Is it any different for self-made billionaires like Musk and Zuckerberg to be the same person as the average person?
Scientists in Germany say they have found the answer after studying the personality traits of more than 1,000 high-wealth people.
Millionaires are more likely to take risks, are more open minded, and are generally more optimistic than non-rich people.
They warn that this could have a negative impact on society, as rich people often have great power.
Researchers looked at data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, a household survey of 30,000 people, for the study.
Information about their assets and material resources are included.
Rather than focusing on income, the academics looked at a person's net worth, which included stocks, assets, and businesses, as a more reflective measure of fortune.
If a person had a net worth of more than $1 million and less than $800,000, they were considered rich. The people with a net wealth between the two were excluded.
Of the 23,721 individuals remaining, 1,125 were millionaires and 190 had an individual net worth of more than $5 million.
The Big Five personality traits of appetite for risk and willingness to take risks were assessed by the participants in the survey.
The model was developed by psychologists from the Institute of Aging.
Their tendency to be anxious or pessimistic, openness to experiences, as well as levels of creativity and inventiveness, conscientiousness, their ability to be organised and persistent, agreeableness, their tendency to trust and work with others, and finally, extraversion, which determines how active they are, are
Each individual is measured on a scale between high or low levels according to the model.
The results show that rich people have higher levels of risk tolerance, openness, extraversion and consciousness, but lower levels of neuroticism and agreeableness.
The determining factor was not wealth.
People who inherit their fortune are generally less neurotic than people who are self-made millionaires.
The researchers said that the findings have wider implications. With wealth comes power. The influence of rich people on politics and society is significant.
When an important decision-maker with a high-risk tolerance implements plans that may be beneficial but are very risky, this risk-prone decision making may end up being to the detriment of the more risk-averse rest of the population.
The study focused on German millionaires, so it could yield different conclusions if applied to other countries with different cultures.
They note that while personality profile is no guarantee of economic success, factors like education, access to resources and abilities also matter.
It is not the first study to show a link between the big five personality traits and the super-rich. According to Insider's Taylor Nicole Rogers, a German researcher has found that rich people are less agreeable.
Openness is a trait shared by wealthy CEOs.
Ann Hiatt, a former executive assistant to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, told Insider that billionaires ask questions and are resilient.
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