This article contains information on the top 10 richest men that dropped out of college.
It’s amazing how one could be a college dropout and still be among the top billionaires in the world. This simply means it takes potential and passion to drive one to success.
With various careful research, we present to you the Top 10 Richest Men in the world that dropped out of College.
1. Bill Gates
- Net Worth: $121.5 Billion [1]
- Source of Wealth: Microsoft
- Dropped out of Harvard University.
Born October 28, 1955, an American business magnate, software developer, investor, and philanthropist. Gates is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer, president and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He is one of the best-known entrepreneurs and pioneers of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gates co-founded Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen; it went on to become the world’s largest personal computer software company. Gates led the company as chairman and CEO until stepping down as CEO in January 2000, but he remained chairman and became chief software architect.
Later in his career and since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft in 2008, Gates pursued several philanthropic endeavours. He donated large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reported to be the world’s largest private charity. In 2009, Gates and Warren Buffett founded The Giving Pledge, whereby they and other billionaires pledge to give at least half of their wealth to philanthropy. The foundation works to save lives and improve global health and is working with Rotary International to eliminate polio.
2. Mark Zuckerberg
- Net Worth: $136.0 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Facebook
- Dropped out of Harvard University.
Born in White Plains, New York, Zuckerberg attended Harvard University, where he launched the Facebook social networking service from his dormitory room on February 4, 2004, with college roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. Originally launched to select college campuses, the site expanded rapidly and eventually beyond colleges, reaching one billion users by 2012. Zuckerberg took the company public in May 2012 with majority shares. His net worth is estimated to be nearly $136.0 billion as of January 2020, increasing over the past year with Facebook stock as a whole. In 2007, at age 23, he became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. As of 2019, he is the only person under 50 in the Forbes ten richest people list and the only one under 40 in the Top 20 Billionaires list.
Since 2010, Time magazine has named Zuckerberg among the 100 wealthiest and most influential people in the world as a part of its Person of the Year award.
3. Larry Ellison
- Net Worth: $140.4 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Oracle, software
- Dropped out of the University of Chicago and University of Illinois.
Born on August 17, 1944, is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist who is a co-founder and the executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle Corporation. As of October 2019, he was listed by Forbes magazine as the fourth-wealthiest person in the United States and as the sixth-wealthiest in the world, with a fortune of $68.4 billion, increased from $54.5 billion in 2018.
4. Francois Pinault
- Net Worth: $28.4 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Luxury Goods
- Dropped out of high school.
A French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment company Artémis, born on 21st of August 1936.
Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public in 1988, the company invested in specialized retail business and changed its name to PPR. By the end of 1999, PPR shifted towards luxury and fashion. In 2003, he passed on the management of his companies to his elder son François-Henri to follow his passion for contemporary art.
Pinault is one of the world’s leading contemporary art collectors.
5. Sheldon Adelson
- Net Worth: $31.4 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Las Vegas Sands, Casinos
- Dropped out of City College of New.
Born on August 4, 1933, is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and political donor. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited, which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. He owns the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, Makor Rishon and the American daily newspaper Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Adelson, a philanthropist and donor to a variety of causes, created the Adelson Foundation in 2007 at the behest of his wife, Miriam. He is a member of the Republican Party and made the largest single donation to any U.S. presidential inauguration when he gave the Trump inaugural committee US$5 million.
6. Michael Dell
- Net Worth: $71.7 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Dell Computers
- Dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin.
Born on February 23, 1965, is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world’s largest technology infrastructure companies. He is ranked as the 27th richest person in the world by Forbes, with a net worth of $31.2 billion as of October 2019.
In 2011, his 243.35 million shares of Dell Inc. stock were worth $3.5 billion, giving him 12% ownership of the company. His remaining wealth of roughly $10 billion is invested in other companies and is managed by MSD Capital, which incorporates his initials. In January 2013 it was announced that he had bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest management buyout since the Great Recession. Dell Inc. officially went private on October 29, 2013. The company once again went public in December 2018. According Forbes, his current net worth is $71.7 billion.
7. Li Ka-Shing
- Net Worth: $34.6 Billion
- Source of Wealth: CK Hutchison Holdings
- Dropped out of high school
Born on 13th of June 1928 is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li was the 30th richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$22.3 billion. He is the senior advisor for CK Hutchison Holdings after he retired from the Chairman of the Board in May 2018; through it, he is the world’s leading port investor, developer, and operator of the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe.
Li was one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia, presiding over a business empire with a diverse portfolio of businesses from a wide array of industries, including transportation, real estate, financial services, retail, and energy and utilities. His conglomerate company Cheung Kong Holdings was influential in many sectors of the Hong Kong economy and made up 4% of the aggregate market capitalisation of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li
Ka-shing with the first-ever Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award on 5 September 2006, in Singapore.
8. Paul Allen
- Net Worth: $20.3 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Microsoft and Investments
- Dropped out of Washington State University.
Born on January 21, 1953, and died on October 15, 2018, was an American business magnate, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known for co-founding Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which helped spark the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s and became the world’s largest personal computer software company. He was ranked as the 44th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes in 2018, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death.
9. Thomas Peterffy
- Net Worth: $28.9 Billion
- Source of Wealth: Discount Brokerage
- Dropped out of New York University.
Born on September 30, 1944, is a Hungarian-born American billionaire businessman. He is the founder, chairman, and the largest shareholder of Interactive Brokers. He worked as an architectural draftsman after emigrating to the United States and later became a computer programmer. Peterffy purchased a seat on the American Stock Exchange and played a role in developing the first electronic trading platform for securities in 1977. According to Forbes, he is the richest Hungarian, and the richest person in Florida.
10. Harold Hamm
- Net Worth: $25.2Billion
- Source of Wealth: Oil and Gas
- High School Diploma.
Born on December 11, 1945, is an American entrepreneur primarily involved in the oil and gas business who is best known for pioneering the development of the large shale oil resources of the Bakken formation. As of January 2018, Hamm’s net worth is estimated to be $14.2 billion, making him the 79th richest person in the United States. Hamm’s net worth peaked at $18.7 billion in September 2014 but decreased to $9.3 billion by 2015. In 2012, presidential candidate Mitt Romney named Hamm as his energy advisor and thereafter Hamm made substantial monetary and advisory contributions to the election effort. His current net worth is estimated to be $3m24.2billion.
Reference
[1] No title. (n.d.). Forbes.com. Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/
