Bill Shorten and his school mates often used to joke about 'running the world'.
While the banter was considered tongue-in-cheek at Melbourne's exclusive Xavier College, those that knew young Bill best felt he probably believed it.
Even as a student, Shorten was driven by an unwavering belief in his own destiny.
Former classmates speak of a self-assured young man who, later at Monash University, would skip lessons, borrow notes and just scrape through classes.
All the while, Bill was thinking of the bigger picture, constantly 'ringing around and meeting people' in his quest for future political greatness.
He had a huge 'work ethic' and arguably an ego to match.
Bill Shorten and his elite group of school mates used to joke about 'running the world'. The would-be prime minister went to Xavier College in Kew and mixed company with high society
Bill Shorten as a university student at Monash. He graduated with a double Bachelor in Arts and Laws in 1992 and had a brief stint working for a law firm
With Shorten on the cusp of becoming the nation's next prime minister, Australians are keen to know more about what makes him tick, where he came from and what shaped his beliefs.
One ex 'Xavier boy', who went onto mix with those in Shorten's circles, told Daily Mail Australia the favourite to win the election was among a 'golden circle' of mates with aspirations of glory.
'They'd joke about that they were going to run the world - although everyone thought Bill probably meant it,' he said.
Xavier is considered one 'the best-connected school in Melbourne', with its notable alumni include, two state governors, two deputy prime ministers, one state premier, two deputy premiers and numerous Supreme Court justices.
Shorten, who makes much of his working-class roots, says his parents were forced to scrimp and save to allow him to attend the exclusive school, which is just 6km from Melbourne's CBD in leafy Kew.
Bill Snr worked as a manager on Melbourne docks while his mother Ann worked as a teacher - before becoming a barrister later in life.
In arguably the key moment of this year's election, Shorten was controversially accused by Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph of deliberately omitting his mother's admission to the Bar during his Q&A appearance on the ABC to suit his political narrative.
However, rather than leading to the public questioning his character, the attack only seems to have garnered sympathy for him and potentially boosted his approval rating.
Bill Shorten was born to an academic mother and union official father, and sent to a private Jesuit Catholic school in Melbourne. He is pictured at Xavier College where he was in the soccer team
Xavier College's Kew campus. Bill Shorten attended school at Xavier before moving onto university at Monash. He would go onto become the head of a union and expects to become prime minister
Bill Shorten kisses his wife Chloe Shorten at the 2018 Victorian Labor State Conference held at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne. He married his wife not long after splitting with his ex-wife Debbie Beale, who was the daughter of former federal MP Julian Beale
At Xavier, Shorten did the numbers for house elections and by university was already well consumed by the political game.
A friend at that time was quoted in The Monthly declaring his mates were fascinated about Shorten's worth ethic.
'It was his ability to do it around the clock. When we were all reeling
