If one of the richest people in the world offered to give you advice, would you accept it? While you may never get a chance to meet him in person, check out the advice Warren Buffett offered to a group of MBA students:

It’s All About Integrity

Warren’s focus was on the fact that success is about more than intellect and energy. He said an Omaha acquaintance stated he always looked for integrity, intelligence and energy in the people he hired.

Buffett said he wanted to dig into integrity since he knew all of the students in front of him possessed intellect and energy. Warren used the example of giving one of the students the ability to own 10% of the future earnings of one of their classmates. He said if he gave someone one hour to make this decision, they would likely chose the classmate who causes the strongest reaction in them.

Warren explained the classmate who had this impact would be one who’s a leader. This leadership quality comes from traits like generosity and always giving credit when due.

He then contrasted this by discussing which classmate someone would chose if they also had to take a short position for 10%. Buffet said this person would possess characteristics like greed and a tendency to take shortcuts.

Buffett tied these two examples together by saying you could write down the qualities of each person on the same sheet of paper. The first would go on the left side and the second would go on the right side. He then explained the desirable qualities on the left are all ones people can chose to possess, while there’s not a single one on the right people can’t chose not to change.

Warren made it clear that any student is young enough to choose what habits and patterns of behavior they want to exhibit. While it may be impossible to teach an old dog new tricks, young adults can put themselves on the path to true success by getting their core values and traits in line.

With the worlds economy booming like it has over the last decade there are now billionaires rather than just millionaires who are the top richest people in the world. With this kind of money these guys and ladies can buy their own countries, not have to pay taxes or worry about paying taxes plus the interest that they would earn each day could feed small nations or wipe out national debts of others.

Carlos Slim Helu is one of the top 3 richest people of 2010 and is currently rated number one by Forbes Magazine. Worth and estimated 54 billion dollars this guy has made it to the big leagues with business savvy and a strong head for making money work for his interests. As the Telecom leader for Mexico, one of the most populated countries on the planet, you will see that this man keeps going strong in finances for several years.

Bill Gates is number two in 2010 for the richest person in the world. Not bad considering his net worth is only just under that of Carlos in the number one spot. Bill Gates has had plenty of time at the number one spot in his career, even back in the days of being just a millionaire rather than a billionaire.

Warren Buffett is coming in still strong at the number three spot for the richest person in the world. His net worth is forty seven billion dollars, which is substantially more than the next closest contender who is ranked number four with twenty-nine billion dollars.

The top twenty richest men in the world have a combined wealth of 551 billion USD. Wealthy businessmen and philanthropists, these men stand apart from all others.

The wealthiest man in the entire world is Carlos Slim Helu. From Mexico, Carlos Slim Helu is worth 53.5 billion USD. He is 70 years old and is new to the top spot, settling in bronze place last year. Carlos Slim Helu is the telephone tycoon of Latin America, chairman of Telmex, Telcel and America Movil.

Bill Gates is the second wealthiest man in the world, worth 52 billion USD. Only 54 years old, Bill Gates is from the United States and is known for his success in developmental software. He is also one of the world’s largest philanthropists, spending 800 million USD on medical research alone per year.

Also from the United States, Warren Buffett sits at third with 47 billion USD. One of the world’s most successful investors, he is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is also a large contributor to the Gates Foundation.

Mukesh Ambani of India is the fourth wealthiest man in the world, worth around 29 billion USD. The chairman and 48% stockholder of Reliance Industries, a private sector company, Ambani is plugged into one of the most successful corporations in India.

The fifth wealthiest man in the world is Lakshmi Mittal, also of India. Worth 28.7 billion USD at age 59, Mittal is one of the chairmen of ArcelorMittal. Greatly involved in the steel industry, Mittal is also one of India’s wealthiest sons.

There are different degrees of being rich including being a wealthy land owner or having huge sums of money in the bank however you can be rich in assets and still have no cash to your name which makes being rich a little less fun. Spending money is not exactly the way to get rich however it is fun and like many wealthy people will tell you it takes money to make money. Wise investments in stocks or reserves will help you get ahead of the rat race however if the stocks fail then you can end up in great trouble. People who are putting their money into overseas investments can only hold their breath until the end result comes through which is very discouraging for people with super annuation policies. You will find that people like Bill Gates made their money by working hard at one particular task and then later being diverse. For Bill however it was a good idea of his to hire all of the criminals who tried to corrupt his software programs so that he could make better software which would be safer for the average user.

Carlos Slim Helu is the current leader in the wealthiest man game however the likes of Donald Trump is still at the top somewhere. Even though America is one of the world’s most economic countries it is over the border in Mexico where several of the wealthiest men live. Taking advantage of the exchange rated or working in countries where labor is cheap will ultimately help these men to increase their profits as well as their wallet sizes. The old saying that there is more than one way to skin a cat would be used by the richest people in the world very often because they did not get rich by paying full price for all of their products and manufacturing needs.

There are many types of rich people in the world most of whom share a common type of wealth that exists not in their bank accounts but in their material wealth such as the commodities that they own, land, oil, power or gold which are just a few to name. Companies are also big on the list of items which can make people really wealthy. The old couple down the road who drive their car at 25 km/h everywhere saved for all of their lives while other invested and spent. Now the old people have a small nest egg however it is nothing in comparison to what the richest people in the world are sitting on. The big difference is that over the last two decades the rich people have gotten very rich while the middle class people and poor people struggle to make ends meet. With all the wealth stacked up between only a few thousand people compared to the billions without money the economy has a huge gap which only caters for the rich people and pushes the poor people back down the success ladder.

The top ten richest people in the world have gotten to the top for several different reason, goods, and services or other. Bill Gates is one of the more famous rich people who are reaching the point that soon he will be worth trillions rather than just a few measly billion. Carlos Slim Helu is currently the richest man in the world valued at over $50 Billion even though he lives in South America in Mexico which is actually a very poor country. Bill Gates comes a very close second and it is unusual to see that the richest people are all over 50 years old which means that there is wisdom in age and therefore experience. Two out of the top three places are American citizens for the richest people in the world both coming a place to Carlos in Mexico. After the two American candidates there are two Indian tycoons who are worth around forty billion each and are again living in one of the poorest nations in the world.

Some of the richest people in the world did not have to do much to get there because they are either living off an inheritance or royalties from somebody else’s hard work from many years ago. Fame and fortune are often seen together because being one o the richest people in the world puts you right into the public eye since everyone will want to know how you made it to the top. Giving away the secrets is not what these guys will do such as in the case of Donald Trump who will tell you to work hard and think outside the square. Many times the people in the world’s richest people list will have invented something or done something that has made them a fortune for the rest of their lives. Here is a list of the richest people in the world and what they have done to get there. This list does not include people like the pope who take money from the poor and give it to itself to be richer every year just like a government.

It was only a few years ago that the richest people broke the billion dollars mark and now we are soon looking at people having trillions of dollars of worth. Bill Gates is a prime example of a software maker who made his software into ones that where the preferred brand or a brand that could only run on certain computers. There is also an Arab family whose construction company makes them billions of dollars all around the world each year but they are said to use it for bad things like supplying their son with weapons for war. The owners of Wal-Mart in America are also at the top of the richest people list by simply cornering the market of all products buy buying cheap and selling cheap too.

There are many rich people all around the world for one reason or another but these is not all the richest people in the world. For some the richest people are the ones that have the most celebrity status while others it is the person with the most power in politics but essentially the richest people in the world are those that have the most money and assets. You can count assets as many different things these days like in the case of Bill Gates who mostly owns shares in his own companies. There is also a guy like Donald Trump who is capable of buying small countries each time he opens his wallet. Whether it is land, gold or products the person with the most cash at the end of the day wins the richest people awards even though they already have everything they also want the awards to be the richest people.

Once you have decided your fate and where you want to go in life then you have the chance to become one of the richest people on the planet by simply doing what you do best. If it was that simple then we would all be doing it however the saying that you need money to make money is true so having some collateral to start your money making venture is always going to get you in front quickly. The family that designed IKEA made a fortune in sales as well as franchising their brand all around the world. In some countries the IKEA brand is one that sells like hot cakes while in other countries it is the more common brand which is found in the budget shops. Whether you are selling furniture, software or even arms there is one thing that brings the richest people one step ahead of the rest which is usually a combination of things like determination, good tax keeping and making sure they invest their money wisely. If you follow their trends with your own innovation then it is going to be a good opportunity to make money for you and your family.

There are many stereo types about rich people because often like people such as Paris Hilton there is more money than brains but even Paris has a generous side to her being involved in many charities and fund raisers to help the people and animals that are not as fortunate as she is. Some of the richest people in the world did not get their money from being brains but from their skills as workers, business men, thinkers, actors or singers. There are more and more people getting rich as the world fills itself with useless money however one day this money is apparently not going to be worth anything. I wonder how people like Donald Trump think about that idea, which one day money will be worth less than the paper it is printed on.

If the people in the lower parts of the socio economic parts of the world are able to get a foot into the door of a dream or a reality then their chance of becoming one of the richest people I the world may become a reality. People like J. K. Rowling who one day could barely feed her children and then the next day she has the top selling book in all the English speaking countries and more. There is hope for anyone with a bright idea or just the steadfast working attitude that will get them where they need to be. It is funny how the ‘new’ money always gets distributed around by those who recently received it compared to families that have been exceedingly wealthy all along. The royal families around the world have more nick nacks than you can poke a stick at but often their country is still filled with poverty and injustice.

Riches and honor somebody said comes from God, but that doesn’t preclude that fact that for both to come your way there must be a convergence of both hard work and luck or blessing as some would like to call it. That’s why John D. Rockefeller, the guy who is considered to have amassed the greatest fortune ever to be gathered by any person then and today attributed his success to strategy and hard work. The phrase ‘’richest people’’ sounds like the who is who in all sectors of the economy in the four corners of the world.

This confirms the universality of hard work and luck as the quintessence principle of success be it in monetary terms or otherwise. Therefore whenever we classify John D. Rockefeller and Warren Buffet as the top cream of the world’s richest people then you can be sure that it’s a matter of unrelenting and unyielding determination which has seen them there. The prosperity of these moguls might not be appreciated until you hear some unbelievable statistics concerning their lots, here is one: According to the reputable actuary, Alexander Forbes, the combined fortunes of the top richest people in the world is greater that the total services and goods sold in the world’s third largest economy or Germany for that matter.

The only consolation that we get from that list is the fact that a number of those in the list like Rockefeller, Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates came from humble backgrounds thereby confirming that riches are for everyone who dares to dream and work towards realizing that dream. On the other hand there are those who were born with a golden spoon, like the Saudi Arabian Prince Al Waleed, and the Indian Mukesh brothers. Other rich people in-between the extremes include Paul Allen, Kenneth Thomson, Ingvar Kamprad, Li Ka-shing and Lakshmi Mittal among others.