Becoming a billionaire takes a mixture of smarts, ambition and luck. Here's a look at a few other traits that certain clusters of billionaires share。

　　想要成为亿万富豪，天赋、抱负和运气缺一不可。下面就来看看这些亿万富豪都有着哪些共同特性：

　　Parents Had Math-Related Careers

　　父母从事数学相关职业

　　The ability to crunch numbers is normally a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner。

　　消化数字的能力通常是成为亿万富豪的关键因素之一。数学才能是可以遗传的。在美国超级富豪的父母们所从事的职业当中，最常见的是工程师、会计和小企业主。

　　September Birthdays

　　九月出生者众多

　　Of the 380 self-made American tycoons who have appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month. Maybe that's because September is the month the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans is published。

　　在《福布斯》全球富豪排行榜的380位白手起家的美国亿万富豪中，有42人出生于9月，这是亿万富豪最多的月份。这可能是因为福布斯美国富豪榜400强在九月发布的缘故。

　　Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of College

　　大学辍学创业的科技巨头

　　Forget everything your guidance counselor told you: You don't have to go to college to be successful. More than 20% of the self-made American moguls on the most recent list of the World's Billionaires never finished college. Many of them made their fortunes in tech. Among them: Bill Gates (Microsoft)， Steve Jobs (Apple)， Michael Dell (Dell)， Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Theodore Waitt (Gateway)。

　　那些高校指导顾问说的都是废话：想要功成名就根本不用上大学。在美国380名白手起家的亿万富豪当中，有20%以上的人从未上过大学或没有完成大学学业。这一点在科技创业的亿万富豪中尤为明显，他们中包括：比尔·盖茨(微软)、史蒂夫·乔布斯(苹果)、迈克尔·戴尔(戴尔)、拉里·埃里森(甲骨文)和西奥多尔·瓦伊特(捷威)。

　　Skull and Bones

　　神秘骷髅会组织成员

　　Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Steven Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith。

　　一些目前和曾经的亿万富豪，都曾以“骷髅会”会员身份完成耶鲁大学学业。《骷髅党》和《W》等好莱坞电影将骷髅会描绘成人们眼中一个高深莫测的秘密社团。曾加盟“骷髅会”的亿万富豪包括投资大亨爱德华·兰伯特、黑石联合创始人史蒂夫·施瓦茨曼和联邦快递的创始人弗雷德里克·史密斯等。

　　Goldman Sachs

　　供职高盛集团

　　A stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for becoming a finance billionaire. Of the 68 self-made American billionaires that derive their fortunes from finance, at least eight cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry。

　　曾在投资银行高盛集团担任职位，是成为金融业亿万富翁的主要凭证。在美国68位白手起家在金融业叱咤风云的亿万富豪中，至少有8人的早期职业生涯是在高盛集团的投资银行、贸易和资产管理等部门度过的。高盛集团的关键项目风险套汇就曾见证了亿万富豪爱德华·兰伯特、丹尼尔·奥克，还有曾经的富豪汤姆·斯蒂尔以及理查德·佩里的职业生涯。

　　Getting an M.B.A. from a Top-Tier Business School

　　顶级商学院毕业

　　A graduate degree from a top-tier school is no guarantee of success. But it can't hurt, especially if you get an M.B.A. from Harvard, as did 32 of the self-made entrepreneurs on our World's Billionaires. Another 33 took home M.B.A.s from Stanford, Columbia or U. Penn's Wharton School of Business。

　　毕业于顶级商学院并不能保证你就能成功，但有了也没坏处，尤其是如果是毕业于哈佛商学院这样的顶级学校。世界富豪排行榜上白手起家的富豪有32位毕业于哈佛，另有33位拥有斯坦福大学、哥伦比亚大学或宾夕法尼亚大学的沃顿商学院的MBA学位。

　　Failure

　　曾经很失败

　　Many billionaires developed their uncanny attention to detail after experiencing a scarring failure early in their careers. Hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan saw his entire life savings wiped out in the stock market crash of 1987. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop. Says Kirk: "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one."

　　有很多亿万富豪都是在经历过职业生涯早期的惨痛失败后，才发展出了对细节的敏锐关注。对冲基金经理詹姆斯·迪南(约克资本管理公司创始人)，他的全部身家在1987年股市崩盘后一贫如洗；制药业大亨柯克的第一次商业冒险最终以失败告终。柯克对《福布斯》杂志表示：“早期的失败虽然不是成功的充分条件，但却是一个必要条件。”

　　Working at the Bass Family Investment Office

　　曾在巴斯兄弟投行打工

　　Originally founded as a vehicle for the brothers' oil inheritance, Bass Brothers Enterprises became a Mecca for young investors in the 1980s. Private equity mavens David Bonderman and Jim Coulter met in the offices of the Bass family's private investment vehicle. Others who worked for the family: real estate guru Tom Barrack, investor Richard Rainwater, hedge fund manager Marc Lasry and private equity maven Nicolas Berggruen。

　　巴斯兄弟公司起初是兄弟俩石油产业的载体，在上世纪八十年代成为年轻天才投资者的圣地。私募股权巨头大卫·邦德曼和吉姆·库尔特都曾在巴斯家族的私人投资部门效力。其他曾在巴斯兄弟工作的亿万富豪包括房地产大亨汤姆·巴拉克、投资家雷恩沃特、对冲基金经理马克·拉斯利和私募股权专家伯格鲁恩等。