20 quotes from self-made billionaires that will change your outlook on money

Hillary HoffowerSep 17, 2020, 04:55 IST

Oprah Winfrey has some advice for you.AP/Themba Hadebe

Anyone can build wealth, but your beliefs about money can affect how much wealth you'll build.
Just consider the world's self-made billionaires — they got where they are today because of their attitudes toward money and success.
These quotes about money from self-made billionaires are sure to inspire you.

Building wealth is possible regardless of your financial situation or education. But your beliefs about money can play a huge role in whether or not you finish rich.

So why not look to those who have been there, done that for inspiration?

From investor Warren Buffett and entrepreneur Mark Cuban to tech mogul Jeff Bezos and media maven Oprah Winfrey, Business Insider rounded up quotations about money from self-made billionaires that will shift your perspective on business, investing, and success.

Many of their perspectives share a commonality: They don't measure success by the amount of money they make. Money isn't the end goal and it doesn't define them, but it's important to invest it wisely if you want to build more wealth down the road.

Here's what some of the world's richest men and women have to say about money.

Emmie Martin contributed to an earlier version of this post.

"I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." — Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett saves his wisdom for addresses to small-business owners, or those who aspire to become entrepreneurs. Mario Tama/Getty Images

"I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." — Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

"There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn't very interesting." — Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., on not selling to Facebook

Evan Spiegel of Snapchat attends TechCruch Disrupt SF 2013 in San Francisco. Steve Jennings/Getty

"There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn't very interesting." — Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., on not selling to Facebook

"The reason I've been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money." — Oprah Winfrey, business magnate

Oprah Winfrey Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

"And I think the more money you put in people's hands, the more they will spend. And if they don't spend it, they invest it. And investing it is another way of creating jobs. It puts money into mutual funds or other kinds of banks that can go out and make loans, and we need to do that." — Michael Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg LP

REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

"And I think the more money you put in people's hands, the more they will spend. And if they don't spend it, they invest it. And investing it is another way of creating jobs. It puts money into mutual funds or other kinds of banks that can go out and make loans, and we need to do that." — Michael Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg LP

"If we were motivated by money, we would have sold the company a long time ago and ended up on a beach." — Larry Page, Google cofounder and former CEO of Alphabet Inc.

Kimberly White/Getty Images

"If we were motivated by money, we would have sold the company a long time ago and ended up on a beach." — Larry Page, Google cofounder and former CEO of Alphabet Inc.

"I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it's the same hamburger." — Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft

Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images

"I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it's the same hamburger." — Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft

"When a small business grows like eBay did, it has a multiplier effect. It creates other small businesses that supply it with intellectual capital, goods, and services." — Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and current CEO of Quibi

Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman AP

"When a small business grows like eBay did, it has a multiplier effect. It creates other small businesses that supply it with intellectual capital, goods, and services." — Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and current CEO of Quibi

"I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out." — Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the media company's new location January 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. Bezos purchased the newspaper and media company in October of 2013 from the storied Graham family. Chip Somodevilla/Getty

"I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out." — Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

"You always hear the phrase, money doesn't buy you happiness. But I always in the back of my mind figured a lot of money will buy you a little bit of happiness. But it's not really true." — Sergey Brin, Google cofounder and former president of Alphabet Inc.

Steve Jennings/Getty Images

"You always hear the phrase, money doesn't buy you happiness. But I always in the back of my mind figured a lot of money will buy you a little bit of happiness. But it's not really true." — Sergey Brin, Google cofounder and former president of Alphabet Inc.

"If you have less than $1 million, you know how to spend the money. [At] $1 billion, that's not your money. ... The money I have today is a responsibility. It's the trust of people on me." — Jack Ma, cofounder and former CEO of Alibaba Group

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

"If you have less than $1 million, you know how to spend the money. [At] $1 billion, that's not your money. ... The money I have today is a responsibility. It's the trust of people on me." — Jack Ma, cofounder and former CEO of Alibaba Group

"The financial markets generally are unpredictable. ... The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market." —George Soros, investor and chairman of Soros Fund Management

AP Photo

"The financial markets generally are unpredictable. ... The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market." —George Soros, investor and chairman of Soros Fund Management

"As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own." — Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc.

Jack Plunkett/AP Images for Dell, Inc.

"I never thought about becoming wealthy. It never crossed my mind. What really motivated me was to try to accomplish something." — Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation

"My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don't care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being just a company means to me is not being just that — building something that actually makes a really big change in the world." — Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

"My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don't care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being just a company means to me is not being just that — building something that actually makes a really big change in the world." — Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

"Wealth isn't the same thing as intelligence." — Larry Ellison, cofounder and CTO of Oracle

Kimberly White/Getty Images

"Being confident and believing in your own self-worth is necessary to achieving your potential." — Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Reuters

"My philosophy is that if I have any money, I invest it in new ventures and not have it sitting around." — Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group

Vincenzo Lombardo/Getty Images

"Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it." — Mark Cuban, entrepreneur

Jin S. Lee

"Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it." — Mark Cuban, entrepreneur

"When it came rolling in, the money affected us all. Not much, and not for long, because none of us was ever driven by money. But that's the nature of money. Whether you have it or not, whether you want it or not, whether you like it or not, it will try to define your days. Our task as human beings is not to let it." — Phil Knight, cofounder of Nike

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

"When it came rolling in, the money affected us all. Not much, and not for long, because none of us was ever driven by money. But that's the nature of money. Whether you have it or not, whether you want it or not, whether you like it or not, it will try to define your days. Our task as human beings is not to let it." — Phil Knight, cofounder of Nike

"When I look back on whatever my past has been and the successes, my greatest rewards have been the people and the relationships that I've had. The money has been an accident. I mean, it's a good accident, but I happened to be playing a game that I love." — Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates

Reuters / Ruben Sprich

"When I look back on whatever my past has been and the successes, my greatest rewards have been the people and the relationships that I've had. The money has been an accident. I mean, it's a good accident, but I happened to be playing a game that I love." — Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates

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20 quotes from self-made billionaires that will change your outlook on money

"I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." — Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

"There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn't very interesting." — Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., on not selling to Facebook

"The reason I've been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money." — Oprah Winfrey, business magnate

"If we were motivated by money, we would have sold the company a long time ago and ended up on a beach." — Larry Page, Google cofounder and former CEO of Alphabet Inc.

"I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it's the same hamburger." — Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft

"When a small business grows like eBay did, it has a multiplier effect. It creates other small businesses that supply it with intellectual capital, goods, and services." — Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and current CEO of Quibi

"I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out." — Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

"You always hear the phrase, money doesn't buy you happiness. But I always in the back of my mind figured a lot of money will buy you a little bit of happiness. But it's not really true." — Sergey Brin, Google cofounder and former president of Alphabet Inc.

"If you have less than $1 million, you know how to spend the money. [At] $1 billion, that's not your money. ... The money I have today is a responsibility. It's the trust of people on me." — Jack Ma, cofounder and former CEO of Alibaba Group

"The financial markets generally are unpredictable. ... The idea that you can actually predict what's going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market." —George Soros, investor and chairman of Soros Fund Management

"As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own." — Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc.

"I never thought about becoming wealthy. It never crossed my mind. What really motivated me was to try to accomplish something." — Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation

"Wealth isn't the same thing as intelligence." — Larry Ellison, cofounder and CTO of Oracle

"Being confident and believing in your own self-worth is necessary to achieving your potential." — Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

"My philosophy is that if I have any money, I invest it in new ventures and not have it sitting around." — Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group

"Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it." — Mark Cuban, entrepreneur