- Billionaires Bill Ackman and Tim Cook are recommending one book to their followers: The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom. The work reframes affluence beyond money and offers up suggestions for readers to find fulfillment in richness in key aspects of their lives.
One might think that the likes of Bill Ackman and Tim Cook don’t need help managing their wealth. But the billionaires are raving about one personal finance book.
Hedge fund mogul Ackman just took to X to share one of just two books he recommends people read: The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life by entrepreneur Sahil Bloom.
“In short, the book is a guide to how to live your life. The earlier in your life you read it, the better your life will be,” Ackman raved. “I like asymmetric investments and I don’t know of a better return than this book. Read it. You will thank me and Sahil.”
Ackman described the book as being so powerful it “will cause you to make positive changes in your life,” and wrote that he even bought copies for his kids.
While many people suggest their favorite self-help and personal finance books, Ackman might have certain authority on the subject. He founded and runs Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund that manages about $15 million in assets. The billionaire investor rose to prominence in 2002 for shorting MBIA’s stock, buying credit default swaps in anticipation the bank would tank. He is also famous for rescuing the now-defunct mall company General Growth Properties.
Owning stock in Chipotle, Hilton, and Alphabet, Ackman has a diverse portfolio and cash to burn. Knowing this, X users didn’t take Ackman’s endorsement lightly; within 36 hours of posting his recommendation, Bloom’s book shot up to No. 2 on Amazon’s bestseller page.
The 5 Types of Wealth
Ackman is eye-wateringly rich, with a net worth of around $9.4 billion, but that doesn’t equate to wealth in all facets of his life. His book recommendation, Bloom’s The 5 Types of Wealth, is based on five types of riches. Without one or the other people won’t be fulfilled, the self-help book contends, and that they should all work in harmony to achieve true richness. They are:
- Time Wealth: How many moments do you have with your remaining loved ones? This section teaches how to prioritize energy-saving tasks to unlock more time in the day.
- Social Wealth: Who will be sitting in the front row at your funeral? Learn how to create deeper bonds and build a powerful network.
- Mental Wealth: What would your 10-year-old self say to you today? This teaches how to engage your purpose, and spark constant growth.
- Physical Wealth: Will you be dancing at your 80th birthday party? Get advice on how to maximize health and vitality through three simple principles.
- Financial Wealth: What is your definition of enough? Learn how to achieve financial independence and define your version of “enough.”
Through these lessons, Bloom wants to shatter misconceptions that wealth simply equates to how much is in the bank.
“You've been lied to. Throughout your life, you've been slowly indoctrinated to believe that money is the only type of wealth,” Bloom said in an interview with People. “In reality, your wealthy life may involve money, but in the end, it will be defined by everything else.”
Understanding different types of wealth is one thing, but readers also need guidance in what to do with this information. Built on three years of research, Bloom’s personal experiences, and thousands of interviews, the book offers science-backed practices—like the first section on how to prioritize energy-creating tasks to free up time, which Bloom told Big Think enables people to mull over what they want to focus on. The book also lays out a game plan for forming deeper bonds to grow networks, engaging purpose, maximizing health, and achieving financial independence.
Bloom said his book isn’t for any one type of person; anyone, at any age or in any profession, in any “season” of life, can take these wealth skills and apply them to their situations. Unlike typical personal finance and advice guides, The 5 Types promotes balancing wellness just as much as money to achieve true fulfillment. It makes sense why someone like Ackman—with more money than most—could find deeper lessons in the pages.
“This book will not give you the answers—because the truth is that you already have them within you,” Bloom told People. “It will give you the right questions so that you can uncover and act on them.”
Bloom’s billionaire fans
Ackman isn’t the only billionaire who’s leaving rave reviews for The 5 Types of Wealth.
Apple CEO Tim Cook called it “a powerful call to action to think deeply about what lights you up—and a guide for how to build a life of meaning and purpose.”
Famed author, motivational speaker, and podcaster Mel Robbins also described the book “a powerful wake-up call. This book will push you to rethink everything.”
Andrew Huberman, PhD, a Stanford University neuroscientist and podcast host with over 7.3 million Instagram followers, said the book lays out a solid plan of action. As a professor who relies on research regularly, he praised the book for meshing data with practical advice.
“An important clarifying force in anyone’s search to make the best possible choices for their life, and to experience the greatest amount of joy and fulfillment along the way,” Huberman wrote. “This book has you ask the critical questions, and then helps you answer those questions with time-tested wisdom, data-supported tools, and a clear framework to implement them, a uniquely powerful combination."
With endorsements coming from neuroscientists, billionaires, psychoanalysts, and public speakers, Bloom has amassed a dream team of supporters. The inspirational writer also has over 800,000 subscribers to his newsletter “The Curiosity Chronicle,” which analyzes and provides actionable steps to navigate finance, business, startups, and technology. It’s estimated he makes about $70,000 in revenue monthly from the newsletter. He is also an entrepreneur, founding SRB Holdings and SRB Ventures, which manage business portfolios and invest in startups.
