Omar Zenhom spent time with people in the global top 0.01% and found they're not unusually brilliant or charismatic. The ultra-wealthy share three traits: relentless drive, deep curiosity, and the willingness to admit what they don't know and learn it. Extraordinary wealth doesn't require being inherently special.
I spent time with people in the global top 0.01%. The most honest thing I can say about the ultra wealthy, 99% of the people that I've met at this level are not particularly brilliant. Seriously, they're not the most charismatic people in the room. They're not the most talented people in the room. There's nothing obvious about them that screams, "This person's exceptional." They are in a lot of ways pretty ordinary, but there are 3 things they all share. Every single one of them have drive, ambition, curiosity. They have a relentless hunger to understand things. Most of them are surprisingly willing to say, "I don't know. I'm not an expert at that. Tell me more about that." They're genuinely curious and that's how they got wealthy. And personally, I found that very inspiring. When I've met these people and found out that they're just normal like us, I was like, "Wow, okay, so you don't need to be special to be wealthy."
