Sam Zell: The 1% Work Harder and Should Be Emulated

[@xpicklepie]

Zell's parents immigrated here from Poland and started with zero. Zell managed a 15 unit apartment building in college for free room and board to begin his career. To be where he is now took incredible ambition and courage. That is worth emulating.

[@cmhardin37]

+softminimal1 no.....thats just life and the sooner you accept it the better. without people like this guy here who generates massive amounts of wealth, of which he is taxed on, there would be less jobs and tax revenue. he already pays 50% income tax

[@hughmjowen]

+softminimal1 What do you mean, take the country back? What kinds of principles do you think America was founded on? People in America died trying to feed themselves and had too much dignity to beg someone else for a hand out. Zell is more American than you are. You're a disgrace.

[@cutdepiefails6596]

Wasn't his father an lawyer and his mother something pretty middle class?

[@cutdepiefails6596]

No.

[@robertruschak7083]

Very ambitious!!!!

[@sngs9565]

We should be against Poverty, not poor people. We also should be fighting Income inequality, not the rich people.

[@andrew_owens7680]

Rich people are those who comfortably can take care of their grandchildren. People with enough money to buy armies, senators and judges cannot exist in a democratic society. Let's put it this way. If you were to insult a billionaire, he could pay people full time to ruin you. If a billionaire rapes your daughter, he can pay fifty lawyers to see that the case never comes to court while destroying your daughter's reputation at the same time. That is not a just world and we have every evidence that justice was blatantly denied for decades in the case of Jeffrey Epstein. How many others are functioning like him today. No, millionaires and multimillionaires are not the issue. Having 40 people with half the wealth of the wealthiest nation on earth is.

[@denadean8301]

Thoughtfully said!😃

[@TheRoguesy2]

I love Sam Zell. He is telling it EXACTLY LIIKE IT IS IN LIFE. If you want to be successful, listen and learn from people like Sam Zell.

[@정윤걸-b3g]

A great man whom I admire and respect!

[@knpstrr]

Mr. Zell hits it out of the park here. Obviously not everyone can be in the 1%, but what he is saying is that we should try to be rather than moving toward an entitlement society. We should be championing capitalism and the liberty to do what you want a reap the fruits of your labor, not demonizing it while championing socialistic policies. Great interview.

[@romerryllfisher2687]

knpstrr Capitalism and liberty are antithetical. Choose one or the other.

[@pedalesmexicali]

@@romerryllfisher2687can you explain how? And where did you learn this? Or is it just an opinion?

[@lancelessard2491]

Productivity is way up in America in the last 40 years. Who's being rewarded for it? Not the ones actually producing, but those controlling the production. Average wages have stagnated while the top take more and more. I can guarantee you they are not working harder than they did 40 years ago, but the average guy is.

[@romerryllfisher2687]

She asked how are they going to get there. He says there's lots of stories of people who started with a candy store? So how do you get the candy store with no credit and no capital?

[@dbanks128]

The rich don't work harder. Smarter maybe, but claiming he works harder than iron workers, farmers, service industry people, laborers, etc, is nuts

[@maceryker6012]

Iron workers, farmers, service industry are some of the laziest people around.

[@sandysutb]

They spend more time to entertain themselves (boozing, parting, women etc) than to sharpen their skills to move next level.

[@nickh2053]

Entrepreneurs work 80 hours a week so they don’t have to work 40.

[@iusedmylastnamechangeandiu2215]

Don't share my wealth, share my work ethic.

[@CaptainPlanet007]

Sam Zell speak the truth!! 🙌🏼

[@ag9652]

yeah the Queen is really well known for hard work

[@StoicBarbarian]

Um... she is.

[@Zofo-jj2lr]

This man speaks the truth

[@SportsIncorporated]

Just differ with Sam Zell on this one point. The 1% don't work harder. They may work smarter. You can't tell the country, where many have multiple jobs just to make ends meet, that the 1% work harder. It's an out of touch, let them eat cake remark.

[@agrayson8408]

The point is that the 1% should not be envied. He’s not saying there aren’t people who work really hard.

[@Zofo-jj2lr]

I don't think he meant it that way- that they don't work as hard. I think he meant they're not as driven, & they don't risk as much they don't take a bigger risk -or as big a chances - I think that's more of what he meant. He's absolutely right

[@Ganjubas89]

i agree with mr.Zell

[@tracythompson1692]

Well said!!

[@SportsIncorporated]

The 1% don't get to be the 1% and live the lifestyle of the 1% without the hardworking, industriousness of the people that aren't the 1% Often they benefit through invention and discovery they've taken advantage of; but weren't the originators of. And Sam Zell gets to be Sam Zell, and live the lifestyle of Sam Zell because of so many people who aren't paid a lot. Everybody in this society is important. But few are paid well.

[@morlandoemtp]

No one hates the 1%, we just want a chance to elevate ones status in life.

[@jakedevents]

True for 50 plus years, but the system is now broken. So much money is at the top, economic volatility is at a crawl. He even said he is sitting on 28 billion dollars that is just sitting around for a recession. More money in fewer hands equals less growth. It is hoarding plain and simple. We are in the Americas of the 20s, what happened then? Oh yeah... The great leveling.

[@itaibar8909]

Smart Guy, True and to the point!

[@mbogomahad3125]

This reporter asks Sam Zell.. "How is everyone going to get where the 1% are"... " They will get there the way the 1% got there"

[@HTHAMMACK1]

It's not about hard work Sam. Nobody is criticizing hard work. The point is wealthy people should pay their way when it comes to taxes just like everyone else. Tax loopholes and offshore tax havens should be illegal. Corporations should be forced to pay their taxes rather than hiding their revenue offshore. It's also about rich people not being allowed to legally bribe politicians to get their way. We're an oligarchy, not a democracy. We can no longer point the finger at Russia and laugh about them being an oligarchy because that's exactly what we are.

[@amafid]

As a percentage the 1% pay the Lion's Share of taxes in this country look it up

[@georgebellerose4988]

...I did,.....Trump paid $750.00 in taxes, & nothing in previous years. So, tell us how many "hard-working" millionaire/ billionaires emulated him. How many "worked hard" at "insider trading" like some "Georgia politicians" did ?? How many worked hard at "pyramid schemes", & stock manipulation ?? "An Honest Day's pay, for an Honest Day's Work" is not their credo,....more like "GnG". (GREED & GOUGING".

[@davidking4779]

Intellectuals tend to complicate and over think situations until the result is less than optimal.

[@davidking4779]

@i get it I have both intellectual and smart people in my family. When I want something done quickly and correctly it is usually the smart one not the intelligent one that gets it done.

[@ericm134xgoogleovergoogle3]

Emulate.- match or surpass (a person or achievement), typically by imitation. Surpass.- exceed; be greater than. Excel.- be exceptionally good at or proficient in an activity or subject. Proficient.- competent or skilled in doing or using something. Competent.- having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully.

[@qncsc]

those are great definitions. i would add that they all reflect individual responsibility. and therefore, the more someone adheres to something external, creating dependence, the less able they can be...excellent, proficient, competent. the #1 rot in the US is not understanding independence in the way that past society and culture understood it. we do not have the homogeneity of Japan to develop the cohesiveness of strong group factors to allow a "coordinated competence." otherwise, or however, individual results always mattered and always will. to do better, YOU, as the individual will have to do more. no one can take that test for you...no one is going to punch that clock for you. YOU have to do these things. (you is "one" has to do these things)

[@anandprahlad699]

This interview is laughable. Hardwork is about as important for personal success in the same way that electricity is important for a firm's success. Sure, it's necessary. And you can't do without it. But, there are WHOLE lot more other factors that serve to differentiate the winners from the losers. And one of those important factors are: Were you lucky to be born to rich parents? If you want to measure the effectiveness of a system you look at the median case, & not the outliers. Sure, there are some rags-to-riches stories, but using that to say that the poor dummy working two jobs, just to put food on the table, isn't doing enough, & the system is fine as it is, is insane. It's like focusing on only the lottery winners, & ignoring the stats on the number of people who played the game, & didn't win anything.

[@oliviermosimann6931]

The apology of greed, america is built on it... Money is a great tool, but greed destroys.

[@anastasia2657]

He's right.

[@sharptongue2972]

What he forgot to say was also to work smarter in a society where working smarter is impossible for most of the 99%.

[@tsurek]

I completely agree on making Government and regulations SIMPLER, because it really is simple. Politicians just like to complicate things and use dumb stupid fancy jargon to look smarter than they are and keep the public confused.

[@TheVelluch]

business advise from Gollum

[@saldoug7467]

The politics of class warfare has separated America from the rest of the world .. No Sir..In America The rich and powerful wielding an undue influence over the society, that’s what separates American from the rest of the world . due to a loose campaign finance System and a legal system that views corporations as individuals, the rich are able subvert the will of the many .

[@kaveh8425]

- His last comment make a lot of sense. More complex system is more beneficial for those who can afford hiring someone to figure it out. - I disagree with this notion of everyone (100%) can be as rich as the top 1%, logically it doesn't make sense, the size of the pie should increase 100 times. - In the same time, I'm disgusted by those who pray on low incomes' suffering to recruit them for their class warfare.

[@qncsc]

everyone needs to vote LESS GOVERNMENT. at the end, he states it very correctly: as government adds more and more regulations, the little guy cannot compete or can compete less as the costs and barriers to entry rise. people and their stupid religion (which is government is going to be there for you). government has been and will always be the tool for the elite as government is representative of elites.

[@amperro]

"The 1% work harder". Really? Harder than military personnel? Farmers? Miners? Truck drivers? Lumberjacks? Meat packers? Assembly line workers? Research scientists? School teachers? Nurses? Paramedics? Oil rig workers?

[@patsfactz3169]

you are thinking about it wrong. the truth is that the jobs you just named starts from the 1% without the one percent there is no 99% without an investment into something nothing can be made. some one has to invest into a land develop the property into a hospital and only then can nurses and doctors ect. have a job.

[@amperro]

pat aug I am not thinking about it wrong. The 1% are thousands of times wealthier than manual laborers. If the 1% worked thousands of times harder than manual laborers, they would be dead. Literally, not figuratively. And given that so many scientists are closing their labs due to lack of funding, and many members of the military are on food stamps, and so many others are unemployed, these 1% are not doing enough job creation. They are hoarding.

[@SlimzProductionz]

Pat, the one percent is maintained by the other 99%. First. Second, you can work hard and become rich, but to become a super millionaire (becoming a man who is worth 8 billion dollars) is not all made out of own work, governments make it easier for them. Think about it, in 2008, none of them went broke, they got richer while everybody else got poorer. Third, the investments must be made by them, but not only by them, if they decide what to invest in, their is a lot that gets cut out, like public education or public healthcare (they will only invest in something that will retro its them financially). Fourth, it is necessary to raise taxes on these guys, they are not prosecuted, they have the power. Taxes on these guys, even 1%, gives the government the necessary tools to keep everyone alive. Social security, universal healthcare, public education, all maintains by taxes. Logically, as you get richer, you should pay more taxes, not the other way around (unlike that asshole shwartzmann who said that they should raise the taxes on the poor, and said that raising his taxes 3% was like hitler invading Poland. For fuck's sake, how difficult can it be for a man with 8 billion dollars to pay 3%more?)

[@sathimanthamalalasekera968]

The trick is not simply working hard. It's working hard the right way. Keeping the motivation and ambition alive and sustained for a however long it takes to achieve the extraordinary is really hard work. Cutting though all the resistance and noise to bring your genius to fruition is really hard work. Everybody is a genius in something. The difference is 99% of people never figures it out.

[@lukahenigman8453]

EVERY SINGLE ONE of those people you mentioned can become a liquid millionaire in their lifetime...very easily. Let's assume that they learn how to live frugally and not spend money on fast-food and over-price clothes, they should be able to save $1,000/month or $33.33/day. If we use an *extremely conservative* ROI of 5% per year (compounded once a year) and they invest that $1,000 each month (also known as Dollar Cost Averaging), by the end of their 40 year working life(20-60yrs old), they will have $1,488,564.58. In other words, be millionaires. Every single one of them. But theses are very conservative figures. If you were to manage your portfolio properly and educate yourself, you could achieve a consistent return of 12% per year. Working and investing for 45 years (more realistic that you would retire at 65), you would have $17,339,840.87 in investments earning you over $2,000,000 per year. Yes, from any of those professions you listed above. It's hard to work smart and stick to something as tedious as this for such a long time, and that's where I believe the separation is made.

[@andrew_owens7680]

I make all the rules and only I determine who is worthy and who isn't. And I say that I'm working harder than you are. It could be that I'm telling the truth or it could be that I've had advantages that you'll never have and never be able to have. You'll just have to trust me, because I say you are unworthy to do anything else. As long as you fall for my BS, your my slave. What say you?

[@MrHappyZorro]

Don't give me the hard work bullshit. TOO BIG TO FAIL. We have corporate socialism and working class capitalism.

[@kenyanfurnishedrentalsllc2505]

😂LOL, typical Modern-day "activist" Journalists not true/real journalists from back in the day😜, quickly PIVOT when put on the spot. I laughed watching her squirm when asked about not challenging the president.🤣

[@soulseeker1651]

work smart not hard

[@sathimanthamalalasekera968]

Keeping a sustained motivation despite continued failures until you get it right is hard work.

[@georgegomegwa5196]

Rip Sam Zell

[@samann9]

I am almost there ... now in the top 2%. I know how hard one needs to work to get there.

[@ghl19]

she got DUNKED!!!!

[@crossfirepower414]

They obviously dont work just "harder" but smarter

[@bako836]

Why does the reporter look high

[@toddmiller7876]

Maybe it's time for the one percent to take their white collars off, and get some blisters.

[@KushmansPicks]

Betty Liu should stop trying to trying to talk over her guests..

[@qncsc]

3:50 "the stories are rampant...candy store and took it from there." yes, the entrepreneurial path. but the guy making minimum wage is NEVER going to open that so-called candy store, "to take it from there." not in 2014. perhaps 50 years ago. the irony is that the guy who makes that minimum wage rate can never save enough to implement a plan nor will that wage impress a bank to assist with capitalizing a store. in the other part of this matrix banks are being given "35 BILLION" a month to offset their shitty choices!

[@TanKLoveR]

That is blasphemy, to say someone who has a shit job now can't do better for himself later on it's ridiculous and a narrow way of seeing things. I've met plenty of people who work their asses off, working 16-17 hours a day between their shitty job and their business they want to grow to eventually leave their job. You have to work for what you want, I try my best to emulate people like that and I still have to work my shitty job, to tell myself I can never be my own boss and have a successful business won't get me anywhere.

[@valhala56]

TanKLoveR Lets see where you are 10 years from now. I bet if your lucky you will be working you shitty job or you could join the 92 million Americans who have no job much less a shitty job.

[@TanKLoveR]

valhala56 Considering I'm 4 months away from being able to quit my job because my business will make enough to allow me to do so I doubt it, if that's where YOU want to be though then that's where YOU will be. I've met too many poor people with too much free time on their hands and I've yet to meet an entrepreneur who even knows what free time or a "vacation" is.

[@qncsc]

TanKLoveR "i have met plenty of people..." -- is reflective of the past. nothing is certain in life. and nothing is fully applicable, and nothing is absolute. people do win the lottery! sure someone (you) can achieve your dreams. but you had better be intelligent and make the right choices...and have luck on your side. for one trend, considering the state of employment respective to the new healthcare legislation: the trend is to displace full-time employment with greater numbers of part-time employees. so someone that wants to work their ass off may need not just a second job but a third job. and then when do they find the time for a life...or to think about those future business plans? it is not impossible by any means. however change does manifest differing circumstances and those circumstances can be onerous. before you could be hard working and that would do. today, you had better be hard working, intelligent, have planned well (in advance of implementing plans) and have luck on your side with some right decisions about markets. along with great tenacity. in the future, hard work, intelligence, planning, luck and tenacity may not be enough. those are the trend lines. ...generally.

[@TanKLoveR]

What life is this you talk about that you need time for? You make it sound like your work isn't part of it, sure if you're flipping burgers I can see why you would disconnect the two but if you do what you want and you work hard at it then it becomes your life. If you're unhappy with your current life then why do you need time to "live this life" which is usually getting drunk, watching hours and hours on end of tv, spending hours on social media etc, that is not a life but instant gratification bs that leads nowhere. Better off working so you can lead a better life for yourself and your loved ones than wasting time on crap. It is all about hard work my friend, luck has nothing to do with it if you persevere. A friend of mine went bankrupt twice due to several problems with his previous ventures, he decided to try yet a third time from scratch while working in retail to have some money (no one would give him a loan) and after a couple of years he's back on his feet and his new business is doing great. This is what showed me I couldn't settle for my crappy job and that there was a way out of an unfavorable life.

[@myessyallyahamericus8405]

im the most robbed man on planet earth and its all of your faults. you've made my life not worth living. ive done so much work for all of you and not one of you have ever done even the smallest bit of work for me. its to far unbalanced. i needed you to work. im dying bec ause of you all,

[@jealva]

I am watching this in 2019. It’s a stark reminder how the U.S. is a much better place, now that Obama is gone and his politics of envy are in the trash bin of history.

[@hamzariazuddin424]

HA!!!!!!! seriously man come on

[@abstract33]

These guys don't work harder - they're 60% smarter and 40% luckier and some like Trump start out with daddy's fortune (and screw up)

[@clubreleasemag]

What Glass Jar is this guy living in?!?!?!

[@JohnDoe-oz5tx]

A pretty expensive one with no top, and lots of expensive alcoholic beverages like a full 8 ball glass of Marquis de Montesquieu 1904 Vintage Armagnac, Louis XIIII, The Macallan 1926, Henri IV Dudognon Heritage, Ley .925, and when he goes to the restroom and starts pissing I'm sure he says, "That's the million dollar shot" Then in the morning more expensive Jars of Designer pain medication to go with breakfast Such as Roxycodone (2 bottles of 15mg Oxycodone) and a 50 dollar plate of Waffles, Fruits, Ice Water, and Coffee with the Wall Street Journal at some fancy restaurant...And here he is agreeing with Tom Perkins about how bad they both have it. I mean these two antiques believe they have it just as bad as the Jews during the Holocaust. lol I think they're senile, or dementia.

[@sathimanthamalalasekera968]

He's come from rags. If you think that he doesn't understand what it's like to be dirt poor, you're wrong. When he tells how to pull oneself out of poverty, maybe you should listen.

[@juliekelliher8259]

well said !!!

[@StoicBarbarian]

One day when you figure life out you will laugh at how dumb this comment is.

[@mbogomahad3125]

Shallow minded questions from interviewer

[@rogerthat155]

she has a lot of make up. and also, he says that success is a combination of an idea and external events. zzzz

[@Heavy_Distortion]

Zell is elitist. We should emulate him? Only one percent can be in the one percent club. Not the 99%. It's math issue. Sadly his self serving argument does not support the eroding middles class.

[@valhala56]

+xpicklepie If everyone won the game it wouldn't be a game.

[@artytomparis]

My arse !! That's almost funny.

[@cestmoifu1406]

You just have to be a complete demon to be a billionaire. Thats the secret.

[@dregtamas9040]

look at the horns of this 👹 demon

[@bizzybgful]

Very well true, success come to those with an idea and faith. I am from the innercity, and you cannot come down on the 1 percent based on their wealth, the government in which the Obama democratic party interest are international policys, not domestic. With false employment job growth, 1 percent provide more resources then the government, Obama could have approved the key stone project that would have boost our economy, as well jobs, nope, his natural interest are more important. I wish George Bush was still in office

[@ReliableInsider]

He's drunk.

[@brunomorado]

In short "Inequality is a result of regulation"... just keeps getting dumber...

[@smokybear7511]

this guy is clueless

[@johnmclaughlin3181]

you are ignorant ,,,,,,,,,,read his book and you will see its you who are clueless

[@brunomorado]

These guys have such an unrealistic perception of reality it's just sad.

[@nicolasfat]

Bruno Moesch quite the opposite

[@sathimanthamalalasekera968]

Someone went from rags to riches doesn't understand reality? On the contrary my friend.! Someone like that understands both rags and riches and everything in between.

[@jimbod9116]

Bullshit i know dozens of people who work 16 hr days for years on end, this man earns money off others backs and then trys to justify it.

[@Mart-Man]

+jim bod if you work hard and not smart then it is your problem. Its not how many hours you work but how much productivity you produce in that time, how many people benefit from your work. If you provide manpower for a single person (your boss) instead of a service to a large community then you will earn shit and will complain that "people who work 16 hr days for years on end and still dont earn enough" when those people usually dont take on even a fraction of the risk involved in that business. So if you want to do donkey work be my guest but dont go complaining as if you are entitled to get paid as much for that as a person who benefits a large group of people and takes on huge amounts of personal risk to do so. Donkey work has "0" guaranteed while the kind of "had work" that Sam Zell is talking about does not, you risk losing all for a chance to gain.

[@Mart-Man]

+Immaculate Heart Talent is only a word idiots use to justify their inadequacy. No one is born with skills. You develop them over time but you have to invest your energy and time to do so. If you choose to waste your time on useless nonsense that don't help you develop any useful skills then that is your choice (nobody can tell you not to do it but take responsibility for your lousy choice). Good doctors can start their own practices just like teachers. Next time (before you start throwing around excuses) look at yourself and whether you have done absolutely everything to be in the best position possible in life before you complain how everything is not fair.

[@Mart-Man]

+Immaculate Heart Obviously, you want to be handed everything on a plate in your life otherwise it is rigged, stupid or against you in any way possible. Have I stated that everything is fair? I certainly haven't done that. If you like to interpret things the way it suits you (which means distorting the actual statement) then it is your problem not mine. Cause problems to others... The only way someone can cause problems to someone else (from a business point of view) is by using the power of large government which becomes large due to such idiots like you who want to regulate everything and create an "equal" society. If you have not noticed that, that is the way you destroy the middle class and create a massive inequality (which is another problem for you I am sure) when big companies can influence government which has the power to get them what they want (for example: Wallmart lobbying for a higher minimum wage to drive their competition (mostly small business which is the building stone of the middle class) out of business). That situation is not capitalism (despite the things idiots like Sanders or Corbyn tell you) - that is crony-capitalism. And I have had problems with it by not being able to enter certain markets that i would like due to regulation. I don't complain that it is rigged, I do what I can with the situation I am in because nothing is going to change till there will be a reduction in government reach and influence in the business place. If such morons like Sanders or Corbyn ever come to power it will be even worse for everyone, especially the middle class. The rich don't care and the poor are always looked after in the expense of the middle.

[@Mart-Man]

+Immaculate Heart "The excuse is that not everybody has the same opportunity and not everyone come from the same background, stupid. It works for some but not all because the system still doesn't give everybody a fair chance." What is that then, you moron? "Doesn't give everyone a fair chance"? How is that not wanting to get something without working for it? Yes, everyone is different and everyone has different problems and limitations and people have to learn to get the most of what they have to work with. Learn to use your brain you hypocritical imbecile.

[@Mart-Man]

+Immaculate Heart If you are so old and wise why are you expressing your emotions based opinion here and claiming nonsense (mostly insults as you don't seem to be capable of anything more)? That doesn't look like something an "old and wise" person would do. What do you want? A pat on the back for your help for the poor (which may or may not have happened) or for your alleged smart kids (the achievements of your kids are not yours)? In the end, you shout obscenities to the point that a discussion based on factual claims deteriorates to your level - insulting the other party with no proof (or anything even resembling it). As far as I have observed looking from a sideline - you're seem like an insecure bully who has to shove his point of view down everyone's throat because you can't handle the fact that people might have different opinions and hold different beliefs. You're one sad, old (allegedly) human being.