Risk Taking
Risk taking is one of the most influential deciding factors in whether a person makes it big or remains ordinary. A generally accepted idea is that the higher the risk a person takes, the greater the potential profit will be. While managing risk is an imperative skill to possess for maintaining wealth, learning to take risks in the first place is what makes wealth. The research conducted on “Rags to Riches” Americans shows that every single person took a significant risk at some point in their lives that lead to success. Taking risks is an essential part in the success of Harold Simmons, Kirk Kerkorian, and Sheldon Adelson. Harold Simmons’ career was built by taking risk. Harold Simmons was born in Wood County, Texas to a lower class family supported financially by teachers. After receiving degrees in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, Simmons began work as a U.S. bank examiner. In 1960 Simmons took his first large risk: he took out a $95,000 loan and, in combination with $5,000 of his own savings, purchased a drugstore named “University Pharmacy.” This great risk jumpstarted his successful career as after building a chain of over 100 stores from his original investment, Simmons was able to sell the chain for over $50 …show more content…
Adelson was born to a low income family in Boston, Massachusetts. Adelson’s risk differs from the risks taken by Kerkorian and Simmons as it was not based on an investment. Adelson, after beginning vending and newspaper businesses in Boston, entered and dropped out of City College of New York. He had taken a massive risk in deciding that instead of getting a degree, he would pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. This risk ended up starting his road to unimaginable wealth: by his early 30s he had become a millionaire. Adelson then took this money and, through casino development and computer trade shows, would go on to build a $34.9 billion
Risk taking is one of the most influential deciding factors in whether a person makes it big or remains ordinary. A generally accepted idea is that the higher the risk a person takes, the greater the potential profit will be. While managing risk is an imperative skill to possess for maintaining wealth, learning to take risks in the first place is what makes wealth. The research conducted on “Rags to Riches” Americans shows that every single person took a significant risk at some point in their lives that lead to success. Taking risks is an essential part in the success of Harold Simmons, Kirk Kerkorian, and Sheldon Adelson. Harold Simmons’ career was built by taking risk. Harold Simmons was born in Wood County, Texas to a lower class family supported financially by teachers. After receiving degrees in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, Simmons began work as a U.S. bank examiner. In 1960 Simmons took his first large risk: he took out a $95,000 loan and, in combination with $5,000 of his own savings, purchased a drugstore named “University Pharmacy.” This great risk jumpstarted his successful career as after building a chain of over 100 stores from his original investment, Simmons was able to sell the chain for over $50 …show more content…
Adelson was born to a low income family in Boston, Massachusetts. Adelson’s risk differs from the risks taken by Kerkorian and Simmons as it was not based on an investment. Adelson, after beginning vending and newspaper businesses in Boston, entered and dropped out of City College of New York. He had taken a massive risk in deciding that instead of getting a degree, he would pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. This risk ended up starting his road to unimaginable wealth: by his early 30s he had become a millionaire. Adelson then took this money and, through casino development and computer trade shows, would go on to build a $34.9 billion