Author: W. Randall Jones
Publisher: Business Plus
RMITs? No, it is not a master’s degree of some sort, but an acronym coined by writer W. Randall Jones in The Richest Man in Town. And this is not a book offering you a fast route to great wealth.
It is a three-in-one mix of self-help, motivational biographies and business. “It is not your run-of-the-mill get-rich-quick book. It is not one man’s or one woman’s story. It is instead the collective wisdom and proven wealth-creation philosophies of one hundred of America’s greatest success stories,” Jones writes.
Reading how they started their business empires will inspire and deliver insight and motivation. Jones also identifies 100 richest men and women in American cities and towns, and the secrets of their success.
The 100 people identified in this book are not those who inherited their wealth, or happen to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation. They are self-made billionaires and millionaires through persistency, hard work and creativity.
According to Jones, the average RMITs have a net worth of more than US$3bil, while the total worth of America’s richest men and women is US$355bil. Interestingly, these 100 people employ 90% of Americans.
The poorest of them is worth US$100mil and the richest is Microsoft founder Bill Gates; he is worth more than US$50bil and is the second richest man in America after Warren Buffett.
The other rich folks he has profiled include Subway (the sandwich restaurant business) founder Fred DeLuca, Green Mountain Coffee founder Robert Stiller, antivirus virtuoso John McAfee, and Jorge Perez, real estate mogul and owner of The Related group.
Despite the title of the book, there are women on the list as well. “I did not choose Buffett as the RMIT of Omaha, Nebraska, because so much has been written about him. In truth, I was more interested in Buffett’s neighbour, Joe Ricketts, the quiet billionaire who created what is today TD Ameritrade,” Jones writes.
In his book, Jones says that being self-sufficiently rich means having a net worth of US$10mil or more.
Most of us can live quite lavishly on US$10mil but is US$10mil or more within your grasp?
This book proves it is most certainly possible. Using anecdotes from these 100 people, Jones weaves in the 12 commandments of wealth.
These 100 people share certain traits. One thing that all RMITs have in common is that they have plenty of cattle.
Figuratively speaking, they are liquid-asset-rich.
All of them worked their tails off for dozens of years. There are no short-cuts.
Jones found that these successful people were not so different from one another. They follow what he attributes as the 12 commandments of wealth.
1. Seek money for money’s sake and ye shall not find;
2. Find your perfect pitch;
3. BYOB: Be your own boss;
4. Get addicted to ambition;
5. Wake up early – be early;
6. Don’t set goals – execute or get executed;
7. Fail to succeed;
8. Location doesn’t matter;
9. Moor yourself to morals;
10. Say yes to sales;
11. Borrow from the best – and the worst; and
12. Never retire
Jones also offers exercises to help readers find their strengths and individual paths to wealth. For example, when describing the need to look for more than money, he recommends writing your own obituary to visualise your lifetime goals. Some readers may balk at the thought but it’s a rather interesting idea.
“As morbid as that may sound, it is the most enlightening exercise I have ever experienced. To be sure, none of us really want to think about the end of our lives.
“It’s daunting to imagine what will be said when the curtain comes down on our last act. But that being said, it’s a darn good way to plan the rest of your life,” Jones writes.
This is an easy-to-read book which makes you think about how to spend the rest of your life. To RMITs, work is pleasure, so they never count the hours.
Jones also writes on how to get hooked on ambition. The people featured in this book are masters of their own destiny. They run their own companies, and they maintain majority ownership. This book is also filled with lots of inspiring quotes. Some of the quotes are particularly memorable and here are a few:
You don’t get rich working for other people! – Phil Ruffin
If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we could literally astound ourselves. – Thomas Edison
I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and I missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. That’s why I succeed. – Michael Jordan
If you can actually count your money, you are not really a rich man. – J. Paul Getty
This book might inspire some readers to go forth and grab hold of the American Dream. After all, these RMITs have all achieved their own American Dream.
Review by LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my
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