There’s a current trend in America that makes young college graduates believe that they need to obtain a secondary degree to make money in today’s economy. Thus, we are seeing enrollment in graduate schools skyrocket. Perhaps after reading this article we should be rethinking that. Without question, some of the wealthiest figures in the world, billionaires and millionaires alike, have never finished college. Some have never even finished high school. There’s a unique tie between all these guys and it starts with an idea. That special idea could be worth more than $200,000 in student loans. We’re not saying drop out of school, but truly significant wealth has nothing to do with number of years in school.
Take a look at the list…
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is the most successful computer programmer/inventor in the world. He founded the company Microsoft, the world’s largest personal computer software company, with Paul Allen in 1975. Gates has been listed as the wealthiest person in the world for 15 of the last 20 years.
Net Worth: $76.8 billion
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, one of the most famous billionaires in the world, is one of the five co-founders of social media giant Facebook. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Facebook. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard after his second year to move to Palo Alto, California and pursue his idea full-time.
Net Worth: $28.5 billion
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
Lawrence Ellison
Lawrence Ellison is the co-founder and CEO of the enterprise software company Oracle. Forbes has listed Ellison as the third-wealthiest man in America and the fifth wealthiest man in the world. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign but dropped out after his second year.
Net Worth: $48 billion
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Michael Dell
Michael Dell is an American business giant known for being the founder and CEO of Dell, Inc. one of the world’s leading sellers of PCs. He is also a successful investor who dropped out of the University of Texas-Austin. He was ranked the 41st richest person in the world last year.
Net Worth: $15.3 billion
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Ty Warner
Ty Warner is an American business manufacturer made famous as the CEO, sole owner and founder of Ty, Inc. which manufactures and distributes Beanie Babies and a dozen other plush items. Warner dropped out of Kalamazoo College in Michigan after one year.
Net Worth: $2.6 billion
Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Subhash Chandra
Subhash Chandra is an Indian media mogul and chairman of the Essel Group. He is most famous for launching Zee TV and Zee news in the early 1990s. He has other business interests in over 20 enterprises, but dropped out of school after the equivalent of high school.
Net Worth: $2.9 billion
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Nespresso
Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the many owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC. He is known globally for being the owner of English Premier League football club Chelsea. Abramovich went right into the army and did not attend college.
Net Worth: $14.6 billion
Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Adelson is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the parent company of the Venetian Macao Limited which operates the The Venetian Resort Hotel and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. He also owns an Israeli newspaper. He attended the City College of New York, but dropped out to pursue his career.
Net Worth: $40.8 billion
Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images
Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega is a Spanish fashion giant and chairman of Inditex Fashion Group, best known for its chain of Zara clothing and accessories retail shops. He is reportedly the world’s fourth richest person, but dropped out of school before finishing the equivalent of high school.
Net Worth: $64 billion
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Donald Newhouse
Donald Newhouse, together with his brother, owns Advance Publications whose properties include Conde Nast (publisher of magazines like Vanity Fair, Vogue and The New Yorker), several newspapers across the United States of America, and Bright House Networks. He dropped out of college after just a couple years of school.
Net Worth: $8.5 billion
Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for HBO
Francois Pinault
Francois Pinault is a French businessman and art collector who runs the retail company Kering. He also has holdings in seven other companies including Converse and Samonsite Luggage. Pinault dropped out of school at an early age to pursue his career.
Net Worth: $11.5 billion
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Jack Taylor
Jack Taylor is an American business giant who started Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company. He began studies at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis before leaving school to join the US Navy prior to World War II.
Net Worth: $11.4 billion
Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
David Geffen
David Geffen, an American business magnate, producer and film studio executive, is famous for creating Asylum Records in 1970. His wealth skyrocketed when he would go on to co-found DreamWorks SKG in 1994. He attended Santa Monica College, Brooklyn College, and the University of Texas-Austin dropping out of all three.
Net Worth: $5.6 billion
Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Ted Turner
Ted Turner is an American media mogul most well-known for founding CNN, the first ever 24-hour news network. He also founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept of cable TV. Before receiving his diploma from Brown University he was expelled for having a female in his dormitory.
Net Worth: $2 billion
Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American designer and business executive. His wealth is built on the globally popular brand Polo Ralph Lauren. He also has an incredible collection of rare and antique automobiles. He dropped out of Baruch College after two years of studying business.
Net Worth: $7.5 billion
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Stanley Ho
Stanley Ho is known as ‘King of Gambling’ because of the 40-year monopoly he held on the Macau gambling industry. Ho left the University of Hong Kong because of World War II.
Net Worth: $2 billion
Photo by MN Chan/Getty Images
Gabe Newell
Gabe Newell is the co-founder and head of video game development and online distribution company Valve Corporation. After dropping out of Harvard, Newell spent 13 years working for Microsoft before going out on his own.
Net Worth: $1.5 billion
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Dustin Moskovitz
Dustin Moskovitz is most well-known for co-founding social network giant Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg. In 2008, he left Facebook and co-founded Asana. Like Zuckerberg, he dropped out of Harvard after two years and moved to Palo Alto, California.
Net Worth: $6.8 billion
Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Sheldon Solow
Sheldon Solow is an American real estate mogul. His wealth took a dramatic rise in the 1970s when he built a 50-story office building in one of the most desirable locations in New York City overlooking Central Park. He attended New York University but dropped out.
Net Worth: $3.7 billion
Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
Stef Wertheimer
Stef Wertheimer is a German-born Israeli business magnate and former policitician. He built his wealthy by founding industrial parks in Israel and neighboring countries. The Wertheimer’s are Israeli’s richest family. He dropped out of school at age 16 and started working in a camera repair store.
Net Worth: $4.4 billion
Photo by ISCAR via Getty Images
Evan Williams
Evan Williams is an American internet entrepreneur who is known for two of the internet’s top 10 websites: Blogger – a web-blog authoring software of Pyra Labs and Twitter. Williams attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but dropped out after a year and a half to pursue his career
Net Worth: $2.5 billion
Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for WIRED
