The Most Powerful Man in the World: Bart Gets Rich
Get rich or get out.
The man with the most money in the world is the ultimate salesman, but there’s one thing he’s not keen on talking about: his earnings from a $500 million pop-up store in San Francisco.
Bart is trying to sell his business to an online retailer called Shopify, which will give it a boost.
It’s a bold move, especially for the guy who is, as his new book points out, the most powerful man in the universe.
“If you were to ask me, what is the most valuable asset in the whole world?
It would be my wealth,” he says.
And he’s right.
We asked him what he wants the rest of us to know about his life.
1.
When he was a boy, he was very proud of his family and his grandfather.
He said, ‘My parents have it all.
They’re rich, they’re successful.
They do everything well, and I can’t complain about that.’
2.
When his mother died, he didn’t cry.
3.
He had an idea to get his father to buy him a $50 million yacht.
4.
He once went to Disneyland for two days.
5.
He went to Las Vegas for one week.
6.
He did all his business in the Philippines.
7.
He says he was never the biggest fan of his dad.
8.
When I went to school, I had a whiteboard with the words, “I want to be a writer.”
9.
When my brother was a kid, I used to get angry with him for not learning French.
10.
He was a big fan of The Big Bang Theory.
11.
He said, “It’s like, when the kids go to school in the morning, they do what their teachers tell them to do.”
12.
He wanted to do a book on how to be an entrepreneur.
13.
He has a dog, but he doesn’t know how to train it. 14.
He likes to play basketball, but it doesn’t go very well.
15.
He loves to travel.
16.
He’s the biggest admirer of President Barack Obama.
17.
He will be visiting his hometown in the next couple of months.
18.
He used to say, “If I could just go back in time and make my mom a star, I’d be the first one there.”
19.
He also likes to swim.
20.
He enjoys eating Chinese food.
21.
He wants to run for president, and he plans to do so. 22.
He got a haircut at a barbershop.
23.
He would not like to have a dog.
24.
He is not a huge fan of the way people treat him.
25.
He gets a lot of grief from his family for the way he treats his wife.
26.
He hates having to drive all the way to his office, where he has a $100,000 office.
27.
He thinks people will think he’s a little too selfish to do well financially.
28.
He doesn’t like the way the media paints him as being an eccentric.
29.
He believes he is smarter than the rest.
30.
He knows what it is to be the best in your field.
31.
He can’t wait to go to the airport to catch a flight home.
32.
He always goes to the gym, but is worried about the quality of the shoes he wears.
33.
He takes his wife’s phone calls very seriously.
34.
He recently told an interviewer, “When you’re married to me, I am going to make sure you have a good time.”
35.
He makes fun of his competitors.
36.
He uses his position to make others feel good.
37.
He keeps track of every single person in his life to see if he is being helpful.
38.
He calls people who complain about him.
He usually listens to them.
39.
He reads books by authors he admires, including Stephen King and Thomas Pynchon.
40.
He puts himself in the shoes of the people he meets.
41.
He does not get angry easily.
42.
He often finds it hard to remember the names of people he thinks he is friends with.
43.
He feels like his favorite movies are about him and his friends.
44.
He never feels like he is the only one who is bored.
45.
He rarely wants to do anything that he doesn