These six rich people in the world prove that reading can make you successful

Here are rich people who say reading made them who they are and how it happened as reported by Money Talk News, Friday (13/9). 

1. Bill Gates

When Bill Gates goes on vacation, he spends most of his time reading. In fact, he spends about three hours every day reading books. 

The Microsoft co-founder is famous for regularly providing lists of great books to read. Reading has helped spur his success, especially because he takes extra steps to make sure the material sinks in. As he posted on Reddit:

"I only take notes about 20% of the books I read. It takes me at least 2x as long when writing notes, but for many books, they are key to my learning."

2. Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett has an unmatched investment track record. So, you might be wondering what he does all day that puts him ahead of everyone else. 

It's actually quite simple: "I just sit in the office and read all day," he says. 

The Oracle of Omaha spent up to six hours a day reading books and newspapers. 

He thinks reading and thinking for a long time can prevent him from making impulsive decisions. However, the real reason he reads is because it's fun. 

"I do it because I like this kind of life," he explains. 

3. Oprah Winfrey

Reading is one of the greatest joys in Oprah Winfrey's life: "Nothing, not one thing or activity, can replace the experience of a good read," she wrote. 

Oprah's Book Club segments are one of the most popular aspects of her long-running TV program, "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Winfrey attributes much of her extraordinary success to being a reader, saying that reading "opens you up" and "gives you access to whatever your mind can hold."

"I can't imagine where I would be or who I would be if reading wasn't a fundamental tool in my life," he said. 

4. Elon Musk

Elon Musk is a voracious reader, with some reports saying that he reads more than 100 books a year. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX once wrote the following about the power of a good book:

"I learned what I needed to learn to achieve my goals, and I think most people can do this, but they often limit themselves. People are more capable than they think. If you do something like read a lot of books and talk to a lot of people, you can learn almost anything."

5. Mark Zuckerberg

In 2015, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg publicly pledged to read two books a month. On his Facebook page, he wrote:

"I find reading books very intellectually satisfying. Books allow you to explore a topic thoroughly and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today. I hope to shift more of my media reading habits towards reading books."

After completing his goals in 2015, the Facebook founder later wrote that all that reading had given him a broader perspective on a number of topics and that he left the project "with a greater sense of hope and optimism that our societycan make greater progress in all these areas."

6. Charlie Munger

The late Charlie Munger, who was Warren Buffett's right-hand man as vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway, read so much that he joked about how his children viewed it as "a book with a few legs sticking out."

Munger was never shy about speaking his mind, and his views on the importance of reading were typically uncompromising:

"In my entire life, I have never known a wise person (in any subject area) who did not read all the time to nothing, zero."