19th century American author Mark Twain once famously remarked, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education", and in the 21st century, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Larry Page and other wealthy self-made billionaires reinforced that sentiment by dropping out of college and founding billion-dollar companies.
Life is a process of learning, and organised education is imperative to an individuals overall growth and progress. Educational qualifications give individuals credibility in the real world and open up doors of employment and means to earn money.
But it's probably not for everyone. The world's richest self-made billionaires are in fact college dropouts. This doesn't endorse the idea that everyone must follow the same path, because these individuals dropped out of Ivy League colleges.
ADVERTIsem*nT
Also read:Facebook changes its name to ‘Meta’: What you need to know
Also read:Bill Gates' son-in-law Nayel Nassar's staggering net worth
Also read:How to make a free $5,060 for your child’s 18th birthday
While their success cannot directly be attributed to their dropping out of school or college, it cannot also be attributed to their enrolment in these institutions. Nonetheless, it's interesting to check out the 'ultimate drop-out list' based on their current estimated net-worth.
1: Bill Gates - Estimated Net Worth: US$149 billion ($197.61 billion)
Gates didn't drop out of Harvard on a whim. The world's most successful dropout took a calculated decision to drop out, not once but twice, from the same university to focus on his flourishing software company Microsoft. The dropping-out was certainly worth it with Microsoft growing to become one of the world's most valuable companies - currently worth more than $300 billion.
2: Mark Zuckerberg - Estimated Net Worth: US$129 billion ($171 billion)
Zuckerberg quit Harvard in 2005 to focus on growing Facebook, which was at the time not yet known as Facebook (As of 29 October, 2021 Facebook has been rebranded as Meta). He started the social media platform while studying at the esteemed college.
3: Larry Page - Estimated Net Worth: US$117 billion ($155 billion)
While Google co-founder Larry Page actually graduated university, he failed to complete his studies for a PhD, which earns him a spot on the 'dropouts' list. Alphabet Inc is estimated to be worth more than $220 billion, so he's definitely not regretting skipping out on that PhD.
4: Larry Ellison - Estimated Net Worth: US$101 billion ($133.9 billion)
Oracle founder Ellison dropped out of the University of Illinois. He withdrew without attending the final exams of his sophom*ore year due to the death of his adoptive mother. Ellison later attended University of Chicago but didn't graduate from there either. However, this is where he first encountered computer design through which he went on to make billions.
Spanish retail magnate Amancio Ortega dropped out of school at age 14. Destiny had bigger plans for him. Thirteen years after he dropped out of school he opened his first Zara store. The fashion company grew exponentially making Ortega Spain's richest man.
6: Michael Dell - Estimated Net Worth: US$49 billion ($65 billion)
Michael Dell was 19 when he dropped out of the University of Texas and founded the technology company Dell in the 1980s. An inherent businessman, Dell only enrolled in pre-med at the university at the behest of his parents. But once he realised he had the knack of making money, there was no point wasting any more time trying to be a doctor.
7: Li Ka Shing - Estimated Net Worth: US$34 billion ($45 billion)
While living as refugees from the Sino-Japanese war, Hong Kong business magnate and founder of Cheung Kong Group, Li Ka Shing, was forced to leave school at 15 after his father’s untimely death.
He found a job in a plastics-trading company and later went on to start his own company, Cheung Kong Industries in 1950. He then branched out into real estate investment and his company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. A true beacon of hope for the less fortunate.
A second co-founder of Facebook, Dustin Moskovitz, also dropped out of Harvard along with roommate Zuckerberg. While Moskowitz quit Facebook and founded Asana in 2008, he still owns a 2.34 per cent stake in the company. He was declared the youngest billionaire in history by Forbes in In 2011.
9: Jack Dorsey - Estimated Net Worth: US$13.7 billion ($18 billion)
Twitter founder Dorsey dropped out of the Missouri University of Science and Technology to give his bugeoning social media platform his full attention. More than 330 million active users turned him into a multi-billionaire.
10: Jan Koum - Estimated Net Worth: US$13.2 billion
The founder and CEO of WhatsApp, Jan Koum, dropped out of San Jose University at the age of 21 in 1997 when he started working for Yahoo. He then went on to create WhatsApp which would later be acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014. He personally earned $6.8 billion from this sale.
Top 10 universities with the most valuable dropouts
Further interesting findings of this report reveal that three universities — Harvard, University of Michigan, and University of Illinois - account for the most valuable dropouts.
At a glance, here are the top 10 universities with the world's most valuable dropouts in the world.
In the summer of 2004 the trio moved their headquarters to Palo Alto, California, where Zuckerberg talked venture capitalist Peter Thiel into giving them seed money. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on the fledgling company, of which he became CEO and president.
Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest people in the world, and his wealth largely comes from his stake in the company he founded, now known as Meta Platforms. Meta's strong growth in profitability boosted its stock price over the years.
Mark Zuckerberg got into Harvard because he was super smart and had some impressive achievements even before college. He was top-notch in his classes and loved computer science, coming from a fancy prep school called Phillips Exeter Academy.
Carl Lindner, Jr dropped out of high school when he was only 14 to deliver milk for his family's dairy farm. He borrowed some money to start an ice cream shop with his siblings. He used his entrepreneurial skills to build a business empire and invest heavily to build his estimated $1.7 billion fortune.
He moved to California in 1995 to attend Stanford University, but dropped out after two days and, with his brother Kimbal, co-founded online city guide software company Zip2. The startup was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999. That same year, Musk co-founded X.com, a direct bank.
Despite being admitted to the world's most prestigious university, billionaire Bill Gates decided to drop out to pursue his dreams of joining the software revolution! Bill Gates demonstrated an early interest in computers and programming.
According to Forbes , there are currently 30 billionaires who have dropped out of college . Some of the most notable names on this list include Bill Gates , Mark Zuckerberg , and Steve Jobs .
The wealthiest person in the country to have made a fortune without attending college is oil tycoon Harold Hamm. The youngest of 13 children, Hamm grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, picking cotton as a child and working at a gas station as a teenager.
Clemente was at one time the world's youngest billionaire (at the age of 18), but he has since aged out of that title, which is now held by Livia Voigt.
Zuckerberg took the company public in May 2012 with majority shares. In 2008, at age 23, he became the world's youngest self-made billionaire. He has since used his funds to organize multiple donations, including the establishment of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Elon Musk was not valedictorian in high school. Neither was Bill Gates whose 2.2 GPA at one point alarmed his parents. Ronald Reagan graduated with a C-average.
Zuckerberg initially enrolled at Harvard University but made the decision to drop out during his second year to focus on the development of Facebook. Facebook emerged from two earlier platforms he had created, namely FaceMash and HarvardConnection.com.
Gates famously has no college degree, other than honorary ones he's received for making speeches like this one. After three semesters at Harvard, he dropped out to co-found Microsoft. "So, what does a college dropout know about graduation? Not much personally, to be honest," he told the NAU graduates.
His foundation is the largest private charitable organization of its kind. Remarkably, he has only graduated from one institution: that would be Lakeside School, the Seattle prep school where he was class of '73. (Though he attended Harvard, he dropped out after in the spring of his sophom*ore year).
There are many examples of geniuses who failed school or did not attend at all. For instance, Thomas Edison, one of the most prolific inventors to walk this earth, only had a few months of formal schooling. Similarly, Albert Einstein immersed himself in self-study, reading extensively about mathematics and physics.
Steve Jobs was a student at Reed College in the fall of 1972 and majored in English. After just one semester, he dropped out but continued living on campus with friends and auditing classes, including Shakespeare, modern dance, and calligraphy.
25, 2019. Mark Zuckerberg's net worth plunged by $18 billion Thursday after comments from the Meta CEO on the company's earnings call sent its stock price to its steepest decline since October 2022. Meta beat expectations on revenue and profit but delivered a lighter-than-expected revenue forecast.
Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in his sophom*ore year in order to complete the project. Zuckerberg, Moskovitz and the other co-founders moved to Palo Alto, California, where they leased a small house that served as an office.
The group of friends ran the site out of a dorm room at Harvard University until June 2004. In the same year, Zuckerberg dropped out of university and moved the company to Palo Alto, California. By the end of 2004, Facebook had 1 million users.
Address: Apt. 915 481 Sipes Cliff, New Gonzalobury, CO 80176
Phone: +6773780339780
Job: Sales Executive
Hobby: Gaming, Jogging, Rugby, Video gaming, Handball, Ice skating, Web surfing
Introduction: My name is Carmelo Roob, I am a modern, handsome, delightful, comfortable, attractive, vast, good person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
