Understanding the psychology, behavior & values of the rich & would-be rich

By Wilson Lee Flores

Understanding the psychology, behavior and values of the rich & would-be rich

I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money.  --- Pablo Picasso

            The following is a condensed version of my two-hours speech at the 2nd Financial Advisors Congress on October 24, 2013 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City:

Image below is from a mobile phone picture taken by Krisell Pedro and which she posted on Facebook, photo below showed the event host introducing me before my speech:

Almost everyone wants to be rich or daydream to be rich, but not all think, behave and act to be rich. I believe we are what we repeatedly think, what we repeatedly believe and  what we repeatedly dare to dream to become.

Differences between the rich and not rich, kinds of rich people

Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald said: "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” True! That is why we should all aspire to be rich.

Remember this---The world isn’t fair, life is not fair. In our Philippine society, if you are rich you are “petite”, but if poor you are “bansot”. If you are rich you have “scoliosis”, if poor you are “kuba”. If you are rich, you suffered a "nervous breakdown" due to "tension and stress", but if poor you are "sira ang ulo". If rich you are eccentric", if poor you are labelled as "may toyo sa ulo", "may topak" or "may sayad". If you are rich and not making good grades in school, you are described as a “slow learner”, but if poor you are “bobo” or “gunggong”!

For those who claim that “money cannot buy happiness”, the model Bo Derek once said: "Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping."

            Seriously, before I discuss the mindset, behavior and values of the rich, let me first define the different kinds of rich people. The late Enrique Zobel of the Ayala Group and Bank of the Philippine Islands in the 1970s era of student demonstrations, he said in a speech that he could categorize the rich in the Philippines then into three groups – the “profligate rich, the idle rich and the working rich”.

            In this speech, I am tackling only those who are in the “working rich” category, including those who are the investing rich, the entrepreneurial rich and also those people already on the way to becoming rich.

Whether as financial planners, wealth managers, insurance brokers, branch managers, private bankers, trust officers, securities brokers, investment solicitors, and other professionals who offer financial advice and sell financial products, plus me who is a business columnist, all of us are missionaries about the gospel of wealth.

Image below of Tao Zhugong, the first taipan 2,500 years ago, image sourced from en.gmw.cn

            Based on my extensive interviews and studies of the rich, including my personal experiences as an SME entrepreneur who started from scratch because our side of the family wasn’t given our share of the inheritance, here are some ideas on the rich and would-be rich:

1. Focus on wellsprings or sources of cash flow, not just on assets--- Many people think that being rich is about owning lots of assets, I think it is better to own many wellsprings or sources of cash flow to be truly rich. This was a principle of my self-made paternal great-great-grandfather Dy Han Kia who became rich in 19th century Manila by establishing five lumber and furniture-making companies.

2. Have an investing mindset. --- It is not enough to have huge incomes, what is key to wealth is to have an investing mindset. 

3. A small fortune comes from frugality and hard work, a big fortune is from the heavens.---My late educator mother Mary Young Siu-Tin told me this old Chinese proverb. What it means for us is this: by sheer hard work and non-stop thrift, we can attain a minimum level of wealth in our lifetime.

4. Smart people know how to utilize loan, or other people’s money, to grow wealth---My former Ateneo accounting class professor, the banker Maurice Lim said this to our class before and he is right. 

5. Easy money is often easily lost.--- John Gokongwei, Jr. once told me this in passing, years ago before the rise of Napoles and her extravagant daughter. Moral lesson? Don’t go for short-cuts, don’t go for get-rich-quick schemes.

6. Take care of your shinyong or creditworthiness---Pay loans on time, safeguard your integrity among bankers, creditors and your suppliers. Many of the rich flourished even without capital, their capital was their shinyong.

7. Think of debt or loan as an obligation, not as a windfall or income. --- We shouldn’t also be addicted to too much and unnecessary debts. Mad magazine once said, which can apply to many of us too: “The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.”

8. Do not be afraid of discomfort for yourself or your family members, this advice is true even for self-made entrepreneurs who are raising children thinking they don’t want the kids “to suffer like they did before”. Don’t forget: hardships, discomfort, injustices and struggles are part of the character-building process for many of the self-made rich people in the world.

9. Take care of the small change, not just the big amounts. "A penny saved is a penny earned," said Benjamin Franklin.

10. Do not gamble, except calculated risks in business. Nobody wins in gambling except the casinos. Do not follow example of my great-great-grandfather’s nephew and successor Dy Chau Si, nicknamed “Lau Ah-Si” who gambled and lost 18 commercial shops in one evening in 19th century Manila.

11. Become rich by helping enrich others.--- “Never forget: the secret of creating riches for oneself is to create them for others,” said Sir John Templeton. We enrich ourselves if we can help enrich not only our clients, our business associates, investors and suppliers, but also our employees. China Bank has one of the best corporate slogans: “Your success is our business”

12. Don’t forget the ability to demand payment or collect. --- Lucio Tan years ago told me this one principle from Tao Zhugong (722-476 BC), whose former name was Fan Li. He was a statesman who became a tycoon 2,500 years ago in ancient China through business and his wife Xi Shi was also one of the world’s most beautiful women. Generating a lot of sales is not enough or is nothing, if we do not collect well. Tao Zhugong’s 24 business principles are studied by many overseas Chinese entrepreneurs worldwide.

13. Be fair to people in business dealings. Andrew Gotianun and his wife Mercedes Tan Gotianun of Filinvest Group and East West Bank told me this phrase, which they said has guided the way they do business for decades. I also learned this from my realty client before the late Jane Mallare, wife of ethnic Chinese lawyer and World News publisher Atty. Florencio Mallare.  

14. Low profit margins and big sales volumes. --- This is an old Chinese business strategy, look at SM stores of Henry Sy family, the Cebu Pacific Air and the former Sun Cellular of John Gokongwei, Jr.

15. Invest in people to reap riches --- “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people, ” said an old Chinese proverb.

16. Be an iconoclast, think differently from the crowd---  “Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone else is buying. That’s not just a catchy slogan. It’s the very essence of successful investing,” said J. Paul Getty, who was named by the 1966 Guinness Book of Records as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1.2 billion (approximately $8.6 billion in 2012).  “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,” advised Warren Buffet, today the world’s richest investor.

Warren Buffet image below, sourced from women2.com

17. Customer is king, customer service is important--- “Customers are jade; merchandise is grass,” said a Chinese proverb

18. Riches and big companies start from small --- “The loftiest towers rise from the ground,” this is an old Chinese proverb quoted by pre-war Iloilo’s immigrant tycoon Pedro Marquez Lim to his grandson John L. Gokongwei, Jr. when the latter was a little boy walking in Calle Rosario (now Quintin Paredes Street), Binondo, Manila and marvelling at the buildings. Let us patiently build up riches from small beginnings and persevere.

19. Delayed self-gratification is key to riches & success---Save and think for the long-term, if necessary, self-sacrifice for the future generations. The Hollywood actor Will Smith hit the bull’s eye, when he said: "Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."

20. Non-stop education is source of riches and success. Primacy of education is rooted in the moral teachings of the philosopher Confucius. I am not referring to just the act of collecting school diplomas, but of non-stop learning, reading, asking. Brian Tracy said: “Today the greatest single source of wealth is between your ears.”

21. The goal is not money itself, but excellence, productivity and fulfilment. Money is only a scorecard.  Why do many of the so-called “working rich” keep on working still up to now, it is not about the money, it’s the thrill, the sense of adventure and fulfilment in creating and making the world a better place through one’s business and vocation. The great philosopher Confucius said: “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

22. Success is our birthright and destiny, we just have to struggle to claim it. Every crisis, failure or obstacles are only temporary setbacks or aberrations, because we’ll soon flourish! Don’t forget: The poorest man on earth is not the person without money, but those without a dream.

23. Giving is real wealth--- Not only do I personally believe that being generous to others is the best way to spend and truly enjoy riches, I also believe generosity also brings us so much unexpected blessings and more wealth too.

Erich Fromm said: “Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.” The self-made tycoon Andrew Carnegie said: “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.” I’m not religious, but the Bible also said in Acts 20: 35: “The Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Immigrant tycoon & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, image below from explorepahistory.com

***

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A secret behind successful, hardworking & highly efficient people, why keep on striving even when already a success?

Why some already seemingly successful folks still work, study and innovate non-stop?

A lot of people say to hardworking people in Tagalog or the Filipino language: "Hindi mo madala 'yan sa hukay. (You cannot take it with you to the grave)."

For most hardworking, disciplined and efficient people, it's never about the money or the accomplishments, it's being productive, making the most of life and our God-given talents, it's about striving for excellence nonstop.
Here is a quote I want to share, which can partly explain the phenmenon of disciplined and driven people...

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me." --- Erma Bombeck


World's wealthiest investor tycoon, the hardworking and simple-living Warren Buffett, also a philanthropist. Image below sourced from money.cnn.com





Asia's richest self-made tycoon, Hong Kong billionaire taipan and philanthropist Li Ka Shing who is well-known for his frugality, simple lifestyle and hard work. Image below sourced from ualberta.ca




The Italian artist and genius Michaelangelo, this image below sourced from socialmedianews.com.au

Zig Ziglar recently died on November 28, 2012 at age 86. He once said this: "You can have anything you want in life if you just help others get what they want."

Another inspiring quote by the late Zig Ziglar in the image below:

The "rags-to-riches" Oprah Winfrey, 7 advices on how to be successful...




"Failure is a stepping-stone to greatness."



"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."



"The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free."



"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."



"I trust that everything happens for a reason, even when we're not wise enough to see it."

"Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you're going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus."

 "Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure."

Zara founder now richer than Warren Buffett, 3rd wealthiest billionaire in the world---self-made man Amancio Ortega of Spain!

No wonder when I had my exclusive interview with Japan's wealthiest tycoon and the founder of Uniqlo Tadashi Yanai, he told me his ambition is to surpass Zara fashion brand. Now I understand and know why. Read on...

Congratulations! Bloomberg recently published its Billionaire Index, and it has ranked self-made entrepreneur Amancio Ortega as the third richest man in the world with a net worth of US$47.4 billion.

The media-shy and low-profile Spanish businessman just surpassed the world-famous Warren Buffet, but Ortega still needs to earn $16 billion to eclipse another legend Bill Gates fopr world's No. 2 richest rank.

I'm originally torn between where to post this news, in the Will Soon Flourish blog on success or in the Will Soon Fashion blog.

Since the main phanomenon here in this news is not just Zara as a fashion brand or even the shared second article below on the inherited billions of the Zara and Prada heiresses, but my focus here in this post is to celebrate the success of the Zara founder as innovative and self-made entrepreneur plus the amazing rise in riches and high fashion purchasing power of such emerging market nations like China and Brazil, I've decided to post this item under the Will Soon Flourish blog celebrating flourishing success!

Congratulations not only to the founder of the global Zara fashion brand, but also to the new emerging economic powers China and Brazil---your new-rich consumers and buyers have helped some old world Europe families become so much richer despite the troubles in the Eurozone and USA economies.



Here's a short background on the world's new third wealthiest billionaire is Amancio Ortega of Zara.



Born in León in March, 1936, Amancio Ortega y Gaona is a self-made-man who started out at age 14 as a gofer in a shirt store in La Coruña, Galicia (north-western Spain).

In 1963 he started Confecciones Goa (his initials in reverse), which made bathrobes.

In 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular global chain of  fashion boutiques called Zara.



(Images of Zara fasion)












Below is the Bloomberg news report on some of the young scions of the Zara and Prada fashion dynasties of Europe, and their fortunes courtesy of the rising buying power of such "economic miracles" as China and Brazil.

(Image of Prada fashion below)




Zara & Prada heiresses--- Hidden European Fashion Billionaires Undressed on China

By Robert LaFranco - Oct 19, 2012 7:02 AM GMT+0800

How to Become Very Rich From Europe's Debt Crisis

Surging demand for $100 Zara dresses and $3,000 Prada handbags in emerging markets has created three new billionaires who hail from countries at the center of the European debt crisis.

Enlarge image

Hidden Billionaires Unzipped From Europe With $950 China Shoes

Gianluca Colla/Bloomberg

A Prada SpA store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall in Milan.

A Prada SpA store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall in Milan. Photographer: Gianluca Colla/Bloomberg

Enlarge image

Hidden Billionaires Unzipped From Europe With $950 China Shoes

Thomas Lee/Bloomberg

Shoppers stand in front of a Prada SpA store on Canton Road in Hong Kong, China.

Shoppers stand in front of a Prada SpA store on Canton Road in Hong Kong, China. Photographer: Thomas Lee/Bloomberg

Enlarge image

Hidden Billionaires Unzipped From Europe With $950 China Shoes

Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg

Customers queue to enter a Prada SpA store in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong, China.

Customers queue to enter a Prada SpA store in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong, China. Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg

Sandra Ortega Mera, the 44-year-old daughter of Amancio Ortega, Europe’s richest man, is worth $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. She owns 1 percent of Arteixo, Spain-based Inditex SA (ITX), the world’s largest clothing retailer and owner of the Zara clothing chain, whose shares have gained 58 percent this year as unemployment in its home country hovers above 20 percent.

Marina Prada and her brother Alberto Prada Bianchi -- two grandchildren of Prada SpA (1913) founder Mario Prada -- are worth $2.6 billion each. Shares of the Italian luxury-goods maker are up 75 percent year-to-date in Hong Kong trading. The Italian government said in September the country’s gross domestic product will probably fall 2.4 percent this year.

“You can’t really get more of a difficult home market than Italy and Spain right now,” said Rahul Sharma, managing director at Neev Capital, a London-based retail advisory firm. “For both companies, the ability to deliver a sense of freshness to their customers has been a big part of their success in Europe. When customers feel like they are seeing something different they are a lot less price sensitive. That becomes aspirational when you go to Asia where the product seems more exotic.”

None of the three billionaires has appeared on an international wealth ranking. Jose Leyte, a spokesman for Sandra Ortega, said she declined to comment on her net worth. A spokesman for Prada in Milan said the siblings also declined to comment.

China, Brazil

Defying Spain’s and Italy’s ravaging debt loads and the threat of impending fiscal austerity measures, shares of Inditex and Prada are rising on the demand for their products in countries such as China and Brazil.
Zara’s pricing is an enticement for cost-conscious shoppers searching for affordable fashion. The chain offers items such as $17 scarves and $60 skirts. Inditex, which operates eight retail lines, opened 166 stores in about 100 cities during the first half, including 32 locations in China, the world’s second- largest economy. Zara’s first online store in China opened in September.

Inditex said last month that earnings rose 32 percent to 944 million euros ($1.2 billion) in the first half. Revenue increased 17 percent to more than 7 billion euros on the strength of its global market expansion, the company said.

$950 Shoes

Prada, which sells $3,000 handbags and $950 shoes, has benefited from Chinese consumers’ hunger for luxury goods. The company reported last month that first-half profit surged almost 60 percent to 289 million euros on a 19 percent revenue gain. Revenue of more than 1.5 billion euros was fueled by a 45 percent sales increase in the Asia Pacific region.

“We understand consumers from all over the world,” said Patrizio Bertelli, the company’s 66-year-old billionaire CEO, on the company’s earnings call Sept. 24. “For instance, Chinese consumers are much more fashion-conscious and aware of what they wear than they were a few years ago. Consumers globally need to be enticed to buy.”

Mario Prada opened his first luxury goods store in Milan in 1912. The store sold traveling trunks, leather handbags, beauty cases and leather accessories. In 1919, it became an official supplier to the Italian royal family. Prada emerged as an international brand in the 1970s, when his granddaughter Miuccia Prada led the company’s design strategy while Bertelli ran sales and distribution. Miuccia Prada, 64, is the company’s chairwoman. Bertelli is her husband.

Accumulated Cash

Marina and Alberto Prada, who are Miuccia’s older siblings and whose ages couldn’t be confirmed, work as consultants to the company: Marina in public relations; Alberto in location scouting and distribution. They each own 12 percent stakes in Prada worth more than $2 billion through three Milan-based family holding companies: Bellatrix, Gipafin and Prada Holding BV.

Since 2009, Marina and Alberto have each accumulated a cash portfolio estimated at almost $200 million, including proceeds from dividends and shares sold in last year’s initial public offering.
Miuccia Prada and Bertelli each own 28 percent of the company. Their stakes are valued at about $5.7 billion. They have both earned more than $500 million from compensation, dividends and share sales since the IPO.

Women’s Bathrobes

Inditex sold shares to the public in 2001, enriching both Amancio Ortega and his now ex-wife, Rosalia Mera. Mera, 68, who co-founded the company making women’s bathrobes out of the couple’s home in 1963, controls more than 4 percent of Inditex through Rosp Corunna, a closely held investment company based in La Coruna, Spain. Mera owns 86 percent of the shares held by the investment company; the couple’s daughter, Sandra Ortega, owns the remaining 14 percent.

While Sandra Ortega isn’t involved in Inditex management, she manages Rosp Corunna with her mother. The holding company sold about $550 million of Inditex stock in the IPO, and used the proceeds to fund a portfolio of startup companies, including Zeltia SA, a publicly traded Spanish pharmaceutical company, in which it owns a 5 percent stake.

Passing Buffett

Like her father, who passed Warren Buffett to become the world’s third-richest person in August, Sandra Ortega prefers to stay out of the limelight. A trained psychologist, she lives in Galicia on Spain’s northwest coast with her husband and three children.

Sandra Ortega also serves as vice president of the Fundacion Paideia Galiza, which focuses on helping disabled people integrate into general society. The foundation was inspired by her brother, Marcos, who is mentally impaired.

Retail accounts for almost half of the 20 biggest fortunes in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Amancio Ortega’s fortune now stands at $53.6 billion, more than $10 billion ahead of Ingvar Kamprad, founder of the IKEA furniture chain. Europe’s next three largest fortunes include L’Oreal SA cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt, who has a net worth of $25.5 billion, as well as Hennes & Mauritz AB chairman Stefan Persson and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA founder Bernard Arnault, both of whom have a net worth of about $25 billion.

Two Success Tips from one of the greatest strategists of an ancient civilization







"夫君子之行：靜以修身，儉以養德；非淡泊無以明志，非寧靜無以致遠。" - 諸葛亮

"One should seek serenity to cultivate the body, thriftiness to cultivate the morals. If you are not simple and frugal, your ambition will not sparkle. If you are not calm and cool, you will not reach far."

--- statesman, military strategist, poet, scholar & inventor Zhuge Liang  (181–234 AD) of China's Three Kingdoms era





Below are some of the images of Zhuge Liang, also known as Kong Ming, who is revered all over East Asia for his extraordinary wisdom, benevolence and legendary genius

Congratulations! Inspiring News and Success Story!

Softbank led by "rags-to-riches" tycoon Masayoshi Son, the buyer of America's third biggest wireless telecom firm Sprint Nextel Corp. through 70% of its stocks for US$20.1 billion!






Here are some reasons why I admire Masayoshi Son (not in any order of importance order):

1. He's a self-made entrepreneur




2. He personifies innovation

(Pronounced in Niponggo as "koushin", these are Japanese language kanji or Chinese characters for the word "innovation")





(Below are Japanese language kanji or Chinese characters for "innovation")


(Masayoshi Son with the late Apple founder Steve Jobs)




(Masayoshi Son once said Steve Jobs is "the next Leonardo DaVinci")





3. He's a bold visionary, this purchase is said to be the biggest ever overseas investment foray of a Japanese entrepreneur




4. He's now the second wealthiest tycoon in Japan, next only to the Uniqlo boss (whose exclusive interview I did and featured in another post in this Will Soon Flourish blog)



5. He's ethnic Korean, part of an ethnic minority which has been traditionally discriminated against by Japanese society

6. He's young and already so eminently successful on a global scale

7. He's thriving and winning, despite the stagnant and declining Japanese economy mismanaged by its lackluster politicians

8. He's Asian!






Below is a news report by Agence France Presse (AFP), which I'm sharing to all. Amazing this tycoon!

Masayoshi Son: From pigswill to telecoms tycoon

By Hiroshi Hiyama | AFP News – 7 hours ago

(Reuters) - Japanese mobile operator Softbank Corp said it will buy about 70 percent of Sprint Nextel Corp for $20.1 billion, giving Softbank the American toehold it has long desired and Sprint the capital to expand its network and potentially buy peers. The deal for the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier represents the most a Japanese firm has spent on an overseas acquisition.

Announced by Softbank's billionaire founder and chief Masayoshi Son and Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse at a packed news Shares in Japanese mobile carrier Softbank soared in Tokyo on Tuesday as investors piled back into a stock that had been pounded since news of its $20 billion takeover of Sprint Nextel emerged last week. Softbank, the bold brainchild of Masayoshi Son, on Monday announced it was buying a controlling stake in one of the world's biggest mobile phone operators.

Not bad for a man who grew up scrounging food from his neighbours to feed to livestock.

In a deal worth more than $20 billion, Softbank will take control of US-based Sprint Nextel, the third-biggest US mobile firm, in one of Japan Inc's biggest ever overseas adventures.

The acquisition is the latest in a run of buy-ins and buy-outs that have marked the career of one of Japan's most colourful entrepreneurs, a man who has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch.

It is all a far cry from where it began.
Son was born in 1957 in Saga prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu to ethnic Korean parents.

His family made their living raising poultry and hogs in a country where Koreans have long faced discrimination stemming from the Japanese occupation of the peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

"I sat in a cart when I was small. It was so slimy that I felt sick. My grandmother, who is dead now, was pulling the cart," Son recalled in a 1996 speech when accepting a business award.

"We collected leftover food from neighbours and fed it to cattle. It was slimy. We worked hard," he said. "And I've worked hard."

That hard work has paid dividends -- Son is now Japan's second richest man, worth an estimated $7.2 billion, according to Forbes, behind Tadashi Yanai, president of Fast Retailing, the operator of the popular Uniqlo clothing chain.

Son went to the United States as a 16-year-old and later studied at the University of California at Berkeley where he began his business activities.

His first big success came when he invented a computer system to translate English into Japanese. He later sold it to Sharp for one million dollars.

In 1981, a year after returning from the United States, he founded Softbank as a software wholesaler and publisher of computer magazines.

Since going public in 1994, Softbank has consistently made headlines with its aggressive strategy of taking over Japanese and foreign businesses, a jolt to the staid world of corporate Japan.

The company was once the top shareholder in Yahoo and still very profitably operates Yahoo Japan despite woes facing the global portal site. It has been credited with pushing broadband Internet access in Japan.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Softbank bought and sold Ziff-Davis Communications, the US publisher of computer magazines including PC Magazine, as well as chipmaker Kingston Technologies, and conference organisers Interface and Comdex.

It also owns the Fukuoka-based Hawks baseball team.

Monday's deal has echoes in Softbank's entry into the mobile sector with its 2006 acquisition of the struggling Japanese arm of Vodafone for about 1.75 trillion yen ($22.3 billion at today's exchange rate).

The company shook up a market long dominated by NTT DoCoMo and smaller rival KDDI, introducing a significantly cheaper fee schedule and bringing Apple's iPhone to Japan.

Although it no longer has the monopoly on the wildly successful iPhone, Softbank Mobile is Japan's third-largest carrier, and does particularly well among urbanites, at whom its savvy marketing campaigns are often aimed.

The 55-year-old Son is now evangelically expanding into the solar power sector as Japan searches for safe and clean alternatives to nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima atomic crisis.

With plans for the nation's biggest solar plant -- on the northernmost island of Hokkaido -- Son earlier this year unveiled a plant in Kyoto, telling reporters it was the future.

"If we keep building solar panels and invest in solar energy, within 20 years it will not only become the safest and the cleanest source of electricity but also the cheapest."

Success lessons from Olympic heroes  The Philippine Star August 13, 2012 Bull Market, Bull Sheet column By Wilson Lee Flores I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ---II Timothy 4: 7 In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory, there is a glory to be found if one has done his best. ---Eric Liddell             What are the many priceless success lessons we can learn from Olympic heroes? Here are some: 1.      Team Work---The 1992 USA basketball “Dream Team” led by Michael Jordan, 2012 U.S. basketball team and come-from-behind 2012 China gymnastics men’s team all won on the strength of their dynamic team work. (The gold medal-winning USA basketball "Dream Team" standing on the podium at the Sports Palace of Barcelona City, Spain on August 8, 1992 during the Barcelo Olympics. Agence France Presse photo) 2.      Perseverance---Asian sports star and entrepreneur Li Ning started training in gymnastics at eight years old, then was selected for the China national team at age 17. He kept training and winning until at age 21, he won 6 medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (3 of which were golds). American swimmer Mark Spitz started competing at only age 6, began training at age 9 under swimming coach Sherm Chavoor who mentored seven Olympic medal winners. Spitz was only 15 when he competed in his first international competition, the 1965 Maccabiah Games (open to all the world’s Jews) in Tel Aviv where he won four golds.   At age 22, he won a then unprecedented seven gold medals (surpassed only by Michael Phelps in 2008 Beijing) at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 1972, Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed, a record that still stands. Li Ning and Mark Spitz are only two examples of what journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers referred to as the "10,000-Hour Rule", based on a study by Anders Ericsson. Gladwell claims this as key to success in any field, that practising a specific task for around 10,000 hours can make people world-class successes like self-made billionaire Bill Gates in computers and the Beatles in pop music. (Gymnast Li Ning winning in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) American swimmer Mark Spitz started competing at age six, began training at age nine under swimming coach Sherm Chavoor, who mentored seven Olympic medal winners. Spitz was only 15 when he competed in his first international competition, the 1965 Maccabiah Games (for Jewish athletes worldwide) in Tel Aviv, where he won four golds. At age 22, he won a then-unprecedented seven gold medals (surpassed only by Michael Phelps in 2008 Beijing) at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 1972, Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed, a record that still stands. (The great swimmer Mark Spitz with his record-breaking 7 Olympic gold medals) Li Ning and Mark Spitz are the only two examples of what journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers referred to as the “10,000-Hour Rule,” based on a study by Anders Ericsson. Gladwell claims this as key to success in any field, that practicing a specific task for around 10,000 hours can make people world-class successes like self-made billionaire Bill Gates in computers and the Beatles in pop music.

3.      Aim for perfection---Nobody’s perfect, but we should all still try. Romania’s Nadia Comaneci aspired for excellence and won three gold medals at the 1976 Montreal Olympics at only age 14, also becoming the first gymnast to ever win a perfect 10 score (she got a total of seven perfect 10 scores). She also became the youngest ever Olympic gymnastics all-around champion.

(The amazing Nadia Camaneci of Romania)

4.      Overcome crises and skeptics---Michael Phelps was age 9 when his parents divorced and he was in the sixth grade when diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his teen idol Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe said it was highly unlikely for Phelps to win eight gold medals. Phelps stuck Thorpe’s remarks on his locker as motivation, he then disproved Thorpe other experts by winning a record-shattering eight gold medals.

In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, U.S. athlete Greg Louganis shocked TV viewers worldwide by accidentally slamming his head into the springboard while completing a dive in the preliminary rounds, resulting in a concussion. Amazingly, he recovered and courageously went on to recover and went on to win the gold medal.

(Photo below of Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, who wrongly predicted that Michael Phelps couldn't win eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics)

(Sports Illustrated magazine had Michael Phelps on its August 2008 cover, wearing all eight of his gold medals---a new world record---in a shot similar to the iconic 1972 photo of Mark Spitz, who wore seven Olympic gold medals.) 

In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, US athlete Greg Louganis shocked TV viewers worldwide by accidentally slamming his head on the springboard while completing a dive in the preliminary rounds, resulting in a concussion. Amazingly, he recovered and courageously went on to win the gold medal.

(Photos of diver Greg Louganis)

5.      Success is the best revenge---In the 1981 Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, it tells the tale of Cambridge-educated British Jew Harold Abraham who run to defy anti-Jewish racial prejudice (the other story was that of Scottish Christian Eric Liddell who run for the glory of God). Abraham won gold in the 100-meter sprint in the 1924 Paris Olympics by breaking the Olympic record.

A black sharecropper’s son Jesse Owens of the U.S. stunned the world and defied Nazi Germany’s racist Adolf Hitler by winning four gold medals and becoming the biggest star at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

1960 Rome Olympics gold medallist Muhammad Ali overcame racial prejudice,  political controversies as well as arrest and stripped of his boxing title for refusing to join the U.S. military due to his opposition to the immoral Vietnam War.   

Ali wrote in his 1975 autobiography that he threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River after being refused service at a “whites-only” restaurant and fighting with a white gang. Years later Ali was given a replacement medal during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in Atlanta where he lit the torch at the opening ceremony.

After overcoming many crises, Ali would win many victories to become a legendary world heavyweight boxing champion whom Sports Illustrated in 1999 crowned as “Sportsman of the Century”.

(Harold Maurice Abraham)

A black sharecropper’s son, Jesse Owens of the US stunned the world and defied Nazi Germany’s racist Adolf Hitler by winning four gold medals and becoming the biggest star of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

In 1960, Rome Olympics gold medallist Muhammad Ali overcame racial prejudice an political controversies. He was arrested and stripped of his boxing title for refusing to join the US military due to his opposition to the Vietnam War.

Ali wrote in his 1975 autobiography that he threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River after being refused service at a “whites-only” restaurant and fighting with a white gang. Years later, Ali was given a replacement medal during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he earlier lit the torch at the opening ceremony.

(Muhammed Ali Art work below by Gary Tymon)

After overcoming many crises, Ali would win many victories to become the legendary world heavyweight boxing champion whom Sports Illustrated in 1999 crowned as “Sportsman of the Century.”

6.      Lose with dignity---China’s legendary track superstar and world’s best hurdler Liu Xiang lost in the 2012 London Olympics. He knocked over the first hurdle, injuring his right ankle and inflaming an Achilles tendon injury which in 2008 ruined his medal hopes at the Beijing Olympics.

Despite the shocking fall, Liu stood up and painfully hopped on his left foot all the way down the remainder of the track in a symbolic completion of the race. He then stopped to kiss the final hurdle and was taken away on a wheelchair.  

Simon N. Ricketts of The Guardian said: “A cracking bit of Olympic spirit. Hurdler Liu Xiang, despite injury, goes back to complete the 110 meter hurdles.” Trinidad and Tobago’s former world sprint champion and ESPN sportscaster said: “The 110 hurdles isn’t as fun without Liu Xiang. Always thought he was amazing to watch.” BBC quoted Liu’s winning competitor Great Britain's hurdler Andy Turner saying: “In my opinion, Liu Xiang is the greatest hurdler ever.”

 (Olympic spirit: Despite his shocking fall, Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang stood up and painfully hopped the remainder of the track in a symbolic completion of the race)

7.      Winning beyond gold and glory---2012 London Olympics chief and former athlete Sebastian Coe said of Michael Phelps after the latter won a record 19th Olympic medal: “I think you can say it is self-evident that he is the most successful. I am not sure he is the greatest.” I agree with Coe, because I personally believe the greatest Olympian was the heroic Scottish runner and international rugby athlete Eric Henry Liddell.

Liddell was one of two athletes whose stories became the excellent movie Chariots of Fire. Even officially atheist China called him “China’s first Olympic champion” due to his birth, work and death in that Asian country.

A devout Christian, Liddell made world headlines in the 1924 Paris Olympics for refusing to race on a Sunday because it was the Sabbath day and he was forced to withdraw from his favorite event---the 100 meters.

Though unfavored in the 400-meters race, Liddell wanted to compete. As he prepared near the starting blocks, an American slipped a piece of paper in his hand with the Bible verse from 1 Samuel 2:30 saying: "Those who honour me I will honour." Liddell ran with that piece of paper in his hand. He won and broke the existing world record with a time of 47.6 seconds.

(An extraordinary man who gave his whole life to God and others, Scottish athlete Eric Liddell may be the greatest Olympian of all time)

Instead of seeking success after Olympics glory, Liddell went to war-torn China to work as a missionary and following in the footsteps of his father. He worked as a chemistry and sports teacher for a boys school.

When the Japanese armies invaded, he sent his wife and kids to Canada but he stayed in Tianjin City to continue his mission. Once in 1938, Liddell heard that a wounded Chinese soldier lay helpless in a temple 20 miles from the mission hospital. He cycled the rough terrain to help him and found another injured soldier who had survived a Japanese execution. He made a makeshift cart to push both men to the hospital.

When Liddell was detained at an internment camp, he worked tirelessly---helping the elderly, conducting Bible study, teaching kids lessons or organizing sports. In a prisoner exchange bargain, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arranged for his liberty, but Liddell selflessly gave up his freedom to let a pregnant woman leave instead.

Liddell became sick inside the prison camp in 1944 and died on February 21, 1945 at age 43. He never saw his third child, Maureen Liddell.

A fellow prisoner, Stephen Metcalfe, later wrote about Liddell: “He gave me two things. One was his worn-out running shoes, but the best thing he gave me was his baton of forgiveness. He taught me to love my enemies, the Japanese, and to pray for them.”

He was an extraordinary man who gave his whole life to God and for others; I admire the Scottish athlete Eric Liddell as the greatest Olympian of all time.

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