If you’ve never heard of Grant Cardone, you can be forgiven, but he has an amazing story to tell. At 25, he recovered from a serious drug addiction. It was a kick up the backside so serious, that he became a millionaire at 30. And you know what’s so infuriating about it? It kind of happened by accident… the millionaire thing, that is.

Grant didn’t start out from scratch, however. He earned a degree in accounting when he was 22. Three years later, it all went downhill (see first paragraph). But before it did, he started learning about real estate. No, not in college, but by hanging out with real estate agents and watching how they operated.

By the time he was 29, he decided to jump into the industry by buying a house. Not for himself, but so he could rent it out. That way, he could use the rent to not only pay the mortgage on the property, but also have something extra.

Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? And it all worked out, too. At least till his tenant moved out, leaving him without extra cash once more. Fortunately, Grant had another source of income, but because he had to run around looking for another tenant, he couldn’t focus on his primary job, and… well, it didn’t turn out well.

Frustrated, he sold the house, broke even, and was so traumatized that he vowed never to get into real estate ever again. And he kept his word, too! For the next five years. But that was when Grant got his epiphany.

Instead of buying a single house, why not buy an apartment complex? He settled on one in California which could house 38 tenants because it made sense. Surely not all 38 tenants would leave at once, would they? Of course not. Even if half did leave at the same time for some reason, that would leave the other half still generating an income.

Problem was, he couldn’t afford it. So he turned to the Banco de Familia. Ok, that was a fancy way of saying that he borrowed money from his family so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the hefty interest rates that banks normally charge. So what was in it for his family? They got a share commensurate to the amount of their loan.

The complex cost $1.9 million, but he was allowed to have it for a down payment of $350,000. And then Grant did something ridiculous. A month later, he bought another complex. But hey, people need a place to live in, right?

That was several years ago, and as of 2015, Grant’s properties are valued at $350 million. And the family members who lent him money? They get some of that, too. Grant runs them through Cardone Acquisitions, but that’s not his primary source of income. Annoying, isn’t it?

No, his main income source comes from Cardone Training Technologies, which services Fortune 500 companies and others. It doesn’t end there, though. He’s also a best-selling author, a career counselor, international speaker, business consultant, and dig this – a movie producer.

Grant essentially typifies the old saying that money is like yoghurt – you need some to make some. But he takes it a step further by putting his money into something people simply can’t live without – a place to live in.