I wanna be a billionaire and how to become one, really.

Senior editor for the Forbes magazine Liza Kroll said that a billionaire has luck, determination, and a "little extra"--that of being offbeat. Offbeat, for Kroll simply means, being creative. So, there are just three things a person needs to succeed--luck, determination and creativity.


Tell that to Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican telecoms giant who still dominates the world's billionaires with his 76 billion. Or to Microsoft chief Bill Gates, who still surpasses Steve Jobs in the billionaire's department with his 56 billion. I always think that hardware is more dominant than software. Warren Buffett follows next with his 50 billion.


Forbes expects hot money to flow to Asia, what with the Middle East in turmoil and Europe and the United States still struggling financially. Asian economies like China and Hongkong are reaping the rewards. And if we are creative enough, the Philippines stands to gain not just a fraction but a huge windfall from this. However, this early and despite President Aquino's visit, Japan sees the Philippines as the most unlikely place to dump their investments. 


We can create our own multi-billion dollar man if our billionaires turn themselves into thought leaders outside our country. Our multi-billion peso men like Manny Pangilinan and Manny Villar have potentials of becoming our foremost thought leaders, since they have become successful through sheer luck, determination and creativity.  


Our billionaires should think of expanding outward. Globalization has its negatives and positives. For weak nations, globalization is negative. For strong and stronger ones, globalization tends to be extremely positive. 


The beauty of capitalism is that it allows the weak to dominate the strong through focused determination. 


Capitalist doctrine dictates that to reap more rewards, one must conquer more markets to dump your goods. Lesser markets mean lesser profits. Lesser profits mean lesser means to produce. More markets mean huge profits and huge profits mean more means to produce.


For now, those who become billionaires are either providers of hardware or infrastructure and those who fund these builders of infrastructures.


There will come a time when all these will stop, and the trend will likely go the way of the content or software providers. You can't have hardware without content. 


Creative people will find ways on how to provide both, eventually.