7 Secrets Wealthy People Know about Amassing and Maintaining a Fortune

Becoming wealthy enough to keep the wolf from your door doesn't mean an end to unwanted callers. For every newly minted billionaire, there are cautionary tales of the well-heeled undone by visits from the the tax man, the loan officer and Uncle Sam himself.

A fortune requires finesse. As well as a willingness to embrace financial exotica, trips to Bermuda and the drive to start your own business--as a survey of FORBES' knowledge of the world's wealthiest people reveals. Below are seven tricks, secrets and maneuvers regularly conducted by those with more than a shekel or two to accumulate and maintain their fortunes.

Global Mobile Subscription to Hit 9bn in 2017

A global survey report released weekend by Ericsson has predicted high increase in the growth of mobile subscriptions worldwide, estimating that the growth will reach 9 billion by the end of 2017.

The present global mobile subscription is put at 6.2 billion, but the actual number of subscribers is about 4.2 billion, since most people have several subscription.

It was noted that the growth rate reached 87 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, to attain the 6.2 billion mark, and that in the next five years, the number would reach the 9 billion mark.

The growth forecast was based on the increase in the number of smartphone  users in recent times across different regions of the world.

Head, Strategic Marketing and Intelligence for Ericsson, Mr. Patrick Cerwall, who spoke to the media on the forecast in Lagos through teleconferencing, said the report was the second release on global mobile subscription, after the first was released November 2011, explaining that Ericsson had always been accurate at its predictions.

A New Era for Global Leadership Development

BILL GEORGE

Bill George is professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and former chair and CEO of Medtronic.

The realities of globalization, with increasing emphasis on emerging markets, present corporate leaders with enormous challenges in developing the leaders required to run global organizations. Too many multinational companies — particularly Japanese, Indian, German, and some American ones — still concentrate vital decisions in the hands of a small group of trusted leaders from their home country. They hire technical specialists, local experts, and country managers from emerging markets but rarely promote them to corporate positions. Instead, they groom future global leaders from the headquarters nation by sending them on overseas appointments.

This approach worked relatively well for companies selling standard products in developed markets, but as multinationals transition into truly global organizations relying on emerging markets for growth, it's far from adequate. In order to adapt to local cultures and market needs, companies must shift to decentralized, collaborative decision-making. That requires developing many leaders capable of working anywhere.