved an annual compounded capital gain of 11.9% for 20 years. However, if we include all the dividends received, we believe his return from this stock may be more than 20% per annum!

Buffett considers Coca-Cola “inevitable” where it has low business risk and is suitable for long-term holding. To him, buying Coca-Cola has far less business risk over the long term than any computer company. Being the most recognised international trademark, Coca-Cola enjoys global power with very high competitive dominance and economies of scales.

Coca-Cola sells 1.5 billion servings everyday worldwide. As a result of its strong brands, the attributes of its products and the global distribution systems, it has a very high business consistency and performance throughout the years. Given the certainty of its long-term prospects, Buffett may choose to hold this stock forever.

He also finds that Coca-Cola has a simple and understandable business. Besides, Buffett likes to acquire companies with high profit margins and return on equity (ROE). When he acquired Coca-Cola in 1988, it reported a pre-tax profit margin and ROE of 19% and 31.8% respectively.

Apart from that, Coca-Cola also showed very high cash flow or “owner earnings”. Buffett defined owner earnings as reported earnings plus depreciation and certain other non-cash charges, minus the average annual capital expenditures required for a company to maintain its unit volume and competitive position. In 1988, the company showed an increase in owner earnings to US$828mil against US$262mil in 1981.

Buffett always advises investors to study the raw data in the financial statement and trust our own eyes rather than analysts’ summaries. When Buffett acquired Coca-Cola, he paid quite a high premium compared with the overall market average. He paid about 15 times and five times for Coca-Cola based on price-earnings ratio and price-to-book ratio respectively.

Given the strong performance and certainty in management quality, Buffett felt highly confident that he would be rewarded by the management’s ability to generate more owner earnings and to realise the full potential of the business.

A good company should pay dividends to its shareholders. If the company decides to retain its earnings for future expansion, every dollar it retains must translate into one-dollar market value. Buffett labels this as a one-dollar premise.

Since 1987, apart from paying good dividends, the overall market value of Coca-Cola has surged much higher that its retained earnings.

In summary, even though it is not easy to identify the next Coca-Cola, with hard work, the current downturn provides us a golden opportunity to hunt for good fundamental stocks for long-term holdings.

*Ooi Kok Hwa is an investment adviser and managing partner of MRR Consulting.

The World's Billionaires

2008-07-28T01:30:00.027+08:00

The world's #1 billionaire: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)

Billionaires..... These guys have a lot of zeros in their paycheck. Do they really receive a monthly paycheck or is it a daily paycheck with a lot of zeros on it?

How do they do it?
What did they do to have such a lot of money?
What drives them to work harder to earn more each year?

Billion... that is 1,000,000,000. It's a thousand million. Which means that their earning is roughly about $31.7098 per second. It's $2,739,726.0274 per day!!!

http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html

Almost 3 million dollars income per day!!! Whoa! That is plenty of money we are talking about. I bet that most of us will never ever accumulate that sum of money thru our current job.

At this moment, while most of us still dreaming of becoming a billionaire, those guys are making more and more money each seconds.

STOP dreaming!!! Get to work NOW!!!
Learn how to make extra money. Act now to start accumulating your own first billion dollar.