It is best to analyze such a delicate and sensitive matter as success using the examples of the universally recognized most successful people in the world. To do this, you can look at the companies that have occupied the first places in the international rankings of Forbes and Fortune magazines in recent years. These companies are evaluated by market capitalization, which is influenced not only by business, but also by reputation, integrity, participation in public life, the ability to adapt to unpredictable changes, etc. Almost all of the corporations that have occupied the first places in global rankings by market capitalization have billions in profits.
It is obvious that the top positions are occupied by corporations from giant economies such as the USA or China, and indeed among the “champions” of Forbes and Fortune in recent decades there are more American and Chinese corporations than anything else. In addition to them, among the international champions there are companies from Japan (Toyota), South Korea (Samsung), the Netherlands (Royal Dutch Shell), the UK (HSBC, BP), Saudi Arabia (Saudi Aramco).
The CEOs of these companies are people aged 50+, of different faiths, and almost all of them are family people.
Table 1: Top 20 random companies by profit in Forbes global rankings (1989–2025)
If you analyze their interviews, as well as the statements of other top managers and businessmen in the world, who are most famous in their sectors, you can see many similarities. For example, among the qualities that the most successful people in the world call the basis of success are:
- consistency;
- ability to work in a team;
- ambition;
- willingness to work in conditions of uncertainty;
- ability not to give up after failures;
- inclination to healthy risk;
- hard work;
- constant learning;
- ability to see the potential of people;
- desire for innovation;
- long-term thinking and patience;
- investing in one's knowledge and health;
- loyalty to one's values.
Obviously, the richest people in the world are not always the owners of the most successful corporations from a business perspective. For example, Bernard Arnault topped the Forbes World’s Billionaires ranking in 2023 with a net worth of $211 billion. However, his luxury brand corporation LVMH ranked only 47th in the Forbes 2000 global list that same year, and 124th in the Fortune 500, with a profit of $14.8 billion.
Starting from scratch
It is a well-known fact that legends like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs started from scratch, founding their companies in their youth. However, it is logical that many of the leaders of the world's largest corporations have only a bachelor's degree and immediately went to work. Many of them work for the same corporations that they later headed. For example, Eiji Toyoda, the brother of the corporation's founder, headed Toyota Motor for 15 years. He retired in 1994 at the age of 81. In 1994, Toyota had a capitalization of $80.3 billion and a profit of almost $8 billion.
Hiroshi Okuda took over the Toyota Corporation after 40 years at the giant, serving as president of Toyota Motor Corporation from 1995 to 1999 and chairman from 1999 to 2006.
It is important to correctly assess yourself, your abilities and capabilities. It is important to be ready for any unexpected decisions and the ability to defend your opinion. “There is no growth without change, and there is no significant change without risk. So get used to a reasonable level of risk,” Doug McMillon, who has headed the giant retail corporation Walmart since 2014, told Business Insider India. He joined the corporation back in 1984, when he was a teenager. In 2024, Walmart had the first position in the Fortune Global 500 ranking and a profit of $ 15.5 billion. According to Doug McMillon, “profit is a reflection of customer trust and operational efficiency.”
Table 2 - Companies that ranked first in the international Forbes Global 2000 and Fortune Global 500 rankings from 2015 to 2024
Always learning
The assets of the American financial corporation JP Morgan Chase in 2024, according to Forbes, amounted to 4 trillion dollars. CEO of JP Morgan Chase James Dimon says that "there is no success without hard work." Therefore, one should not expect quick results of success. "You need to constantly learn," - also says James Dimon. He twice became the most expensive head of a bank in North America, according to Bloomberg. "Profit is the result of discipline and strategic risk management," - believes James Dimon.
Continuous learning, both from professionals and from those around you, the ability to find valuable qualities in each person is an ability that many successful business owners and managers talk about. For example, the CEO of Accenture, a large IT and consulting company headquartered in Dublin, Julie Sweet, asks future employees: “What have you learned in the last six months?”. This is reported by Business Insider. In 2024, the company earned $64.9 billion.
“Success is about staying true to your values and always striving for innovation,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Apple Leadership Interview, CNBC, 2023. “Success is not about profit today, but about long-term growth,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jessee in the 2023 Amazon CEO Letter. Other leaders of prominent businesses share similar sentiments. “Real success comes from long-term thinking and patience,” says one of the world’s richest people, the legendary Warren Buffett, in the 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter. In 2022, the company was ranked No. 1 in the world by Forbes 2000, but 15th by Fortune 500, with revenues of more than $89 billion.
It's nice that Warren Buffett advises never to forget about yourself. In a 2017 interview with CNBC, he said: "The most important thing is to invest in yourself. Your knowledge, skills and health are the best assets you have." And it's hard to disagree with that.
