The number of super-rich families (net worth = US $500 million or more) is increasing at a greater rate than at any time in history. What is telling is that the divide between the wealthy and the rest of the world is growing ever wider. There are several factors contributing to this phenomenon. We will touch on two of them here—entrepreneurial excellence and the Matthew Effect.
Entrepreneurial Excellence
Creators of great wealth deserve to be recognized for their abilities and drive. Let’s keep in mind that entrepreneurship is the principal engine of private wealth creation the world over. There is a multitude of economic, social and personal benefits of building successful companies. One such benefit is that successful businesses can translate into significant personal wealth.
According to Cliff Oberlin, chairman and CEO of Oberlin Wealth Partners and co-author of Family Fortunes: How Family Enterprises Thrive Across Generations, “In our survey of 148 elite private client lawyers, we found that they readily credit the commitment, intensity and business acumen of their self-made wealthy clients. According to these lawyers, their wealthy business owner clients build a more powerful relationship with others compared to their less affluent clients. They are also more committed, intense, and possess greater business acumen than their less affluent business owner clients.”
Other factors help enable wealth creators to create wealth. There are structural phenomenons that strongly contribute to ever greater accomplishments and personal wealth. One very prevalent outcome of success is often more of the same. That is, entrepreneurial success and accompanying wealth fosters greater achievements and more money. This is known as the Matthew Effect.
The Matthew Effect
When it comes to the wealthy and more so the very wealthy, because of their business accomplishments and affluence, many more doors open and many more moneymaking possibilities come to their attention. Moreover, these various opportunities tend to appear on preferential terms. In other words: the rich get richer and the super-rich get super richer.
Keep in mind this is purely a structural facet of society. Good or bad, it is the way things often work. More telling is that people can actively benefit from the Matthew Effect.
In evaluating the wealth-creating mindset and behaviors of different strata of the self-made wealthy including self-made billionaires, there is a dramatic difference between the levels of affluence and accomplishments among the wealthy who actively leverage the Matthew Effect and those who do not. The financial and social capital of the former cohort is regularly exponentially greater than the later cohort.
Leveraging The Matthew Effect
Those individuals proactively benefitting from the Matthew Effect are systematically using their financial and professional achievements to create scenarios incorporating new and stronger relationships that are potentially quite productive and lucrative. Some of the critical differences between people who are leveraging the Matthew Effect and those who do not include:
• A strong desire on their part to become substantially wealthier.
• Personal and professional agendas that translate into greater business success and accompanying wealth.
• A solid understanding of the characteristics of the people who can help them achieve their agenda.
• Focused on helping their business associates become more successful.
Even the wealthy that are leveraging the Matthew Effect can many times benefit from doing so more methodically. Meanwhile, for those less affluent, there are still many situations where they can gain considerable business and pecuniary advantages by employing the Matthew Effect. It is important to recognize that leveraging the Matthew Effect is a skill set that many people can—but fail to—apply.
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