From Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg: the college drop-outs who built a fortune (2024)

FAQs

Who is the richest person that dropped out of school? ›

Bill Gates, the business magnate and philanthropist, took a break from Harvard after his second year and returned for a bit before finally dropping out for good after his third year. Both times, he decided to leave school to put all of his energy into his company, Microsoft, which he co-founded in 1975.

Gates dropped out of Harvard University in 1975 and founded Microsoft with Paul Allen. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the world's most famous college dropout, recently reflected on what he would have wanted to hear at the graduation ceremony he never had.

Jack Dorsey

After dropping out of NYU, he moved to California, where he started his own dispatching company that would dispatch taxis, couriers, and emergency services through web applications.

Yes, Bill Gates did drop out of Harvard University in 1975, after completing two years of his undergraduate studies. Along with his friend Paul Allen, Gates founded Microsoft Corporation, which went on to become one of the most successful and influential technology companies in the world.

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.

Russell joins tech billionaires Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as business moguls who dropped out of college. The Apple founder left Reed College at age 19, reportedly because of the financial burden on his family. And Gates attended Harvard for two years before leaving to build Microsoft.

Yes, Steve Jobs dropped out of college. He enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in 1972, but he dropped out after just six months. Jobs later explained that he felt the college education he was receiving was too expensive for his working-class parents and that he didn't see the value in it at that time.

Steve was doggedly committed to pursuing the ideas he found most interesting, and freshman year requirements didn't always align with his priorities. Despite dropping out, Steve would later say that Reed had a profound impact on his life.

Gates enrolled at Harvard University in 1973 but dropped out two years later to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams with Microsoft, which he co-founded with Paul Allen in 1975.

Bezos was born in Albuquerque and raised in Houston and Miami. He graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. He worked on Wall Street in a variety of related fields from 1986 to early 1994.

Which billionaire did not graduate high school? ›

Richard Branson dropped out of high school when he was only 16 after struggling with dyslexia. Soon after quitting school, Branson founded his first business, a student magazine, and eventually a mail-order record company. which later became the Virgin Records music label.

Oprah Winfrey graduated from historically Black Tennessee State University in 1986 with a degree in communication and performing arts.

Einstein IQ: 160+, Bill Gates IQ: 150+, Elon Musk IQ: 155, Zuckerberg IQ: 152, Sunny Doel's IQ: over 160.

Despite dropping out of Harvard University after only three semesters, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates managed to carve out a pretty good life for himself with his tech company and his philanthropic pursuits. But it's clear that Gates thinks a lot about not graduating from college.

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.

Billionaires who found fame and wealth after dropping out are in industries including fashion, tech, and music. Jay-Z, hip-hop's first billionaire, never graduated from high school. The rapper does, however, publicly encourage people to value education. Virgin Group founder Richard Branson quit school at 16.

The famous individuals who dropped out of school early but went on to achieve success: Steve Jobs_ Co-founder of Apple Inc. Bill Gates_ Co-founder of Microsoft. Henry Ford_ Founder of ford motor company. Ralph Lauren_ Fashion designer.