Top 10 Richest People Who Dropped Out Of College

Everyone knows that graduating from college and getting a degree is the most important part of a person’s academic career. Indeed, it’s really hard to get a decent, high-paying job without a proper degree. But sometimes, a degree might still not be enough. Sometimes, it has more to do with hard work and a person’s wit rather than academics, as some people such as Bill Gates have demonstrated time and again. And even though they quit college, they continued their hard work, used their skill, and luck accompanied them to great success. Such people have been a source of inspiration for everyone around them. In this post, you will find a list of the top 10 richest people who dropped out of college, but still achieved great heights.

Interesting, if we look at the statistics, dropout billionaires on average are worth $9.4 Billion, which is three times more than billionaires with a PhD (average $3.2 Billion). And even if we take out Bill Gates, a man worth $66 Billion, the average becomes $5.3 Billion (from 9.4), which is still larger than PhDs and billionaires with just a Bachelor’s degree ($2.9 Billion).

10. Mark Zuckerberg – $9.4 Billion

Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of the phenomenon that is Facebook. He went to Harvard to study Psychology and Computer Science. Already a geek, when some seniors approached him with an idea of a college social network, he too the idea, and transformed it into Facebook (called The Facebook at that time), at which time he dropped out and began working full time on Facebook. Zuckerberg is one of the youngest billionaire in the world.

9. Azim Premji – $12.2 Billion

Premji is a tycoon in the Indian IT industry, and is responsible for skyrocketing his family IT company, Wipro Ltd. He dropped out from the Stanford University during his Electrical Engineering course, owning to the death of his father. However, he completed his degree 30 years later in 2008.

8. Steve Ballner – $15.7 Billion

Steve Ballner, a friend of Bill Gates, is the current CEO of Microsoft. Even though he completed his college degree in Mathematics and Economics, he dropped out of Stanford University and never graduated. Instead, he was the 30th Microsoft employee.

7. Michael Dell – $15.9 Billion

Michael Dell, an innovative entrepreneur had a business minded approach right from the start. And during his high school, he used to invest in the stock market, earning $18,000 one year. He is now the founder of the famous computer hardware and laptop manufacturing company called Dell.

6. Roman Abramovich – $19.6 Billion

Abramovich is the owner of the Chelsea Football Club. He claims to have studied in Ukhta Industrial University and The Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas in Moscow, but both the universities deny this claim. It is also rumoured that he dropped out of Moscow’s State Law School.

5. Sheldon Adelson – $20.5 Billion

Sheldon Adelson is another rich tycoon who started a small newspaper selling business at the age of 12, but slowly worked his up to make a fortune himself by buying hotels and casinos. He attended City College of New York, but dropped out to carry on with his business.

4. Eike Batista – $30 Billion

Here’s one person who left studies, and stuck gold – literally! The son of a Brazillion mining executive, he started a gold mining company. He sold this company for $1 Billion, and invested it into further mining ventures, and multiplied his fortune!

3. Lawrence Elison – $41 Billion

Lawrence Elison dropped out of University of Illinios when his adoptive mother died. He then gave his studies another shot by joining University of Chicago, but dropped just after one year. He then started a company called Oracle, which today is the pioneer and leading in data systems.

2. Amancio Ortega Gaona – $46.6 BIllion

Amancio Ortega Gaona is a rich Spanish fashion executive and founding chairman of the Spanish clothing merchandiser Inditex. His father was  simple railway worker, and he himself started as a gofer in various shirt stores in La Coruña, Galicia. Now, he has around $46 Billion to him name, and around 92,000 employees working under him.

1. Bill Gates – $66 Billion

Bill Gates, of course, needs no introduction. He is the founder and the chairman of the world’s leading IT company Microsoft. He dropped out of college for Microsoft, and today, he is the second most richest person. He eventually went on to complete his degree at college later on

With a combination of skill and luck, these people have been able to achieve the impossible despite odds. But as if to stress the importance of education, most of them went back to complete their degrees. So their success, by no means, underlays the importance of education, because education is a treasure that can never be stolen. Cheers 🙂