For some people making their first billion takes a whole lifetime, but a growing number today are crushing their way to the benchmark in just a few years.
The majority of the world's most wealthy men have made their billions rapidly in tech, including Jeff Bezos with Amazon, Bill Gates with Microsoft, Larry Ellison with Oracle and Mark Zuckerberg through Facebook.
Today it's the new school of tech entrepreneurs who are smashing records, with Bezos raking in his first billion within five years and Zuckerberg within just three.
In contrast Gates and Ellison, who soared through the personal computing boom of 1990s, took 11 years and 16 years respectively to make their first billion.
The old school of investors like Warren Buffet, Zara founder Amancio Ortega, Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and casino baron Sheldon Adelson, took decades to reach the milestone.
The total number of billionaires worldwide is 2,153 and their wealth combined is an estimated $743bn.
Jeff Bezos, 55, the world's richest man, with an estimated net worth of $131bn, founded Amazon in 1994 from his garage in Seattle.
He made his first million within three years after Amazon's first initial public offering hauled in $54million and it took him just another two years to make a billion.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos during the JFK Space Summit at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston earlier this month
But after 1999 when his wealth was at $10.1bn it rapidly dropped to just $1.5bn in 2003, recovering with a quadrupling between 2005 to 2007 and standing at $8.7bn.
Today he rakes in around $2,500 a second and his net worth is bigger than the GDP of Iceland, Afghanistan and Costa Rica put together.
After 25 years of marriage to Mackenzie Bezos, she is set to become the world's third richest woman after they divorce, Business Insider reports, with a 4% share in Amazon worth over $33bn.
Bill Gates (Microsoft), first million in six years, first billion in 11 yearsBill Gates, 63, is one of the most famous men in the world and almost all of us are utterly reliant on his technology launched by Microsoft in 1975.
His net worth is estimated at $96.5bn, with Forbes putting him in second place in their global rich list and he earned $4bn last year - a colossal turnover considering he only owns a 1.3% stake in his firm today.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates participates in a discussion during a luncheon of the Economic Club of Washington earlier this week
After setting up Microsoft aged 20 he made his first million within six years, developing the MS-DOS operating system in the 1980s which was sold to IBM in a contract that allowed Microsoft freedom to sell their software to others.
His profits rocketed in the 1990s and one year before the millennium, The New York Times valued his shares in Microsoft at almost $100bn.
In January 2000, he stepped down as CEO but remained chairman. Today he still has a seat on the board and donates billions through the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.
Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway), first million in five years, first billion in 31 yearsWarren Buffet, 88, - the 'Oracle of Omaha' - is the world's most famous investor and runs Berkshire Hathaway which owns insurance titan GEICO, battery makers Duracell and fast-food chain Dairy Queen.
His net worth is estimated at $82.5bn, the world's third richest man after Bezos and Gates and he made his first million within five years.
Warren Buffett addresses a news conference on 26 June 2006 in New York regarding his pledge of 10 million class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
He read economics voraciously as a teenager and when he was 20 he got his big break working for Lorimer Davidson, the CEO of the company which would later become GEICO.
When he acquired Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 it was a small textile company but he grew it to a $500bn conglomerate by 2018, CNBC reported.
In 2006, he gave away nearly half of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, describing how he would rather 'outsource' to them than go through the hassle of setting up his own charity.
Carlos Slim Helu (America Movil), first million in four years, first billion in 30 yearsCarlos Slim Helu, 66, is the richest man in Mexico and the world's fourth richest with an estimated worth of $64bn.
The telecoms tycoon's profits are drawn from hundreds of companies in the Central American country, known as 'Slimlandia,' Business Insider reports.
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim speaks in a joint news conference after the Competitive Advantage of Nations Forum in San Salvador, El Salvador on Thursday
After starting out on the stock market he began buying companies throughout the 1970s, including soft drinks, construction, printing, bottling and tobacco.
He garnered fame in North America in the early 2000s when he started scooping up shares in Barnes & Noble, Office Depot and CompUSA.
But despite his colossal wealth, he is renowned for his frugal lifestyle and has lived in the same six-bedroom house for over 40 years.
Amancio Ortega (Inditex), first million in 11 years, first billion in 27 yearsAmancio Ortega, 83, is a Spanish businessman, the founder of Inditex fashion which is well known for Zara, and he is one of the wealthiest men in Europe.
He opened his first Zara store in 1975 with his wife Rosalia Mera and made his first million within 11 years, with an estimated $62.7bn wealth today.
Amancio Ortega founded his first Zara store in 1975 - he made his first million within 11 years and his first billion 16 years later
As well as Zara, Inditex includes the brands Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and has around 7,500 shops throughout the world.
According to Forbes, Ortega takes home over $400million each year in dividends, mainly through real estate in his home-town of Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami and New York.
Larry Ellison (Oracle), first million in nine years, first billion in 16 yearsLarry Ellison, 74, founded software firm Oracle in 1977 and made his first million within nine years - his net worth today is estimated at $62.5bn.
His personal life has drawn as much interest as his professional, with four marriages and four divorces and numerous homes, yachts and planes.
Larry Ellison founded Oracle in 1977 - he made his first million in nine years and made his first billion seven years later
He began writing code for the CIA in the 1970s, but when he and his partners finished ahead of their deadline they began creating software for their own business, Inc. reports.
He stepped down as CEO in 2014 but remains on the board, with Oracle recently venturing into cloud computing with its $9.3bn acquisition of Netsuite three years ago.
He bought three million shares in Tesla last year and joined their board.
Mark
