Forbes recently announced their 2010 list of the World’s Billionaires and there was quite a lot of interest in the fact that Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu had beaten out Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth.
Whilst Carlos Slim Helu’s story is incredible, my interest was peaked by a billionaire who placed 616th on the list.
His name is Isaac Perlmutter. In 1996 Isaac bought Marvel comics – home of the Marvel superheroes Spider-man, Iron Man and The Hulk – out of bankruptcy. Last year he sold the business to Disney for $US4 billion, personally receiving $800 million in cash and $590 million in Disney stock after the acquisition.
His personal fortune is listed by Forbes at $US1.6 billion.
Not bad for an immigrant from Israel who is said to have arrived in America with $US250 in his pocket.
There are a couple of key reasons this particular story jumped out at me from the list of 793 billionaires featured on the Forbes list this year:
1. Finding the Value
My good friend, Chris Howard, often says the entrepreneur creates wealth through two key ways – finding value and creating value. In this instance, Isaac Perlmutter is a classic example of both. He was able to see the value in the under-utilised Marvel asset, even though it was in bankruptcy. That was the first part. And then, through his leadership he was able to grow the business, creating value through big-budget movies and other innovative means to the point where it was acquired by one of the most iconic entertainment companies on the planet.
2. Anything is possible
Everyday, in the work that I do, I hear stories from our participants of their complete personal transformation. People going from broke to prosperous in a few short months, or turning their health around, or creating the careers and relationships they’d always dreamed of. Everyday I am reminded that anything is possible. And Isaac Perlmutter is another example. An immigrant with $250 in his pocket can become one of the handful of billionaires on the planet.
I’ll say it again. Anything is possible.
