The 7 key habits of the world’s richest families for success, shows JPMorgan
If you dream of one day joining the billionaires’ club, the best starting point may not be business school but rather your local book club.
Reading is the habit most often cited as linked to the success of some of the world’s richest families, according to a JPMorgan report that interviewed more than 100 billionaires whose combined net worth exceeds $500 billion.
The wealth manager found that exercise, consistency and waking up early are also among the main factors for long-term success. But throughout the interviews, one theme predominated: extreme intentionality about how time is used.
Also read: How much do New York billionaires earn? Some of them reach US$ 2 million/hour
“The currency of life is time,” wrote an anonymous leader of a billionaire family in the report. “It’s not the money. You think carefully about how you spend a dollar. You should think just as carefully about how you spend an hour.”
Why billionaires still read in the age of AI
In a technology-driven era where tools like ChatGPT can summarize hundreds of pages in seconds, sitting down to read a book can seem inefficient. But many of the world’s most successful business leaders have long argued the opposite: deep reading remains one of the fastest ways to build lasting knowledge.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has already stated that reading is the basis of his learning routine. At one point, Gates said he read about 50 books a year to keep his mind sharp.
“It’s one of the main ways I learn, and it’s been that way since I was a kid,” Gates told The New York Times in 2016. “These days, I can also visit interesting places, meet with scientists, and watch lots of lectures online. But reading is still the main way I both learn new things and test my understanding.”
The best book he said he had read so far was Business Adventures by John Brooks, the first book Warren Buffett recommended to him when they met.
Buffett, for his part, is also an avid reader.
“I just read and read and read,” Buffett said when asked how he stays up to date with what’s going on in the world. “I probably read five to six hours a day. I don’t read as fast as I did when I was younger, but I read five newspapers a day; I read a fair amount of magazines; I read 10-K reports (health documents from publicly traded companies); I read annual reports; and I read a lot of other things.”
His advice for aspiring business leaders is ambitious: read 500 pages a day.
“That’s how knowledge works. It accumulates, like compound interest. You can all do it, but I guarantee you few will actually do it,” he said.
The 7 habits
According to JPMorgan’s Principal Discussions Report, these are the 7 habits that drive long-term wealth:
Reading
Exercise
Consistency
Wake up early
Prioritize tasks
Goal setting
Time for deep reflection
How the Ultra-Rich Spend Their Free Time
While reading is touted as one of the main drivers of long-term success, that’s not how most ultra-wealthy families prefer to spend all their free time.
In the JPMorgan report, reading ranked 7th among hobbies and interests that participants said they were most passionate about — behind outdoor activities, time with family and friends, and even work itself.
Top 10 Hobbies or Interests Rich Families Are Passionate About:
Outdoor activities and nature
Work
Time with family and friends
Tennis
Snow sports
Golf
Reading
Gym and exercises
Fishing
Cycling
This difference highlights an important distinction: although reading is not the main pastime, its value means that it is treated as a strategic discipline — a pattern that is likely to become even more evident as AI transforms the way information is consumed.
The use of AI is already widespread among the ultra-rich. Nearly eight in ten survey participants said they use AI in their personal lives, and 69% reported using it in business. In a world where information is more accessible than ever, being intentional about how you learn—and how you spend your time—may be more important than ever.
JPMorgan’s own 2026 book list, “to inspire broad thinking and bold exploration,” reflects this focus. Recommendations include Bobbi Brown’s memoir, Still Bobbi; the story of the 1929 Wall Street crash by Andrew Ross Sorkin; and Air Jordan, an analysis of Michael Jordan’s successes in the business world.
