Can you become a billionaire through the stock market?

[i4value]

The chart below is from my e-book. It shows how you can get rich from investing in the stock market. You need

• to start young
  
• invest regularly
  
• achieve consistent annual returns
  

But can you be a billionaire? Refer to the second chart. It shows the final sum if you invest $ 1,000 annually for different investment periods and different annual returns. 
‌
For example if you can achieve 12% compounded annual return over 60 years, and you invest $ 1,000 annually, you will get $ 8 million at the end of the 60 years.
‌
Following this logic, if you want to be a billionaire, you need to invest $ 125,000 every year with 12 % compounded annual return for 60 years. 
‌
The irony is that if you have $ 125,000 every year to spare, I think you don't have to worry about being a billionaire.
‌
Note that Warren Buffett in his partnership days achieved 15 % compounded annual returns. So 12% is good for a retail investor. Secondly Warren Buffett became a billionaire not exactly from 100 % investing in the stock market. His Berkshire Hathaway is actually a business.
‌
The reality is that most of the billionaire investors make their money from being an entrepreneur as well as being a stock investor.
‌
But all in not lost. It is not that difficult to be a millionaire. You invest $ 1,000 every year for 60 years and achieve at 8% annual returns. The challenges are:
a) do you have the patience?
b) you have to learn how to invest to achieve consistent returns

[brattzz]

i think with a large enough capital, becoming a billionaire via stock investing is achievable!

[i4value]

If you have a large capital, you probably be investing only part of it in stocks. I am not sure that there are billionaires whose sold source of wealth is pure investing. Most are involved in investing as a business eg funds.

[Wildreamz]

If you have a large capital, you probably be investing only part of it in stocks. I am not sure that there are billionaires whose sold source of wealth is pure investing. Most are involved in investing as a business eg funds.

Depends on how you define "pure", but Buffett and Munger would be one that most will name first. There are many others (Peter Lim, Ron Baron, Bill Miller etc.). You can argue that most of Leo KoGuan's networth is acquired via his investing prowess (in Tesla stock) than from his private business (as with many of the other billionaire on the list).

Comes back to, how much capital you start with. With large enough capital (be it from own private business, job, inheritance etc.) sure you can become a billionaire, or acquire a billion dollars worth of asset through pure investing alone.

[i4value]

There is always a winner in every draw of the lottery. But can you conclude that this is the way to get rich? My perspective of the the retail investors and in large numbers. I am confident that if you invest early, reinvest what you have gained and can achieve a 8 % consistent returns, many retail investors would be millionaires. But there is little hope than many would be billionaires.

[EnSabahNur]

The Families That Warren Buffett Made Super Rich

Here's how those three most fortunate Buffett-beholden families attained shares in Berkshire Hathaway at the right time:

[b]Alfond Family, No. 64[/b]
Harold Alfond traded his Dexter Shoe Company to Warren Buffett in 1993 for what was then about $300 million worth of stock. Alfond never went to college, but he died a billionaire in 2007. His family is now worth about $4.2 billion, due largely to the soaring value of Berkshire Hathaway stock.
[i]How many shares:[/i] After the Dexter Shoe acquisition, the family became the second-largest Berkshire Hathaway shareholder at the time with about 25,000 shares.
[i]Return on Investment:[/i] 1,275%
[b]Booth Family, No. 81[/b]
Franklin Otis Booth Jr. met Warren Buffett in 1963 and poured $1 million of profits from a small Los Angeles real estate deal into the now-revered investment firm of Berkshire Hathaway. His shares topped $2 billion in value when he died in 2008. His roughly 30 descendants are now worth about $2.9 billion combined.
[i]How many shares:[/i] When Franklin died, his six children divvied up about 15,000 shares. About 1,500 shares were donated to the charitable Otis Booth Foundation.
[i]Return on Investment: [/i]277,700%
[b]Ueltschi Family, No. 81[/b]
Warren Buffett snatched up aviation training company FlightSafety International in 1996 in exchange for stock worth about $1.5 billion at the time. Founder Albert Ueltschi, a former Pan Am pilot, died in 2012, but the family held onto the Berkshire Hathaway shares, now worth an estimated $2.9 billion.
[i]How many shares:[/i] Family has kept an estimated 16,000 shares.
Return on Investment: 93%

[i4value]

The point of my original article was that as a retail investor starting to invest, it is tough to be a billionaire. I think all the stories and examples prove my point. One course once you have made it as an entrepreneur, the issue is about wealth preservation and growth wealth. They all chose investing...is this because they are tired of being entrepreneurs or no that the next generation no longer have the talents to continue the entrepreneurial path?