Ever feel like the only thing standing between you and success is that crucial Ivy League degree? The good news is that some of the most successful people on the planet actually dropped out of college, and some didn’t even finish high school.
We look at 13 billionaire dropouts proving academic success isn’t the only route to hitting the big time. It just goes to show, a college degree isn’t everything!
Mark Zuckerberg
CEO, Meta
Estimated net worth: $49.6 billion USD
Even before starting his classes at Harvard, Mark was a programming prodigy. Then, at Harvard, he played around with a number of ideas, including Facemash which allowed students to rank which of their fellow students was hotter (the idea was swiftly taken down).
In 2004, TheFacebook was launched, initially just to fellow Harvard students, but as the platform grew, Mark ended up dropping out of Harvard to pursue the project.
Nearly two decades later Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp became meta, with Mark as CEO. And despite dropping out, Harvard has given him an honorary doctorate!
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Bill Gates
Founder, Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Estimated net worth: $103.7 billion USD
Bill also dropped out of Harvard, but unlike Zuckerberg, he did it twice.
Bill met his Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen before he even went to college at an elite college preparatory school where they bonded over their shared aptitude for computer programming.
Gates took two leaves of absence from Harvard to found his software company and claims that his intention was to return to his studies should Microsoft not work out. Luckily, it worked out for Bill who is now one of the richest men on the planet.
Since 2008, Gates has dedicated much of his time to philanthropy and it is reported that he has already given away at least $50 billion.
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Larry Page
Co-founder, Google and Alphabet
Estimated net worth: $80.4 billion USD
Google co-founder Larry Page actually graduated from college with both a Bachelor of Science and a Major in Science. However, he dropped out of his computer science PhD program at Stanford University.
Larry and his co-founder Sergey Brin met doing PhD research into search engines. The program that they built during this research proved so popular that they both decided to withdraw from their PhD to pursue it.
As of 2019, Page is no longer an executive of Google or Alphabet, but remains a board member, employee, and controlling shareholder.
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Amancio Ortega
Founder and former chairman, Inditex fashion group
Estimated net worth: $70.5 billion USD
Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega never graduated high school, let alone enrolled in college. He actually dropped out of school at 14, finding a job as a shop hand where he learned to make clothes by hand.
Thirteen years after dropping out of school he founded a company that sold quilted bathrobes, and 12 years later in 1975 he opened his first Zara store.
Inditex now owns brands including Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, and Bershka although Amancio retired from the fashion group in 2011. His daughter, Marta, recently became president of the company.
Ortega is known for being very private. In fact, he’s only ever given three interviews to journalists.
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Michael Dell
CEO of Dell Technologies
Estimated net worth: $45 billion USD
Dell dropped out of the University of Texas at 19 having established an informal business putting together and selling upgrade kits for personal computers.
Without the overheads of a computer store, he was able to apply for a vendor license and bid on contracts for the State of Texas. He quickly realized that it wasn’t just upgrades where this model was advantageous so established PC’s Limited in 1984, manufacturing and selling PCs direct to consumers.
By 1992, at just 27, Dell became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Since establishing the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation with his wife in 1999, he has made a number of substantial donations to his old college, despite spending so little time studying there.
A big thanks and with great appreciation to @WalterIsaacson @RayDalio @ericschmidt @IndraNooyi @richardbranson @satyanadella @HowardSchultz @Benioff @sherylsandberg @McConaughey @Gladwell @AdamMGrant Jamie Dimon @pmarca @BillGates for the endorsements for #PlayNiceButWin ? pic.twitter.com/TdISGLewCU
— Michael Dell (@MichaelDell) October 5, 2021
Larry Ellison
Co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO), Oracle
Estimated net worth: $98.2 billion USD
Larry Ellison did not drop out of college to pursue entrepreneurship. He withdrew from the University of Illinois after his sophomore year due to the death of his adoptive mother. He then spent just one term at the University of Chicago in 1966.
In 1977, he founded Software Development Laboratories (SDL) with $1,200 of his own money. This evolved to become Relational Software Inc, and finally Oracle in 1983.
Ellison still owns 42.9% of shares in the company, as well as 1.5% of Tesla.
Photo credited to: Oracle
Li Ka-shing
Founder and retired chairman of the board, Cheung Kong Holdings
Estimated net worth: $33.4 billion USD
Li was born in southern China in 1928. In 1940 the family fled to Hong Kong as refugees from the Sino-Japanese war. When his father died from tuberculosis in 1943, Li was forced to leave school and find a job. He was just 15.
Just seven years later, in 1950, Li founded Cheung Kong Industries which initially manufactured plastic flowers. The company diversified, quickly developing a real estate arm and later retail, internet and technology, and assets trading. This diverse business portfolio has led to Li becoming one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia.
Despite retiring, Li still acts as an advisor, and his son Victor Li is now chairman.
Photo credited to: Li Ka-shing Foundation
Dustin Moskovitz
Co-founder, Facebook (now Meta) and Asana
Estimated net worth: $11.3 billion USD
Moskovitz attended Harvard as an economics major for two years, dropping out to work full-time with Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook. Dustin was the original CTO of the company, and later vice president of engineering.
In 2008, after four years, Dustin left Facebook to found Asana, an efficiency and project management tool. In 2020, Asana went public with a market value of $5.5 billion.
Still CEO of Asana to this day, he also co-founded the philanthropic organization Good Ventures with his wife, supporting a number of charities.
The two CEOs of Asana stock pic.twitter.com/62a6bArfww
— Dustin Moskovitz (@moskov) December 13, 2022
Steven Spielberg
Director, writer, and producer
Estimated net worth: $4 billion USD
Spielberg made his first home movie aged 12 and was determined to become a film director. He initially applied to the University of Southern California’s film school but was turned down due to his mediocre grades. Eventually, he enrolled at California State University, Long Beach.
Whilst studying, a chance conversation with an executive at Universal Studios led to Spielberg getting his hands on a three-day pass to the premises. On the fourth day, he walked up to the studio gates without a pass and was waved in. He became an unofficial apprentice over the next two months.
In 1968, Universal gave Spielberg the opportunity to write and direct a short film that won a number of awards, leading to a seven-year directing contract. Despite all of these opportunities, it took another year before Steven dropped out of college to focus on his career, and in 2002 he actually returned to complete his Bachelor of Arts at Long Beach. That’s quite the sabbatical!
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Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group
Estimated net worth: $3.6 billion USD
Due to dyslexia, Branson had poor academic performance which led to him dropping out of school to pursue entrepreneurship at just 16 years old. His teacher said he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire. Clearly, the idea of becoming a billionaire seemed absurd at the time!
Determined to make it in business, Branson tried everything from selling Christmas trees to budgerigars, eventually founding the popular magazine, Student. Using his magazine as a marketing avenue, Branson then began selling records which by the early 70s became Virgin Records.
Today, the company controls over 400 companies in various fields.
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Jack Dorsey
Previous CEO, Twitter, CEO, Block Inc
Estimated net worth: $4.6 billion USD
Jack Dorsey dropped out of two different colleges. He initially enrolled at the University of Missouri-Rolla for two years before transferring to New York University. After spending a further two years at NYU, he dropped out one semester short of graduating. While studying, he came up with the idea for what would become Twitter.
Leaving his role as CEO in 2021, and his role on the board in 2022, the company has now been sold to Elon Musk, Dorsey still owns 2.4% of the company.
His focus is now on Block, a financial services company that he co-founded in 2010.
Happy birthday to my friend and cofounder, the one and only @biz stone machine! ??? pic.twitter.com/Ig8gyvSKw1
— jack (@jack) March 10, 2020
Jan Koum
Co-founder and former CEO, WhatsApp
Estimated net worth: $13.4 billion USD
Koum was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved to the US when he was 16. He enrolled in San Jose State University, working simultaneously at Ernst & Young as a security tester to fund his studies.
While working and studying, he met Brain Acton (who later became his co-founder) and both were hired by Yahoo. Due to his career success, Koum decided to drop out of school. Acton and Koum spent nine years working together at Yahoo, before taking a year off to travel around South America and play ultimate frisbee.
After their year out, Koum had the idea to start WhatsApp in 2009, and Acton joined as a co-founder after securing some seed funding.
In 2014, Koum sold WhatsApp to Facebook and in 2018 he left WhatsApp and the Facebook board of directors. He still has shares.
Gina Rinehart
Executive chairman, Hancock Prospecting
Estimated net worth: $28.8 billion USD
The only woman to make this list, Gina Rinehart is an Australian mining magnate and heiress. After briefly attending the University of Sydney, she dropped out to work with her father.
When her father died, he left behind a bankrupt estate which Gina turned around to become the largest private company in Australia and one of the largest mining houses in the world.
She is one of the richest women in the world and one of the richest people in Australia.
Gina Rinehart has built one of Australia’s most successful private companies to become a key player in two of the country’s top industries. But she’s fed up with government red tapehttps://t.co/cKusmHm46i #TWAM #auslife pic.twitter.com/2S1X6dtCWP
— The Australian (@australian) September 15, 2018
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