What truly separates the ultra-wealthy from the rest? A new, revealing study from JPMorgan, based on conversations with more than 100 billionaire families with a combined net worth exceeding $500 billion, strips away the glamour. It uncovers a core practice that quietly underpins dynastic success. Contrary to the myth of relentless speed, the habit these families protect most fiercely is one of slowness: the deliberate, focused act of reading.
The Real Currency: Time Over Money
The report's overwhelming theme is an obsessive intentionality about time. While habits like exercise, consistency, and waking up early are common, they are secondary to a governing philosophy. "The currency of life is time. It is not money," wrote one anonymous billionaire family leader in the study. This perspective challenges decades of hustle culture. Money can fluctuate, but time, once spent, is gone forever. For these individuals, reading persists not for efficiency, but because it is deemed essential for sharpening judgment and perspective.
Defying the Age of Instant Answers
In an era where AI like ChatGPT can summarise vast information instantly, choosing to read a book cover-to-cover seems almost indulgent. Yet, billionaire thinking often counters mass behaviour. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has frequently cited reading as the backbone of his learning. At his peak, he read about 50 books a year, not to collect facts but to refine his understanding. He told The New York Times in 2016, "Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding." His most influential book recommendation, Business Adventures by John Brooks, came from Warren Buffett and focuses on corporate narratives, not technical manuals.
Similarly, Warren Buffett's approach is famously simple and disciplined. He reportedly spends five to six hours daily reading newspapers, magazines, annual reports, and filings. His blunt advice to professionals is to read 500 pages every day. The power of knowledge, Buffett argues, compounds quietly and does not offer instant gratification.
Reading as Strategic Infrastructure
JPMorgan's data presents a telling insight. While reading is the top habit linked to long-term success, it ranks only seventh on the list of hobbies billionaires are most passionate about, behind outdoor activities, work, family, and sports. This is not hypocrisy; it's by design. For the ultra-wealthy, reading is not mere leisure or relaxation. It is treated as critical infrastructure—akin to a strategy meeting or capital allocation. It is scheduled, defended from distraction, and exists to sharpen thinking, not simply to soothe the mind.
The report identifies seven key behaviours consistently linked to the success of the world's wealthiest families:
- Reading
- Exercise
- Consistency
- Waking up early
- Prioritising tasks
- Goal setting
- Protected time for deep thinking
None promise quick fixes, which is precisely why they are effective.
AI, Abundance, and the Value of Depth
Ironically, the value of deep reading is rising as information becomes overwhelmingly abundant. The report notes that nearly 80% of the billionaire families surveyed use artificial intelligence in their personal lives, and about 69% use it in business. They are not rejecting technology; they are compensating for its limitations. When information is limitless, the ability to interpret, understand nuance, and grapple with contradiction becomes scarce. Reading long-form content forces this deep engagement, forging judgment that cannot be downloaded from a summary.
This bias toward depth is reflected in JPMorgan's own 2026 recommended reading list for clients, which features memoirs, financial histories, and case studies of both success and collapse. These books are designed not to impress, but to unsettle certainty and expand perspective, training leaders to think beyond the immediate future.
The ultimate takeaway is profound. The favourite habit of billionaires isn't reading because it makes them smarter in a conventional sense. It's reading because it forces them to slow down in a world addicted to speed. It rewards patience when impatience is the norm and builds judgment where shortcuts dominate. While many are busy trying to save time, the ultra-wealthy are intensely focused on deciding how to spend it wisely. That deliberate choice, more than money itself, may be the real foundation of enduring success.
