These 10 College Dropouts Are a Billion Times More Successful Than You
Apr 22, 2014 02:15
A college education is important. But there have been cases where a handful of people have made it without a degree. That said, college isn't for everyone. While graduates are more likely to get hired compared to someone without higher education, many of the technology companies we rely on today were started by dropouts.
That said, if you are an outlier, then by all means, go ahead and create the next big thing. Otherwise, stay in college, son. Here are some of the dropouts who are billionaires now.
Gabe Newell is Harvard dropout who worked at Microsoft for 13 years. He then co-founded a gaming company called Valve Corporation with Mike Harrington in 1996.
Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook while studying psychology and computer science at Harvard. He dropped out in sophomore year to work on the project full time.
Ben Kauffman invented an iPod charging accessory in his senior year of high school. He called the company Mophie. By then, the rest is history. His companies create accessories for iPhones.
Mophie was acquired in 2007. Two years later, Kaufman went on to launch Quirky, a platform that allows inventors to submit their ideas. The inventions are critiqued and, if chosen, will be designed and manufactured by the Quirky team.
Michael Dell dropped out of University of Texas at just 19. He spent a lot of time in his dorm room building computers and selling them through local newspapers. He is a real hustler. By the end of his freshman year, he was earning $80,000 a month.
Kevin Rose attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas but dropped out in 1998. He worked for a few dot-com companies before eventually founding the news aggregation website Digg.
Jake Nickell co-started Threadless with Jacob DeHart in 2000 with just $1000. Two years later, he quit his former job and dropped out of art school to work full-time for the community based t-shirt company.
Bram Cohen dropped out of SUNY Buffalo and developed a peer-to-peer network system called Bittorrent. The idea for it came when he was working for MojoNation. The company separates large encrypted files into smaller chunks on multiple computers, where if a user wanted to download it, he would have to do so by downloading separate pieces from many other computers running the program.
David Karp is best known for founding Tumblr. He dropped out of high school at 15 and began homeschooling. This guy doesn't even have a diploma, and has $1.1 billion in the bank now.
Dustin Moskovitz is another Harvard dropout who joined Mark Zuckerberg to work full time as the third employee of Facebook. Forbes ranked him as one of the youngest self-made billionaires.
Gates lasted three years at Harvard. He revealed in a Reddit AMA that he actually gained enough credits to graduate, but never followed through. Luckily he didn't. He's one of the richest man on planet Earth.
That said, if you are an outlier, then by all means, go ahead and create the next big thing. Otherwise, stay in college, son. Here are some of the dropouts who are billionaires now.
1. Gabe Newell, Valve Corporation (Steam)
Gabe Newell is Harvard dropout who worked at Microsoft for 13 years. He then co-founded a gaming company called Valve Corporation with Mike Harrington in 1996.
2. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook while studying psychology and computer science at Harvard. He dropped out in sophomore year to work on the project full time.
3. Ben Kaufman, Mophie
Ben Kauffman invented an iPod charging accessory in his senior year of high school. He called the company Mophie. By then, the rest is history. His companies create accessories for iPhones.
Mophie was acquired in 2007. Two years later, Kaufman went on to launch Quirky, a platform that allows inventors to submit their ideas. The inventions are critiqued and, if chosen, will be designed and manufactured by the Quirky team.
4. Michael Dell, Dell
Michael Dell dropped out of University of Texas at just 19. He spent a lot of time in his dorm room building computers and selling them through local newspapers. He is a real hustler. By the end of his freshman year, he was earning $80,000 a month.
5. Kevin Rose, Digg
Kevin Rose attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas but dropped out in 1998. He worked for a few dot-com companies before eventually founding the news aggregation website Digg.
6. Jake Nickell, Threadless
Jake Nickell co-started Threadless with Jacob DeHart in 2000 with just $1000. Two years later, he quit his former job and dropped out of art school to work full-time for the community based t-shirt company.
7. Bram Cohen, Bittorrent
Bram Cohen dropped out of SUNY Buffalo and developed a peer-to-peer network system called Bittorrent. The idea for it came when he was working for MojoNation. The company separates large encrypted files into smaller chunks on multiple computers, where if a user wanted to download it, he would have to do so by downloading separate pieces from many other computers running the program.
8. David Karp, Tumblr
David Karp is best known for founding Tumblr. He dropped out of high school at 15 and began homeschooling. This guy doesn't even have a diploma, and has $1.1 billion in the bank now.
9. Dustin Moskovitz, Facebook
Dustin Moskovitz is another Harvard dropout who joined Mark Zuckerberg to work full time as the third employee of Facebook. Forbes ranked him as one of the youngest self-made billionaires.
10. Bill Gates, Microsoft
Gates lasted three years at Harvard. He revealed in a Reddit AMA that he actually gained enough credits to graduate, but never followed through. Luckily he didn't. He's one of the richest man on planet Earth.
