The Five Richest Alumni From Harvard University

harvard

Harvard University repeatedly tops the list of richest alumni. Of the school’s alumni, approximately 2,964 graduates have a net worth of at least $200 million. That’s more than any other college in the country. Additionally, Harvard boasts twice as many billionaires as any other college in the country with an astounding 52 billionaire alumni. Most people assume that Harvard grads are heirs and heiresses that didn’t work for their money, but nearly 75 percent of Harvard’s richest alums are self-made billionaires. Two of the most famous and wealthiest businessmen in the world are Harvard dropouts that didn’t’ make the list of alumni; Microsoft Founder Bill Gates and Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg. Read on to find out which Harvard graduates are the richest.

Bruce Kovner $4.9 Billion

He is the owner and president of his own wealth management company, and he is one of the most successful and richest alumni of Harvard University. With a net worth in the billions, his education has paid off well. He graduated with a degree in political economy and he’s one of the most private billionaires in all of New York City. Even his family says he keeps to himself more often than not.

Leon Black $5.2 Billion

He’s the founder of the Apollo Management Group, which specializes in leveraged buyouts of other companies. He’s a graduate of Harvard University and he holds a place as one of the schools 52 billionaire alumni with a net worth of more than $5 billion. His father was an established businessman who made plenty of his own money, but Black is not someone who rode in on his father’s coattails.

George Kaiser $10 Billion

He obtained both his graduate and post-graduate degrees from Harvard University in the 1960s and went on to create his own business. He’s the CEO of BOK Financial and he’s been on Forbes list of billionaires for many years. Even the year his net worth dropped almost a billion dollars, he was still listed as one of the 50 wealthiest billionaires in the world.

Steve Ballmer $20.7 Billion

Even though he graduated college from Harvard and Bill Gates did not, Ballmer worked for Gates for many years. From 2000 to 2014 he was the CEO of Microsoft, the company founded by Harvard dropout and richest man in the world, Bill Gates. He recently became the proud owner of the LA Clippers, which was a $2 billion purchase.

Michael Bloomberg $34 Billion

Michael Bloomberg is nothing if not self-made. He graduated from Harvard, he’s ranked as one of the richest men in the world – consistently listed on Forbes list of billionaires in the top 20 – and he’s the former Mayor of New York City. This entrepreneur and financial wizard is the richest alumni of Harvard University to date.

(Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

Written by Tiffany Raiford

Tiffany Raiford is a lifelong Floridian, wife to my high school sweetheart and mother of four littles (two girls and boy/girl twins...no, they are not identical and yes, I'm sure). My kids love to whine, so I love to wine. My loves include nap time, bed time, date night, travel and evenings and weekends when my husband is home because he handles all diaper changes.