From the richest Romans to the nineteenth century's robber barons to today's bankers and tech billionaires, Sam Wilkin offers Freakonomics-esque insight into what it really takes to make a fortune. These stories of larger-than-life characters, their strategies, and the sacrifices they made reveal how history's very wealthiest did it--whether it was through taking advantage of legal loopholes, working around bureaucratic systems, or creating obstacles in order to defeat the competition.Wealth Secrets ventures beyond what you already know and shows how the roughly 0.0001 percent who have achieved billionaire status actually got to the top. Thought-provoking and rigorous, with a smart sense of humor and a wealth of cocktail-party trivia at his fingertips, Wilkin reveals that behind almost every great fortune is a "wealth secret"--a moneymaking technique used only by those focused exclusively on huge returns.