FORBES 400 LIST IS NOT HEAVILY WEIGHTED WITH REAL ESTATE MOGULS

[Ryan Wilson]

I am writing to clarify a misconception I have seen on BP forums and I have heard from REI Gurus as well. I keep hearing that most or a majority of the wealthiest people have built their fortunes through real estate and that the Forbes 400 is comprised of a majority of RE investors and developers. I thought I'd fact check that assertion and it turns out to be false. You can go to the link below but the following is straight from Forbes:

Following are the top 10 industries ranked by number of Forbes 400 members:

1. Finance and Investments: 93

2. Technology: 55

3. Food & Beverage: 42

4. Real Estate: 33

5. Fashion & Retail: 32

6. Media & Entertainment: 29

7. Energy: 25

8. Sports: 19

9. Service: 18

10. Healthcare: 16

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerenblankfeld/2016/1...

Now, before anyone gets mad at me, I want to clarify that I love real estate.  I own apartments, single family homes, and notes secured by real property.  I am an active investor and have been for years. 

Real estate has phenomenal advantages and is a great wealth building tool.  I happen to think it is THE best and safest (when done properly) wealth building tool for the 99 out of 100 of us that aren't Mark Zuckerburg, Elon Musk, Seth Klarman, or Joel Greenblatt.  What other asset class allows you to buy a $1M apartment, put down $200K or much less if you get creative, and have other people pay for your asset!  If you buy a property correctly, you should rarely have to pay a penny of your own money while having tenants build your wealth for you.  

However, I want to set the record straight that the Forbes 400 is not mostly made up of real estate investors and developers and that probably holds true for the top 1% as well.  Most of those people have built successful businesses outside of real estate.

Do I really care?  Of course not.  I don't need to be the next Steve Jobs.  I think most of us would be content building a portfolio of properties that other people are paying for that gives us monthly cash flow, principal reduction, and potential appreciation on top.  You can build a nice fortune for yourself while creating value for others and our communities by using real estate even if you don't make it into the Forbes 400 someday!   

But let us look at the data, be honest, and stop telling everyone that most of the wealthy people in the world achieved their wealth through real estate.  That statement is simply not true.