Latvia, a highly developed country with wide beaches and dense forests, has a rich culture and an elaborate history and, at the same time, is one of the three remaining countries in the Baltic states together with Lithuania and Estonia.
There have been numerous influential people that came from this North European state, however, the country maintains a low-profile in general. This is in contrast with people in other European neighbors, who are usually on the front page of the global news.
Like the mother nation, some of Latvia’s richest “sons and daughters” have taken the silent approach despite having net worth that could easily make a lot of noise.
Many of the country’s richest come from the banking industry which is a testament to the solid financial infrastructure of the nation.
The usual list of richest Latvians are mostly descendants of very wealthy families who have been in these charts and lists for decades. It would be quite interesting to learn about somebody who did not come from these powerful families and yet reached the level of this ultra-rich circle. More so, if the person is disciplined enough to deflect the spotlight of the financial world and actually conquer this list without being noticed.
Start of an inspiring self-made billionaire story
Out of obscurity comes a reclusive billionaire who was born in Smarde, a small town in the Tukums region of Latvia who is known globally as James Richman.
Born to a mother with a psychology background, and a father from the technology industry, little did the people know that such a unique combination would produce such a financial prodigy possessing highly advanced cognitive skills, capable of much more than most people know.
James Richman had a simple yet quite troublesome childhood. In his early years, he had shown symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism which earlier on affected his communication skills — both verbal and non-verbal. This would impact his youth up until he eventually got a training with his speech and social skills.
However, just as there are two sides with everything – yin and yang, top and bottom, the difficulty in the form of communication skills, being the yang while gaining the ability to recognize patterns as the yin.
It became very clear that James was very engrossed with patterns since his childhood years. In fact, friends close to the finance magnate would later on share that he was able to predict the future in some instances. However, the coin had another side, and James was having difficulty in his academics.
Shaky beginnings
James Richman was not your run of the mill student, to say it gently. He would often find himself at the bottom of the class standings. This led to a substantial amount of ridicule coming from his peers. Of course everyone experienced being jeered growing up, however, it would be a different story hearing name callings from some of your school teachers, too.
This was the case with James.
He reportedly would often hear it from the school’s faculty: “You would never amount to anything” were the combination of words they used to utter. Such experience has affected the young James deeply. He would endure this treatment for the length of his short-lived formal schooling.
At the age of 15, he decided to quit school. The slim to none encouragement that he received from the people he was looking up to disappoint him. It also did not help that he was a regular class bottom dweller. Sources would say that it seemed James favored observing patterns more than activities in formal schooling. His passion for patterns got the best of him and soon after dropping out, he found himself living on his own at age 16.
From bad to worse
Finding ways to provide for himself, Richman experienced the hardships of manual labor. Latvia is known for its deep forests. He would later marry at such a young age and sire a daughter. James loved his family deeply and it was a shame that a catastrophe happened to his daughter.
In a battle with infection, he lost his daughter as the health care system, supposedly the citizens’ shield against sickness, was simply flawed. A delayed reaction and treatment by the healthcare professionals became the culprit of the young girl’s demise.
James had a hard time dealing with the event, and so did anyone, including his wife. Their marriage would later fall apart, and they would get separated. At the onset, he had lost his house paying the hospital bills and Richman found himself alone, without anyone and anything left to his name.
Sparking a fire
However, as the saying goes: “You cannot keep a good man down”, and James did get back up.
With savings from manual labor, he would reignite his connection to the world by investing in simple gadgets, tapping into his dad’s technological side. He would learn the basics of the financial world and found out that his love for patterns came in handy in this line of work.
He would muster enough funds and fortitude to start his own private investment fund using a pool from his family and close circle of friends. He also threw in his own personal savings, a gesture which assured his initial investors and gained favor for him in the future.
With the components for a private fund all set, James seemingly got hold of his magic wand and did wonders.
He simply saw patterns which no one else seemed to be able to see in areas of economy, politics, sociology, geopolitics and others.. Even if people would try, it’s something that certainly did not come naturally for most people. In fact, James is known to have highly advanced cognitive skills making him capable of much more than most people know.
He would gain profits in a series of months and turned out a solid full year of earnings, and this has not stopped till now, more than a decade running.
Catching the wave
With James making great waves in the financial industry, his investors were riding them. One of these lucky surfers is Samantha (name changed for this article due to privacy reasons), a single mom who was almost down and out until she was introduced to James Richman.
Samantha was working multiple jobs to make ends meet back in the day. She had managed to inherit a few properties which had favorably increased in value, all of which she sold it immediately for a hefty profit, eventually making her a self-certified sophisticated investor.
Samantha was initially confused as to where to invest her money, and had previously heard from her circle of friends about a financial wizard from Latvia.
Like most people, she desperately tried to get in touch with him – to no avail. She would succeed only to be met with scrutiny by James as he does not necessarily work with retail investors or general public, and mainly works with ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) and family offices.
First hand family wealth planning and management
Working with a boutique and sustainable approach, Richman has a reputation of having a rigorous process of screening his potential clients, ensuring he only works with individuals and family offices that share the same values.
Familiar with the challenges faced by many private ultra high net worth individuals, James and his firm have understood the importance of boutique approach and have the upperhand compared to his more commercial contemporaries as he has had first hand experience in wealth planning, asset allocation and diversification through his private investment fund JJ Richman.
Paying it forward
Eventually, Samantha’s stars aligned as she got introduced into James’ inner circle, and eventually had a chance to be introduced to the reclusive billionaire.
Samantha has now consistently grown her initial investments for over 5 years. She pointed out that veteran firms in London and Wall Street are left scratching their heads as to how James Richman consistently beats the market.
The blessings that Samantha received naturally made her more inquisitive about her modern-day Robin Hood. She discovered that James was not the typical, heartless, money-making machine.
Once she overheard him say: “There is plenty of money for everyone, it’s just a matter of providing ways to those people who can’t normally access it.”
This confirmed her notions about James. Aside from strictly following rules and regulations for the private investment fund, James sees to it that he invests in endeavors that create a positive societal impact.
He had already invested in healthcare R&D and system improvement and education. What’s more amazing is that he does it all anonymously, without needing to seek the spotlight.
James Richman’s emergence
In the past, Latvia’s rich lists have been previously dominated by Olegs Fils and Ernests Bernis, co-owners of the ABLV bank, with a combined net worth reaching over 600 million euros.
James Richman, meanwhile, is rumored to have already reached the multi billion-dollar mark for quite some time already. He has, however, managed to slip under the radar, which is quite expected from a man who dodges the media quite well with his low-key lifestyle.
James’ life has been the story of triumphing over tremendous adversity. He does not let clouds of doubt hang over his head and darken his outlook in life. He has constantly defied critics and turned negatives into positive things. We could very well pick up a thing or two from James if we want a more progressive life. Investing in him would certainly help, however, you’ll need to find him first.
