Want to be as successful as JPMorgan’s billionaire clients? Maybe consider joining a book club.
More than 100 of JPMorgan’s billionaire principal clients shared some of their secrets to success for the 2025 Principal Discussions Report, which offers insights on investing and lifestyle based on multihour conversations with some of the bank’s wealthiest clients.
The top seven habits that the principals attribute to success are relatively accessible to non-billionaires: reading, exercise, consistency, waking up early, prioritizing tasks, setting goals, and deep thinking time. Most of the respondents, the report noted, are intentional about their daily routines and time.
“The currency of life is time. It is not money. You think carefully about how you spend one dollar. You should think just as carefully as how you spend one hour,” an unnamed principal is quoted as saying in the report.
Their own interests seem to mirror that mindset. When asked about the hobbies that they’re most passionate about, spending time outdoors and in nature snagged the top spot, while work came in at number two and reading at number seven. (Some of the outdoor activities that made the top 10 list also subtly indicated the tax bracket: tennis, snow sports, and golf.)
Many successful individuals across industries are known for waking up early and valuing literature.
According to Rafael Badzaig, who spent five years interviewing 21 self-made billionaire entrepreneurs for his 2019 book “The Billion Dollar Secret,” getting up early is the most common habit among them. Nearly all the billionaires he talked to said they read often, from business books to news to novels. All of them maintained a strict exercise routine.
The 111 principals interviewed by JPMorgan, whose combined net worth is more than $500 billion, also revealed the top 10 qualities of successful leadership, with integrity, vision, and empathy coming out on top.
Soft skills, including empathy, are proving increasingly important in the AI era. Executives and workplace transformation experts have previously told Business Insider that problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and creativity are particularly important as the technology starts to handle more repetitive workplace tasks.
When it comes to their own businesses, the principals said in the multihour conversations with JPMorgan that risk is often a natural part of running a company. Many said their biggest leaps have been leaving stable jobs to start new projects or join a family business.
The number of billionaires is increasing, and thanks in part to AI, they’re becoming even wealthier. Together, the world’s 2,919 billionaires are worth $15.8 trillion, according to a report from Swiss bank UBS.
