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Gen Z is coming of age in a job market defined by uncertainty. AI is reshaping work, entry-level opportunities feel fragile, and a growing number of young people are stuck on the sidelines\u2014 labeled as NEET, not in employment, education, or training.<\/p>\n
Self-made millionaire and social media star Logan Paul has little sympathy for those who don\u2019t help themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in an interesting time where everyone wants to critique, but no one wants to build,\u201d Paul told Fortune <\/em>in an interview. \u201cThey all are just armchair quarterbacks yelling from the sidelines while there are doers out there who are creating, making, building, establishing, and I am that person.\u201d<\/p>\n First rising to fame as a teenager on now-defunct video app Vine, Paul has parlayed internet fame into a sprawling business empire\u2014in part by relentlessly turning personal interests into commercial ventures.\u00a0<\/p>\n He built his early audience alongside his brother, Jake, then expanded beyond content creation through partnerships with fellow creators like KSI and MrBeast. He eventually used his following to launch consumer brands like Prime and Lunchly. Most recently, Paul has pushed further into the mainstream, signing on as a full-time WWE star. His YouTube subscribers now exceed 23 million, in addition to nearly 27 million Instagram followers.<\/p>\n But Paul insists his success has had less to do with algorithms or viral luck\u2014and more to do with his strategic team-building over the years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people that you\u2019re putting your trust into to help build with you is probably the most important decision that you\u2019re going to make,\u201d he said. \u201cBoth my successes and failures have come as a result of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon has captivated fans for nearly three decades. But in recent years, the franchise\u2019s trading cards have evolved from childhood collectibles into serious financial assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the past two decades, Pok\u00e9mon cards have posted the largest long-term increase of any major trading card category\u2014rising 3,261%\u2014according to data provided last year to Fortune<\/em> by Card Ladder. That performance outpaces even many of the market\u2019s hottest stocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paul has watched that shift up close. An avid collector of Pok\u00e9mon cards, he turned his early childhood passion into a high-profile investment in 2022, when he purchased a rare Pikachu Illustrator card for $5.3 million\u2014often wearing it as a necklace, both as a flex and a brand statement.<\/p>\n Now, alongside auctioneer Ken Goldin, Paul has put the card up for auction, betting that nostalgia, fandom, and smart dealmaking can drive outsized returns. As of publication, bidding had already topped $6.3 million\u2014the highest price ever reached for a card at auction. Paul hopes it ultimately sells for between $7 million and $12 million.<\/p>\n Paul encouraged young people to consider looking more at \u201cfun\u201d nontraditional asset classes like art, trading cards, and even fossils over traditional stocks to combine passion with income.<\/p>\n \u201cWith anything you invest in, there\u2019s always a level of risk, but young people have a significant amount of both energy and time to be able to calculate risk and then mitigate that risk,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n Even if his card falls short of his desired range, Paul said the outcome still proves his larger point: opportunity is everywhere, if you\u2019re willing to give it a try.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re into something and you\u2019re passionate about it, there\u2019s a market for it,\u201d Paul said. \u201cAnd you can build around it as long as you lean into it.\u201d<\/p>\n That philosophy, he argued, is especially relevant for Gen Z navigating a rapidly changing economy.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t adapt, you die,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be able to change with the times and use the technology at your fingertips. And there\u2019s plenty nowadays to accomplish the things that you want.\u201d<\/p>\n Goldin echoed that sentiment, saying career success is less about financial upside than about personal engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about how much money you\u2019re going to make in the career,\u201d Goldin told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s about, am I going to enjoy it? Am I challenged? Am I looking forward to it?\u201d<\/p>\n From auctioning with Goldin to building brands alongside MrBeast\u2014and collaborating repeatedly with his brother Jake\u2014Paul\u2019s career reflects the belief that durable businesses are built sustainably with the right people in the room.<\/p>\n That idea is one many business leaders have championed. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, for example, has offered similar advice to young professionals.<\/p>\n \u201cSurround yourself with people who challenge you, teach you, and push you to be your best self,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett has echoed this sentiment throughout his career.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry too much about starting salaries and be very careful who you work for because you will take on the habits of the people around you,\u201d Buffett said at his final Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting last year. \u201cThere are certain jobs you shouldn\u2019t take.\u201d<\/p>\n For Buffett, the importance of having the right partnerships was embodied with Charlie Munger\u2014who served as vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway from 1978 until he died in 2023. Buffett often described Munger as a \u201cpart older brother, part loving father,\u201d crediting him with sharpening his thinking and challenging his assumptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time I\u2019m with Charlie, I\u2019ve got at least some new slant on an idea that causes me to rethink certain things,\u201d Buffett said to CNBC<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Logan #Paul #turned #Pok\u00e9mon #YouTube #wrestling #millions #Heres #advice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gen Z is coming of age in a jo… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[119,2005,542,926,664,665,666,300,3595,1275,9307,3164,801,1299,9306,6087,9308,1280],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Paul hopes to profit millions from his rare Pok\u00e9mon card\u2014an asset class that\u2019s soaring among young investors<\/h2>\n
Business leaders like Warren Buffett have long echoed Paul\u2019s advice: who you work with matters<\/h2>\n