YOU don??t have to be dyslexic, but it helps. A study has revealed that millionaires are significantly more likely to suffer from the condition than the rest of the population.

Psychologists who analysed the mental make-up of business winners found learning difficulties are one of the most important precursors of financial success. About 40% of the 300 studied had been diagnosed with the condition ?? four times the rate in the general population.

Experts believe one reason may be that dyslexics, who tend not to be good at details, learn to excel by grasping the bigger picture and producing original ideas. They might also be more motivated because of the social exclusion many feel.

The findings, by Tulip Financial Research, show a huge majority of Britain??s estimated 5,000 self-made millionaires performed badly at school and continue to perform poorly in aptitude tests.

??Most people who make a million have difficult childhoods or have been frustrated in a major way,?? said Adrian Atkinson, a business psychologist who assisted with the tests. ??Dyslexia is one of the driving forces behind that.??

Sir Richard Branson, head of Virgin, who made his first million by the age of 18 after founding a record label, is a classic example of the successful dyslexic. Branson, a billionaire, admits he did not understand the difference between net and gross profit until it was explained to him three years ago.

??One of the problems about being dyslexic is that you don??t perform well at school and I knew I wasn??t going to pass my exams so I did other things,?? said Branson. ??Being dyslexic means I am good at delegation and the bigger picture.??

Lord Heseltine ?? the former Tory cabinet minister whose wealth was put at ??203m in this year??s Sunday Times Rich List, largely from his Haymarket publishing empire ?? has also suffered throughout his life from dyslexia.

He recalls his first entrepreneurial steps at Shrewsbury school: ??I wasn??t any good at games, so when all these very energetic fellows spent the afternoon exhausting themselves on the soccer playing fields of Shrewsbury I used to carry lemonade up the hill and sell it at a significant mark-up.??

The latest study was commissioned for a BBC2 series, Mind of a Millionaire, to be shown on Tuesday. Ivan Massow, a former Tory party adviser and businessman who made his first million at 21 and is dyslexic, said the findings chimed with his experiences.

Massow, who came from a broken home and felt himself shunned at school, insisted his traumatic early experiences were beneficial to his career.

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