8 year old worth $900,000 net from his businesses

[Lloyd Buchinski]

And do you think I can borrow $10 from my kid? No!

Here's the link. Metro - Trump in the making?

The article compares him to Trump, but I think this is way beyond Trump, more in Warren Buffett's league. He got going really early also.

His dream right now is a chuckle. He wants to buy 2 NHL teams so he can play there. Not going the traditional Canadian kid route and playing a lot of hockey, working out, training camps, etc. He's just going to buy his way in.

I saw one comment about this article that said "He got other people to do the work." The commenter didn't seem to understand that was the point of the businesses.

[WebFlip]

Not only that, what about the 9 year old kids who are coding FB apps, jailbreaking iPhones or in any other way "nerding out" to millions... I Love It.

Safe Travels,

[Ashley Wright]

Haha what is the world coming too!!

[JasonP]

Good for this kid. But he'll regret it when he's older. Never spent time actually being a kid. Michael Jackson....

[Taylor French]

I wish I'd started younger. I started in my teens, but I wish I'd started this early!

My childhood was full of boredom and overprotection. At least I'd have had something to do.

[Andrew Maule]

Did anyone see the comment on the blog about how it's his dad's business but he's using his son so he can do it tax free? I always wonder about stuff like this. Sure, it's cool if an 8 year old is REALLY doing this, but there are sooo many cases of these types of things and it's always a father/step-father who was really behind 90% of it... either way, doesn't matter, kid has loot I guess

[Prashant_W]

it's probably some jealous fella who is unhappy that he's having to slog his ass off while somebody a fraction of his age has practically made a million bucks!

Originally Posted by Andrew Maule

Did anyone see the comment on the blog about how it's his dad's business but he's using his son so he can do it tax free? I always wonder about stuff like this. Sure, it's cool if an 8 year old is REALLY doing this, but there are sooo many cases of these types of things and it's always a father/step-father who was really behind 90% of it... either way, doesn't matter, kid has loot I guess

[JeffersonB]

Ah well.. he has the choice.

Michael Jackson didnt.

[Don Schenk]

Originally Posted by healymedia

Can an 8 year old legally own real estate?

I just asked my favorite attorney (she's my better half) this question, and she said, "Yes, but he can't sell it without some kind of guardianship."

Don't know about Canada though.

:-Don

[mr2monster]

Originally Posted by healymedia

Can an 8 year old legally own real estate?

Not sure on that, but he may be able to own an S-corp or LLC that can own real estate...

it's more likely that he would need consent of his parents though. They'd have to ride along as co-signers maybe?

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Andrew Maule

Did anyone see the comment on the blog about how it's his dad's business but he's using his son so he can do it tax free? I always wonder about stuff like this. Sure, it's cool if an 8 year old is REALLY doing this, but there are sooo many cases of these types of things and it's always a father/step-father who was really behind 90% of it... either way, doesn't matter, kid has loot I guess

It's difficult to tell. When I was a kid, I did a couple product demos for my parents. They didn't force me into it; it was just fun.

I started my first business in the 6th grade, I think. (Wrote my first book much earlier than that.) Had I had the Internet back then, and not limited to 20 or so kids in my class, I bet I might have done quite well.

Possibly had the chance once to get on local TV, but I chickened out so I'll never know if I could have been on or not!

[mr2monster]

Originally Posted by Don Schenk

I just asked my favorite attorney (she's my better half) this question, and she said, "Yes, but he can't sell it without some kind of guardianship."

Don't know about Canada though.

:-Don

Beat me to it.

[Andrew Maule]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

It's difficult to tell. When I was a kid, I did a couple product demos for my parents. They didn't force me into it; it was just fun.

I started my first business in the 6th grade, I think. (Wrote my first book much earlier than that.) Had I had the Internet back then, and not limited to 20 or so kids in my class, I bet I might have done quite well.

Possibly had the chance once to get on local TV, but I chickened out so I'll never know if I could have been on or not!

Agreed, I was 9 when I built my first website and had banner ads and was generating revenue (not a lot though)--that being said, I wasn't buying real estate and hockey rinks, I can't even imagine doing that on my own

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Andrew Maule

Agreed, I was 9 when I built my first website and had banner ads and was generating revenue (not a lot though)--that being said, I wasn't buying real estate and hockey rinks, I can't even imagine doing that on my own

In the sixth grade, I guess I would have been 11-12. Didn't even have a computer then. Had one for the seventh grade, but still no Internet. But, even in the sixth grade, I had plans for making $1,000,000 dollars. I just couldn't get there from a class of 20. I don't know if I would have thought of buying real estate. I did have plans for making my house twice as big, so I think that must count for something.

[Popstar]

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's pretty sad to exploit a kid like that. His parents should let him enjoy his childhood. He'll have enough time to obsess about money when he's older.

[mikeyman120]

That kids making me seem like one heck of a procrastinator. I need $899,000 to catch up to him.

Mike

[Fraggler]

It is a big jump going from mowing lawns to buying property lol. That is a lot of grass and a lot of eggs!

[Black Hat Cat]

Originally Posted by Popstar

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's pretty sad to exploit a kid like that. His parents should let him enjoy his childhood. He'll have enough time to obsess about money when he's older.

How do you know he isn't enjoying his childhood?

[Bhaskar Jain]

Great! It's so good to see kid(s) doing such things. Way to go!

[Profit-smart]

Damn.

And I thought I played the "To young" angle well.

[Si_P]

As they say, 'start them young' !!

[ewenmack]

Originally Posted by JasonP

Good for this kid. But he'll regret it when he's older. Never spent time actually being a kid. Michael Jackson....

Dunno about that.

He's loving it,without his fathers pressure isn't he?

Ewen

[GeorgR.]

I don't buy it, looks like a PR stunt to me, just look how they dressed him up. No real kid would enjoy running around like that.

[butters]

work from 8-18 and enjoy the rest of your life hassle free, sounds cool good on the kid.

[Akky]

I am just 15, I don't find time to do IM or business. Moreover, education is much more important for me. It's the main thing and without that people won't consider us or our opinions. And the main reason I am making money is to buy some gadgets, next week, i am getting the new iMac!! Okay enough of those..

I don't think his father is standing behind this and like Johnathan said - just for publicity or maybe a Guinness record? Still, how can he manage business+school. Also, it is totally scripted, lol it sounds a like a self intro when you first go to a school..LOL, but that kid is cute ..

G'day,
Akky

[sosojo40]

He has the concept right!

[Talinn]

Don't get it, so he was making $5 per hour, then suddenly jumped to a million dollar?

[Mike Shain]

Man I don't know who to slap here...

Slap the mom and dad
Slap the rich kid
Slap myself

My pimp had in strong so putting the smack down on the parents would probably work unless little man has bodyguards...

Oh well I am off to find something for my pimp hand to smack...

Seriously that was one creepy story. Next thing you know he will be on MTV's Cribs.

[Mike Murphy]

Interesting. I'm holding a live event in Sarnia Ontario on December 11th and the guest speaker is this boys Mom Savannah Ross.

I've become good friends with her, and while I haven't met Ryan or the rest of the family, I will saw this....don't be too quick to judge!

I approached them with a healthy amount of skepticism and I'm pleasantly surprised every time we talk.

If you're in the Ontario area, contact me for details. The event is free so you can come see what you think in person and draw your own conclusions.

[hugofortin]

Originally Posted by Mike Murphy

Interesting. I'm holding a live event in Sarnia Ontario on December 11th and the guest speaker is this boys Mom Savannah Ross.

I've become good friends with her, and while I haven't met Ryan or the rest of the family, I will saw this....don't be too quick to judge!

I approached them with a healthy amount of skepticism and I'm pleasantly surprised every time we talk.

If you're in the Ontario area, contact me for details. The event is free so you can come see what you think in person and draw your own conclusions.

Hi,

That's a incredible story! There people like are so out of ordinary.

Mike, Thanks for posting this! It's look like interesting. I'm in Ontario in Ottawa. Who else will talk to this event? If I can I think that I will go.

Hugo

[VeitSchenk]

I just don't know -- I've got 4 kids and I let them play as much as I can -- have a look around and see what kids can and can't do compared to say 20 years ago.

Do you still see them roaming around a forest without any adults near by for hours on end? Do you still see them building tree-huts 'out in the wild'? Do they have any idea how to catch a squirrel (replace by whatever used to run round your neighbourhood when you were a kid).

most can't. Most aren't even allowed to walk to their friends anymore, and need to be taken by car. And then we complain that they have warped views of the world.

I'm all for teaching them sound business fundamentals from an early age (my view is that our education system is far too "fact" and not enough "doing" oriented), but certainly make sure they develop the right parts (mind, body, soul) at the right time. And being a business-boy at 8 isn't doing the right thing at the right time.

ach well

Veit

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

I don't buy it, looks like a PR stunt to me, just look how they dressed him up. No real kid would enjoy running around like that.

You never know. When I was in grade school, we had uniforms. We occasionally had casual Fridays, but that just felt weird. For a long time, it felt more comfortable to be dressed up than not. I don't think I even started wearing jeans regularly until high school.

[Mike Murphy]

Hey Hugo,

It will just be Savannah Ross (aka Rich Mom) speaking at this event. The first one is on December 11th and is a free one from 7-9pm and then we're going to have an all day long paid event January 23rd from 9am to 5pm.

We've asked Ryan if he wants to speak at all and he says he's too shy so he's going to pass. He'd rather play hockey anyway :-)

Ottawa is a far drive for 2 hours, but you're more than welcome.

The tickets for the second event are $49 for general admission or $79 for VIP. Probably too cheap, but it's the first event of it's kind in my city so I want to get lots of people there.

You can get your ticket for free by bringing others. PM me for details if you like. We'll meet up before or after the event and turn it into a Warrior meetup.

Mike

[Daniel Brock]

It does seem a little strange to me, but it totally could be true.

With the internet these days, kids know all sorts of stuff they shouldn't know.

I could see how it is possible though. I mean if he has been selling stuff for the past 5 years or so, I could see it being possible. Profit is profit no matter how old you are...

[FaJeeb]

I used to make $200 a week in Candy and nic-nacs in Middle School until the school found out and took everything I owned and sold it themselves. Fitch Middle School FTL. During High School, I ran my own Candy Gram Service around this time, doing the High School, local businesses, Hospital, and the entire base of Camp Lejeune, NC - I made about $20k in a season. I didn't have a car either.

As for this kid, I seriously doubt it. I'm positive it's a stunt. To go from Lawn Mowing (which I did do since I was 12, and probably made a couple hundred a week) to Real Estate is a pretty large jump. You probably could theoritically, not realistically.

If a kid who sat at home whose parents paid for everything took every single penny he made and saved it for a small "lucky buy" foreclosed property and flipped it for huge profit, and then did the same for 5 more foreclosed properties, then sure... but it's theory.

Just like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," the things you learn from it are wise theoretically, but were fictional as it was theory.

[Coach Ramy]

WOW....I wish I had started that early!

[Lloyd Buchinski]

To me it seemed quite obvious that this was genuine and real, and I really appreciated it. I took the article to work today, (day job) where I deal with a lot of people, left it handy and pointed it out to probably about 40 people.

One of the handymen asked another who was reading it "what kind of businesses did he get into?" The other said "lawn mowing and pressure washing." The first one said "These days everyone wants to be a computer expert. If you get into something like that, you have a lot less competition."

That seemed like such an intelligent comment, thought I'd pass it along too. Strikes me as something to think about. I didn't see any indication that the kid used the internet to do it and of course since he bought 4000 books he doesn't seem to be spending all his time on line.

Compare that to what most 8 year olds would buy with that kind of money and it comes off pretty well.

[Harvey Affcash]

He was running a business with chickens when he was 3?
Doe anyone see what is wrong with this part of the story?
Show me a three year old that can collect the eggs, and then has the ability to take in money, provide people with change, and keep a tally of funds.

Even still, the power washing thing is not totally out of the realm of imagination, but how does that equate to the level of funding required for his next business venture in real estate?
At $100 profit a pop, he'd have to have had 1,500 clients (before taking out expenses such as taxes, new equipment, the advertising to actually get that many clients, etc.).
A $200 power wash sounds like a house cleaning, not a car washing, and that's an all day job. If he's only got the one unit it'd take nearly 5 years to raise the capital for that first real-estate purchase.
Even if he were reinvesting and getting more units to get more people to run more jobs, that requires a sophisticated level of coordination that an 8 year old is unlikely to be able to control, especially outside of business hours, especially without a mobile phone.
Never mind the employees most likely natural skepticism to being employed by an 8 year old.

Likewise, what kind of 8 year old kid makes the decision to invest in real estate?
Who here was thinking of buying a building at that age? A building with nothing in it other than an office or retail space. Not a castle, or a fire-station, or a giant LEGO tower, but just boring old real estate.
And six buildings for $900,000? That's $150k per building on average. That's a pretty crap building. In fact, it sounds like a corner store at best, unless the real estate market in Canada tanked worse than I heard. Now, the rent on those can actually be pretty good. Better than a single $900,000 building if it's under occupied... but again, how many 8 year olds are thinking of volume over margin economies of scale?

It's a nice story, and it's nice for the kid to have all that money in his name... but all those little details simply do not add up to this story ringing true.
There are semi-trailer sized holes here.

[Mike Murphy]

Just a heads up...I'll be doing a live teleseminar (free) with this boys mom this Thursday and I invite all Warriors to come nad have a listen. I've added Savannahs ebook for free to all who register.

I also have a interview recorded with Ryan Ross if anyone is interested.

Cracks me up...the kid has spunk that's for sure!

[KatyaSenina]

haha at 8 I was playing with Barbie dolls... Business? I didn't even knew what business meant.

[Lloyd Buchinski]

Originally Posted by Mike Murphy

I also have a interview recorded with Ryan Ross if anyone is interested.

I'm interested. How do I get to it?

Might learn something!

Edit: Followed your sig links in case they led to it and the first one is broken.

[Daniel Brock]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goof Off

The seed was obviously planted for this child or he is some kind of child prodigy. I am always skeptical about these kinds of stories. It is hard for adults to run a business let alone a kid. I understand the kid wanting to be a business man, but, he is taking this real serious at 8 years old dont ya think?

It just goes to show that there is a lot of money to be made outside of the internet, and doing things which have been done for hundreds of years!

Props to the kid!

[GMD]

This is a great story, but there's nothing new about buying something for a $1 and selling it for two.

The fact that he was a kid made people want to buy his eggs. The fact that he was able to convince people to pay him $20 / hour to mow their lawn was because a cute kid asked them.

The kid's ideas are in no way new or innovative -- what is unusual is that this kid was able to 1) take advantage of his youth by marketing it well (monetize the "cute factor") and 2) had the desire & skill at such a young age to want to make some money. It's in the kid's genes, that much is clear. The other thing that is innovative is how he got away with not paying any taxes on his profits.

I think his father obviously has a lot to do with the real estate aspect of it all. The fact is, there is no way on God's green Earth that this kid made any kind of serious cash that would allow him to purchase real estate.

Even if the kid bankrolled 10 or 20k between selling eggs and then frying up the chickens that layed them, the kid does not have a credit report, can't qualify for financing, can't sign contracts, understand tax law or possibly understand the complex realities of the modern real estate market.

The Wizard of Oz here is is dad -- But this is a "feel good" story, so let's just all say "Awwwww..." and not ask any questions.

P.S. I'm gonna buy 60 chickens too and let them lay some eggs for me. Then I am going to go around town trying to sell a dozen for $3 and I can guarantee you nobody will buy one egg because of my ugly face...

But that's just the mean side of me writing...I wish him well and know his parents are proud. I am sure we will be hearing more from this kid in the future!

[TelegramSam]

Maybe he was a Rockerfeller or Carnegie in a past life and didn't want to wait until he was 18 to get going again.

[sharkdancer]

I'm interested. this sound good..

[gregbanks]

I'm jealous if it's true.

But I seriously doubt it. Sounds like his parents had a BIG part to play in it. Note at the end of the post they posted that "they" have set up meetings with NHL people?

Personally, although it sounds good, I think there's a lot more going on in the background. It's my opinion that it's either going to be his dad or his mum pulling strings in the background.

I've got a nice set of businesses but 6 buildings? You'd need some serious capital to do that. Do you think he could have done that from the likes of selling chicken eggs?

I think it's a font in all honesty.

[Aries26]

This is a great information. Amazing!

[808glass]

Sounds like some serious link bait... even MetroNews bit... gotta be a faux

[Nicketas]

Children have always been able to have this kind of potential.

I would say human beings are meant to be able to do these kinds of "miraculous" things BY DEFAULT.

The reason we don't see more of it is because parents stuff them in mind-numbing boxes when their young, then transfer them into another box (cubible/Job) when they are older.

This is what happens when you GET OUT OF THE WAY and let a mind run free.

We've barely scratched 1% of human potential.

Enjoy it!

[Nicketas]

Also,
Notice how **SIMPLE** this story is. All he did was SELL STUFF. And then hire people and take a cut. With no up front capital.

Then re-invest.

Don't overcomplicate things, guys. Just sell stuff.