It’s no longer surprising to hear that some of the richest people in the world are college dropouts. Almost 16% of the 400 wealthiest Americans did not graduate college. Of course, statistically speaking, those who complete college make way more money than those who don’t. For obvious reasons, being a graduate gives you an edge when it comes to getting a job and staying employed. Yet most of us can’t help but be inspired by the ones that choose to drop-out saving precious time and money to fuel their extraordinary dreams.
Look up the 5 wealthiest drop outs and you’ll find a billion reasons why they have the most aspirational success stories. But here’s something you didn’t know about these rolling-in-dough masterminds:
1. Bill Gates:
Gates spent most of his college life fishing out crumpled listings of operating systems from the garbage bin outside the Computer Science Center and coding away to glory. It’s a lesser known fact that he actually had enough credits to graduate but decided against it, as he was already successful after 2 short years at Harvard.
2. Mark Zuckerberg:
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, this social media magnate was once the nerdiest kid in college. You wouldn’t want to invite him to parties or take him on a date. In the early years of Facebook, he in fact spent considerable sums of money tackling litigations related to problems created by his friends, who were promised senior positions in the company. Today, he is one of the youngest billionaires.
3. Lawrence Ellison:
The CEO and Co-founder of Oracle Corporation has a traditional superhero story – his dad was an air force pilot and he never met his mom until he was 48! Believe it or not his Jewish mom was never married and he was given away at the age of 9 months to be brought up by his uncle and aunt in New York. Batman, much?
4. Michael Dell:
Investing in stocks since the age of 7, Dell’s favorite toy was a calculator. He dropped out of the pre-medical program at the University of Texas because it just wasn’t challenging enough for his keen business mind. Just imagine your laptop might not have existed if he had gone ahead and become a doctor!
5. Marc Rich:
Having that surname sure has its advantages! Founder of Glencore, Rich was indicted for tax evasion, but later famously pardoned on Bill Clinton’s last day in office. What you didn’t know is that his most expensive investment was his wife! He met Denise Eisenberg on a blind date and they were married for 30 long years. Ten years after the divorce it was discovered that, Denise had over 140 million USD protected from scrutiny in the form of a trust, which included a Learjet 60 and a yacht called the “Lady Joy.”
Look up the 5 wealthiest drop outs and you’ll find a billion reasons why they have the most aspirational success stories. But here’s something you didn’t know about these rolling-in-dough masterminds:
1. Bill Gates:
Gates spent most of his college life fishing out crumpled listings of operating systems from the garbage bin outside the Computer Science Center and coding away to glory. It’s a lesser known fact that he actually had enough credits to graduate but decided against it, as he was already successful after 2 short years at Harvard.
2. Mark Zuckerberg:
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, this social media magnate was once the nerdiest kid in college. You wouldn’t want to invite him to parties or take him on a date. In the early years of Facebook, he in fact spent considerable sums of money tackling litigations related to problems created by his friends, who were promised senior positions in the company. Today, he is one of the youngest billionaires.
3. Lawrence Ellison:
The CEO and Co-founder of Oracle Corporation has a traditional superhero story – his dad was an air force pilot and he never met his mom until he was 48! Believe it or not his Jewish mom was never married and he was given away at the age of 9 months to be brought up by his uncle and aunt in New York. Batman, much?
4. Michael Dell:
Investing in stocks since the age of 7, Dell’s favorite toy was a calculator. He dropped out of the pre-medical program at the University of Texas because it just wasn’t challenging enough for his keen business mind. Just imagine your laptop might not have existed if he had gone ahead and become a doctor!
5. Marc Rich:
Having that surname sure has its advantages! Founder of Glencore, Rich was indicted for tax evasion, but later famously pardoned on Bill Clinton’s last day in office. What you didn’t know is that his most expensive investment was his wife! He met Denise Eisenberg on a blind date and they were married for 30 long years. Ten years after the divorce it was discovered that, Denise had over 140 million USD protected from scrutiny in the form of a trust, which included a Learjet 60 and a yacht called the “Lady Joy.”
