Knowledge is power, and learning can change people’s lives. However, the pursuit of higher education may work for some but does not necessarily benefit everyone. While many people who have gone on to college have done great things, there are many examples of individuals who became successful after they dropped out of college. Their path led them to something different, and the world changed because of it. Indeed, these people still became millionaires and billionaires in the process.
You’ll most likely recognize many of the names on this list of successful college dropouts. Several celebrities, inventors, and CEOs owe their success to their hard work and innovation, not to their degrees. Their stories are different, but in many ways are still similar in that they still went on to do great things. These millionaires didn’t let the hurdle of not finishing their education deter them from their journey. They put in the hard work they needed to succeed. Check out this rich list of millionaires and billionaires who made their money without a college degree.
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20. Steve Jobs
One of the most recognizable names in the history of the tech industry, Jobs was given to his adoptive parents by his biological mother after the couple agreed to pay for his future education. Jobs’ parents could barely afford the tuition to Reed College in Portland, Oregon (via TAFE). However, they decided to use their savings anyway. Jobs quit his first year in 1972 but reportedly still attended his calligraphy courses while staying in his friend’s dorm room. He once said his time in the college calligraphy class was the reason for the beautiful typography in MACs (via CNBC).
Even without the degree, Jobs showed an entrepreneurial spirit. He would later be the co-founder of Apple Inc., the most famous tech company in the world. Jobs also was an owner of Pixar. Sadly, this famous college dropout died of pancreatic cancer in 2011 at 56 years old and left his net worth of $10.5 billion to his wife. You can watch multiple films about his life, including a drama entitled ‘Jobs’ from 2013 and a biography called Steve Jobs from 2015.