#761: Roughly 3 million Americans who own private businesses — car dealerships, beer distributors, dental practices — are collectively worth more than ten times the entire Forbes 400. Most of them didn't start rich, and you've probably never heard of a single one.
Economists Owen Zidar (Princeton) and Eric Zwick (University of Chicago Booth School of Business) spent more than a decade linking anonymized tax records to the people who own America's private businesses. They share what they found in their new book, The Everywhere Millionaire.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why owning all of a small business can rival owning a sliver of a startup
- Which unglamorous industries quietly produce the most wealth
- How to decide whether to buy an existing business or start your own
- How retiring owners and seller financing (paying the owner back over time) open doors for buyers
- How to run cheap experiments so no single failure wipes you out
- When to double down on one business versus diversify
- What the data says about whether you need to be born rich
If you're weighing a steady paycheck against owning something yourself, this conversation shows who actually takes that path, what it demands, and how often it pays off.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.
(02:20) Why 3 million business owners outweigh the Forbes 400
(06:13) The overlooked businesses behind America's quiet fortunes
(11:22) Why retiring owners could be your buying opportunity
(17:31) Own all of something small, not 2% of a unicorn
(21:36) Buy a business or start one?
(29:24) How to fail small without getting wiped out
(34:35) What yacht and private jet data revealed
(44:20) Most successful founders didn't grow up rich
(01:06:31) Double down or diversify once it works?
(01:18:51) Should you leave a high-paying job for this?
🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 Buy a retiring owner's business or build your own? Find the ownership path that fits your money and risk: https://affordanything.com/fiire
👉 The Everywhere Millionaire (book): https://link.amazon/B04y1xfaU
👉 The Everywhere Millionaire on Substack: https://everywheremillionaire.substack.com
👉 The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko: https://link.amazon/B01HtGgHg
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