A nine-year-old boy had set his sights on becoming a billionaire and was taking the first steps in that direction on this day in 1993. Philip Kiossoglou, until the ripe age of three, had always wanted to be a millionaire.
"But that was only because I hadn't heard about billionaires and so since then that's what I've wanted to be - a billionaire, they're about 1000 times richer than a millionaire," Philip, 9, told The Canberra Times.
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He was being fast-tracked through primary school and set to enter high school two years ahead of schedule.
He was the age of a year 4 student but had already been taking year 7 and year 10 classes at Kambah High School.
He had the opportunity to attend a Japanese language summer school, where upon his return he impressed everyone with his language skills and fluency.
Philip responded to the question of why he wanted to study Japanese matter-of-factly, saying it would help him in his business career.
It wasn't just that, though.
"I want to be a scientist, too, and I want to go to Japan because I like the kimonos," he said.
Philip's parents were immensely proud of him, but also wary of burnout.
"He is thriving at the moment and for as long as he flourishes, we're happy to let him continue his fast progress through school but we're just taking one year at a time," his mother said.
