How two mothers turn their sons into billionaires by teaching them giving
John Paul DeJoria was rendered homeless twice. He had to live in a car at two different times of his life. The wife abandoned him and his…
How two mothers turn their sons into billionaires by teaching them giving
John Paul DeJoria was rendered homeless twice. He had to live in a car at two different times of his life. The wife abandoned him and his son when the boy was two and half years old and DeJoria was twenty-two and half years old.
Today, he is a billionaire several times over and the CEO and co-founder of Paul Mitchell Systems, the largest privately held salon hair care line in America.
In a story titled “How I Overcame Homelessness Twice to Become a Billionnaire,” John Paul DeJoria told BigThink about his very poor background and the role of his mother in shaping what he is today.
“A lot of people ask how I got into donating to various causes,” DeJoria began, “and how I got involved in even homelessness along the way and popped out of it—well it’s a very interesting story. My mom has a lot to do with it.”
To give more context, John Paul DeJoria has signed Bill Gates and Warren Buffet’s “The Giving Pledge” which is a formal promise by the rich to continue giving back. Accordingly, he has given a large chunk of his money to humanitarian and environmental causes.
Let’s go back to that 2017 interview he had with BigThink.
“At six years old we didn’t have any money; there was my mother, my brother and I. We had a deadbeat dad; left us before we were two, but she took us at Christmas-time to downtown Los Angeles. We had little cars going around in circles, it was pretty cool, and decorations in the window.
“She gave my brother and me a dime and told us, ‘Boys, hold half of it each, give it to the man ringing the bell in the bucket.’ We put it in this bucket, we said, ‘Mom, why did we give that man a dime? That’s like two soda pops.’ This is 1951, two soda pops, three candy bars.
And mom said, ‘Boys, that’s the Salvation Army. They take care of people that have no place to live and no food. And we don’t have a lot of money, but we can afford a dime this year. Boys, always remember in life: give a little something to those in need, they’ll always be somebody that’s not as well-off as you are. No matter where you are or how far down you are, try and help someone along the way.’ It stuck with me.”
It stuck with me!
What is remarkable here is that of all his childhood experiences and challenges, John Paul recalls the attitude of giving taught to him by his mother as the lesson that is the most impactful in his life. “Boys, always remember in life: give a little something to those in need, they’ll always be somebody that’s not as well-off as you are,” he remembered his mother telling him.
The act of giving when you are poor is very counterintuitive. But both science and religion are united in reminding us that giving actually increases our wealth.
Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) said: “Verily, wealth never decreases by giving some of it out in charity.”
In September 2020, I recorded a video where I discussed the science of giving:
“In 2007, Arthur C. Brooks wanted to know if charitable giving leads to prosperity. He discovered something very fascinating. Not only does giving help the taker, but it also unleashes the prosperity of the giver he reported in the [Journal of Economics and Finance].”
Our second story is also another evidence that wealth can be built on the foundation of giving.
As a little boy, Bukhari migrated with his mother to Malaysia. They were poor. To make ends meet, he bought and sold shoes. At a point, he made a tidy sum and happily informed his mother. What the mother said next surprised him.
“Give half of it in charity,” she said. The boy felt that 50% was too much and giving so much in charity at that time of his life was too early.
“I will give charity when I earn more,” he pleaded with his mother.
“Allah who gave you this has many more opportunities to grant you,” the mother insisted.
As an obedient child, the boy did as he was told. That poor boy from Yemen is now the largest supplier of rice in Malaysia and one of the richest Malaysian billionaires.
Teach your children that giving wealth is building wealth. Inform them of what the Prophet said. Teach them what science confirmed. Let them give and give.