Thomas J. Stanley : Millionaire Next Door Author; Researcher; Expert

This respondent edited the printed screener, wrote outside the boxes: "I don't own a Ferrari, I own three!  . . . Rolex? I have three plus . . .Breitling, Cartier, Movado, Omega, Tag Heuer . . . (wine collection) 2,000 bottles." Mr. Multiplinski, aka Mr. M, was first profiled in Stop Acting Rich. But it is time for an update.  Mr. M is a member of  the glittering rich club, extremely wealthy with a net worth that exceeds $100 million, and a taxable income in the multimillions.  He is not shy about communicating his financial achievement. . . has a very strong need ....

In the year prior to our economic meltdown, 16 million passenger vehicles were sold in the United States.  This year I estimate that less than 12 million will be sold.  Certainly this is a serious decline.   In spite of this decline, I believe that some people can still make a good living selling cars and a lot of other products.  And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Beverly Bishop spent more than 30 years as an extraordinary sales professional. In fact, I profiled Beverly in Millionaire Women Next Door.  During her career she sold over $100M worth of motor vehicles. ...

I recently asked nearly 1,000 millionaires nationwide "What was your first full-time job?".  Out of those 1,000 respondents, 137 answered, "sales/marketing professional."  In fact, this proportion places the "sales/marketing  vocation" as the #1 first full time job.  Does this mean that people in this profession have a significantly higher probability than those in other jobs of becoming wealthy?  No!  There is a smaller proportion of millionaires who are sales professionals than would be expected given the large size of the sales professionals in general employed inAmerica.    Only about one-half of those millionaires who started with a career in sales remain in...

I have taught more than 10,000 students during my career as a college professor.  If I was asked today to list the top ten students whom I predicted would succeed in business, surely Charles aka Chip would make the list of the 1 in 1,000.  Chip was a bright student.  But being bright alone will not qualify one for a job with a top corporation.  Nor will it necessarily underlie a successful career in general.  I often wonder how those major corporations chose those 1 in 1,000 students of mine. How did they determine that people like Chip would flourish in...

Some of the most productive and well run automobile dealerships can be found in small town America.  They rely upon repeat business and a good reputation among a finite population.  Word of mouth information, both good and bad, spreads quickly in this environment.    The success of one particular small town dealership was highlighted in a recent article [see:  Rick Kranz, "Family handles tough guys, tough times in 1-car store," Automotive News, January 11, 2010, p. 20].  The Chrysler dealership that Mr. Kranz profiles has been in the same family for 67 years.  When asked about the factors that underlie his success,...