China: 'The Best Place to Invest in the Next Five to 10 Years'

China Knowledge@Wharton: You have been described in the media as an avid reader: 10 newspapers per day and six books per week. Why is reading so important to you?

Rubenstein: That's true. I try to read 10 newspapers a day and about four to six books every week. I love to read. It keeps me out of trouble.

China Knowledge@Wharton: What kinds of books do you read?

Rubenstein: I only read nonfiction books. I tend to read books about business, politics, history. I can't say any one of them is my favorite book. I try to read best-sellers and biographies as well. Business books appeal to me most.

China Knowledge@Wharton: If you were going to write your autobiography, to what would you attribute your success?

Rubenstein: I would say luck is a very important factor. I was very lucky. I think learning to work hard is very important. Having some humility is also very helpful. The ability to get along with people and motivate them to work with you, to follow your vision, is also very important. But in the end, my perception is that over thousands of years, people who are intelligent, hardworking and focused are more successful than people who are lazy, not smart and unfocused.

China Knowledge@Wharton: Warren Buffett has donated a large portion of his money and won't leave that much to his children. What will you do?

Rubenstein: Andrew Carnegie said anybody who is wealthy should die without any money. He should give it away. I think that's probably a good idea. The ancient Egyptians were buried with their wealth. It seems that might be a mistake. Interestingly, people in the United States die with 90% of the wealth they ever had. So most people actually don't give away much money. I think it is a good thing to give away money because you can see the benefit while you are alive (see "Charity: Give It Away, Get Something Back"). I am not in favor of leaving a lot of money to be given away when I die. But I'm 58 and I will probably live a little bit longer, so I will give away some money and also leave some money to my children so that they can survive, but not so much that they don't have to work and think about money (see "Gifts to Make Your Kids Rich").

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