Six Russian billionaires without higher education. Education of billionaires: did they study at university?

While young Mikhail Fridman was knocking on the doorsteps of Phystech, and 17-year-old Vladimir Potanin was entering MGIMO through connections, several of their future neighbors on the Russian Forbes list either did not study at universities at all or did not graduate. Zarakh Iliev went to sell flowers in Cheryomushki instead of the institute, Oleg Tinkov chose speculation in jeans and perfume over education, and David Yakobashvili was forced to leave the institute in order to feed his family. Six billionaires who do not have a higher education, but own a combined fortune of over $12 billion

Zarakh Iliev

Net worth: $3.6 billion

Source: Real Estate

At the age of 17, Zarakh Iliev left the small Azerbaijani village of mountain Jews, Krasnaya Sloboda, for Moscow, but not to go to college. In the capital, the future billionaire took up trading. There was experience: born into the family of a shoemaker, Iliev knew how to handle leather since childhood and sewed the famous “aerodrome caps”, which were sold at the market in the neighboring Azerbaijani city of Kuba. In Moscow, the future co-owner of the Kyiv Ploshchad group started from a flower selling point in Cheryomushki, at the intersection of Profsoyuznaya and Garibaldi streets (later the billionaire will build the Panorama shopping center on this site). Also in those years, Iliev was supplying cognac to a store on Lubyanka - his relatives who were already doing business in the capital helped him with this.

Andrey Klyamko

Net worth: $1.9 billion

Source: Metinvest

Unlike his business partner Vadim Novinsky, who studied at the Leningrad Academy of Civil Aviation, Andrei Klyamko, who was born in Novogrudok (Belarus), does not have a higher education. This did not stop Klyamko from becoming a co-author of such inventions as the barrel of a firearm and the “Waterfall” device (intended “to localize the impact of explosive mechanisms”). The business partners met at the St. Petersburg experimental design institute “Center for Advanced Research”. Klyamko accompanied Novinsky from his first steps in business. Novinsky was in charge of Metinvest's affairs in Ukraine, and Klyamko was in Russia.

Gavril Yushvaev

Net worth: $1.7 billion

Source: investments

A native of Makhachkala, Gavril Yushvaev, who moved to Moscow in his youth, did not receive a higher education. At 23, he was arrested for robbery, and the future billionaire spent nine years in prison. Having been released in 1989, he amassed the initial capital together with another billionaire without education, David Yakobashvili, with whom he founded the Trinity car dealership, which sold American cars. Later, businessmen opened the Metelitsa casino on Novy Arbat, and subsequently became shareholders of Wimm-Bill-Dann.

Oleg Tinkov

Net worth: $1.4 billion

Source: TKS-Bank

Oleg Tinkov’s passion for entrepreneurship has always been stronger than for study. He began trading while still in school, when he went to road cycling camps, where he sold goods bought cheaply in the south in Siberian cities. At the Leningrad Mining Institute, where Tinkov entered after the army, he did not last more than three years. In those years, he began to speculate in jeans and perfumes, which he bought from foreign students. Then the future billionaire began trading equipment from Singapore: he bought calculators for $7 and sold them ten times more expensive. Soon Tinkov switched to VCRs and televisions, opening his own company Petrosib in 1993, which managed the MusicShok and Technoshok networks.

David Yakobashvili

Net worth: $1.2 billion

Since childhood, everyone is familiar with the statement that higher education is a kind of “road to prosperity” and one of the conditions for future success. If you are planning to get a good job, be so kind as to get a diploma. But is he really that important in his own business? Famous American speaker and business coach Jim Rohn said: “Formal education will help you survive. Self-education will lead you to success." Many famous people around the world are guided by this principle. Here is a list of 5 successful Russian entrepreneurs who achieved everything without the coveted crusts.

Alexander Gafin: keeping up with art and finance

It’s hard to believe, but such an influential person, awarded in 2004 by decree of the President of Russia with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree, a member of many creative and charitable associations and unions, a banker, public figure, philanthropist, author of books and plays, does not have a diploma about higher education. It so happened that after graduating from the 9th grade of the boarding school of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Gafin moved to another educational institution with an evening uniform. After receiving secondary education, he began working at the Research Institute of Inorganic Materials as a laborer.

At the age of 20, the enterprising guy was destined to take two paths at the same time: on the one hand, he began to write his first books and scripts, and on the other, to engage in the underground trade in antiques and conduct foreign exchange transactions. At the end of the 80s, Alexander Gafin became a member of the Moscow Youth Center and held a lot of photo and journalistic exhibitions. Later, he began to engage in charity work, organizing tours of famous foreign stars (Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, Sting and many others) in Moscow.

Gafin worked at Alfa Bank for 15 years, first as head of the PR department, later as vice president and member of the board of directors. Today he is an influential person, without whom not a single reputable exhibition, party or presentation can take place. Alexander Gafin is a member of the board of trustees of the Latvian bank Rietumu and is promoting this brand on the Russian market. He created the successful Spear’s Russia magazine in 2006 and was editor-in-chief there until 2014. A lover of good watches, Gafin is the head of the Russian project WATCH Russia, a continuation of the European magazine Gentlemen’s Watch. Perhaps, if his life had turned out differently in his youth, he would not have achieved such impressive results.

Zarakh Iliev: king of Moscow real estate

Sometimes labor education can contribute to the development of an entrepreneurial spirit. This is what happened in the life of Zarakh Iliev: he grew up in the family of a shoemaker and, together with 4 brothers, perfectly mastered the art of working with leather. The first business was born in my childhood, when hand-sewn “aerodrome caps” were selling like hot cakes in Azerbaijani markets. At the age of 17, when his peers were entering universities, Zarakh went to Moscow to visit his relatives - it was there that his new life began, still associated with real estate.

Having collected some start-up capital from the sale of flowers and the supply of cognac, Zarakh Iliev bought several trading containers at the Izmailovsky market and began renting them out to entrepreneurs. In 1993, he registered the company “Iliev” and began managing 15 hectares of the Cherkizovsky market. After 7 years, this company bought out 57% of the shares of ORTC Moscow JSC. At the same time, another company was created - Safra Instruments, which bought out FSUE Eleron. Later it turned into the Moscow car hypermarket.

Today, most of Zarakh Iliev’s capital comes from owning 50% of the Kyiv Ploshchad group, whose rental income in 2015 amounted to $1.1 billion. With his fellow countryman and partner Gon Nesanov, Iliev bought out many large companies and areas and is engaged in the construction of new facilities. They own the Lotto City shopping complex with an area of ​​1.5 million square meters. m, oceanarium "Moskvarium". An impressive complex of 350 thousand square meters is being built in Moscow City. m with a hotel, restaurants, offices, large parking.

The Radisson-Ukraine hotel in Moscow became part of the entrepreneur’s fortune. He holds six patents, the most famous of which is a rotating advertising structure with suspended cars.

Andrey Parabellum (Kosyrin): trainer by nature

Can a person without a completed higher education become one of the most expensive consultants and business trainers in Russia? Yes, if we are talking about Andrei Parabellum, author of more than 130 books, founder of the BizCon association, organizer of conferences and master classes. This man is considered to be the father of the information business in Russia, who has many followers and admirers. He made repeated attempts to obtain the coveted diploma. He tried to learn Japanese, wanted to master the specialization “translator-referent”. In 1990, Andrei entered MGSU, but left from there in the 4th year because he received permission to enter Canada. So he ended up in Toronto, which is still one of his home cities.

Ignorance of the language and an unfinished Computer Science course did not prevent the 20-year-old from working with computers for 1.5 years at Hummingbird. Practice and experience, which Andrei Parabellum prefers in his trainings and books, gave him a lot - in 1996, Xpress Software Inc. was opened in Canada. Today it brings information businessman income from the production and sale of biometric time and attendance systems. Another source of income for Parabellum is a consulting project in Moscow infobusiness2.ru.

Thanks to the training organized in 2012, for which more than 98 thousand people registered, and 12,012 people listened online from start to finish, Andrei Parabellum and his co-host Nikolai Mrochkovsky were included in the Guinness Book of Records. A year later, he and three co-authors received the Runet Book Award in the “Business Book of the Year” category. Bestseller of the year on Ozon.ru.” The year 2013 for Andrey was marked by personal gratitude received from RosFin Monitoring for his contribution to the development of legal business in Russia. Andrey Parabellum believes that a diploma is needed for those who want to get a good job, but if you have the determination and skills to create your own business, you shouldn’t waste time.

Oleg Tinkov: from children's speculation to adult production

Born into the family of a miner and a seamstress, world-famous entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov knew how to buy and sell profitably from his school days. At first he speculated in scarce Central Asian goods, then, during a short period of study at the Leningrad Mining Institute (he studied there for 3 years), in jeans, cosmetics, perfumes, vodka, and black caviar. Later, equipment, consumables, gas cartridges, and pistols were added to the “hot” products.

At the age of 25, Oleg Tinkov opened his first wholesale company, Petrosib, in St. Petersburg, then several regional ones. After 2 years, retail stores, an office in San Francisco, and one of the most expensive Technoshock equipment stores appeared. Next in line were the Music Shock chain of music stores and their own record label. In 1998, Tinkov switched his attention to frozen semi-finished products and beer, opening workshops, breweries and restaurants.

Tinkoff Bank, which made the ambitious businessman famous and is his main project, began work in 2007. At first, the project was launched as a financial organization with remote services, where most of the tasks would be performed by a machine rather than a person, but later it turned into a generalist company. Even during the crisis of 2008, the bank's profit increased 50 times. In June 2016, it ranked 45th in terms of equity capital among Russian banks. A cyclist, father of three children, one of the richest people in Russia, his innate commercial spirit played a decisive role in the fate of the famous and successful entrepreneur.

Azat Valeev: millions from the network

In the period of development of Internet technologies and the sales market on virtual platforms, higher education seems to be an unnecessary option. But even 10 years ago, when the online sphere was practically undeveloped, there were those young and ambitious who were able to launch a number of successful projects. Among them is the young millionaire Azat Valeev, a native of Ufa, one of the founders of the “Academy of Your Business,” which conducts training on online earnings for thousands of clients.

Azat’s journey began at the age of 16, when a craving for computer games and the lack of good equipment for installing them made him think about looking for a job. Azat was rejected from the labor market, citing his youth. I had to look for a way out - an old phone with expensive Internet at that time became a bridge to the virtual world, where the future entrepreneur was looking for inspiration. He tried everything - from simple freelancing to financial pyramids. The point of successful start was the purchase of the book “Cyberelectronics” with the right to resell. Having bought one copy for $5, he began selling them en masse for the same price. After 2 months, Azat Valeev had $50 in his pocket. And at the age of 19 he earned his first million.

The second direction for development was one-page sites selling physical goods. An entrepreneur today has several offices, his own logistics department, a sales department, makes great money and travels a lot. Together with his friend and co-author of the “Academy of Your Business” project Nikita Fofanov, Azat Valeev began sharing his skills with participants in regular trainings and conferences. More than 5,000 people received the necessary knowledge from him, and more than 3,000 opened their own businesses and achieved success.

Most of those businessmen who took steps to the top, bypassing the student bench, do not regret their decision. They were able to create and promote their projects without the coveted “tower”, relying on experience and self-education. As many of the “dropouts” claim, a diploma is just a pass to a good position, and if you are your own boss, then there is no one to show your credentials to.

For a long time, Forbes magazine could not choose a cover heroine for an issue dedicated to the richest women who achieved success in business on their own. That's why the editors invited 9 heroines for the shoot, because each of them deserves to be known by sight!

These women, ages 32 to 69, range from MBAs to college dropouts, Silicon Valley CEOs and models-turned-tycoons. In total, they own $9.7 billion. So, meet all nine.

Sarah Blakely

Net worth: $1 billion

Sarah Blakely runs Spanx. She was previously among the top managers of Nike and it is to her credit that the brand has expanded to include not only sportswear, but also activewear, despite the fact that Blackley spent only two years in this position. However, having started out as a sales agent, Sarah decided to create her own shapewear company and, at age 29, she invested $5,000 in underwear that allows everyone to wear anything, including white slacks. She is the sole owner of the company, and since 2015, Blakely has become a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks basketball club.

Sofia Amoruso

Net worth: $280 million

The only millennial billionaire who didn't make it in the entertainment industry, Sophia Amoruso made her fortune in online trading. Her fashion company is called Nasty Gal, and Amoruso founded it when she was 22 years old. Back then she sold mostly vintage items to young fashionistas. Ten years later, Nasty Gal now competes with H&M and ASOS, with revenues of $300 million this year, up from barely $100 million in 2012. Amoruso has published an autobiographical book, #Girlboss, and is preparing to release an autobiographical comedy series on Netflix.

Diana Hendricks

Net worth: $4.9 billion

“We became the largest distributor in the country and delivered roofing materials to roofers large and small,” Diana Hendricks said in an interview about the company she founded in 1982 with her husband, Ken. When Ken died in 2007, Diana refused to sell the company. It dealt with the 2008 recession and even bought competitor Bradco Supply in 2010. The company's sales have more than doubled over the past 10 years.

Kathy Ireland

Net worth: $360 million

Supermodel Kathy Ireland has built a licensing empire, lending her name, taste and marketing skills to more than 17,000 products. And all this is sold so successfully that it gives the trading network a profit of $2.6 billion. Katie herself was opened by the Elite modeling agency when she was 16 years old. While working as a model, Katie continued to come up with side business projects. One of them fired - furniture. When entering the furniture market, Ireland decided that her brand needed to have some substance: The approach “Solutions for families, especially busy mothers” was now the company's motto. For example, carpets were treated with a special product to protect against spills, which preserves colors and prolongs the life of carpets, and tables were designed with rounded corners so that running children would not get injured from sharp corners.

Meg Whitman

Net worth: $2.1 billion

Meg Whitman was well known as a successful CEO at Hewlett Packard, and since the company's split in 2015, she heads Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which sells servers and software. She has also held senior positions at Hasbro and Walt Disney, and is known as the head of eBay, raising its revenue from $5 million in 1998 to $8 billion in 2008, when she left that post.

Tony Ko

Net worth: $260 million

Toni Ko moved to the United States from Korea when she was 13 years old. After school, she helped her parents, who had a warehouse. In 1999, when she was 25, she noticed how large the price gap was between supermarket cosmetics and drugstore products. Thanks to her involvement in the family business, she had connections in the wholesale world and seed capital, so she took a chance and launched NYX Cosmetics, a luxury cosmetics brand at a great price. In its first year, Ko generated $4 million in retail sales. In 2014, she sold this brand to L’Oréal, the company’s value then reached $500 million. And in the spring of 2016, Ko launched Perverse Sunglasses, a brand of stylish and flirty sunglasses for $40-$60 a pair.

Katrina Lake

Net worth: $120 million

Katrina Lake is the creator of Stitch Fix, an online retailer that selects clothes for customers based on statistics and advice from stylists. Sales reached $250 million last year, showing that the San Francisco startup has become a convenient shopping tool for busy women. Although Lake has not earned the $250 million threshold for the list of the richest, she is on the list of promising entrepreneurs and, in the near future, will soon enter the top 60 richest businesswomen in the world.

Dorothy Herman

Net worth: $270 million

The richest self-made woman in the world of American real estate, Dorothy Herman, is a co-owner of a reputable New York firm, Douglas Elliman, which sells houses totaling $22 billion a year, and its income is $600 million. The company employs more than 6 thousand agents in 85 offices. When Dorothy was 10 years old, she and her parents were in a car accident in which her mother died and her father was seriously injured. The baby herself was thrown out of the car. Dorothy became a mother at age 19 and began working as a real estate broker for Merrill Lynch on Long Island in the 1980s. Soon the company was bought by Prudential Long Island, and already in the 90s Dorothy herself acquired most of this company.

Liz Elting

Net worth: $390 million

Liz Elting is one of the CEOs of TransPerfect, one of the largest multilingual translation firms with annual revenues of $505 million. The offices of this company are located in 90 cities around the world. Liz Elting founded the company in 1992 with her classmate Phil Shaw, who was once her boyfriend. Today, their company is based in New York, employing 4,000 people and serving 11,000 clients, including AT&T, Google and Wal-Mart.

It's hardly a secret that higher education is not the key to success and wealth. Many famous people who were able to earn a fortune did not have higher education abroad and abandoned their studies for some reason.

Mile Dell, for example, was expelled from his college at the age of nineteen, but this did not stop him from creating his own computer company, Dell, whose laptops are now known to everyone.

And the corporation began its existence in an ordinary dorm room. Only the first income of the company helped Michael expand his company to its current size. As of 2008, Michael Dell was in 11th place on the list of richest Americans. Then his capital amounted to just over 12 billion dollars.

Henry Ford, the same man who became the founder of the Ford Motor Company, did not attend college at all, and he decided to skip high school. This did not stop him from founding one of the largest automobile corporations, which earned incredible money thanks to its pricing policy, in which their cars were cheaper than those of competitors. Thanks to this success, Henry Ford became one of the most influential people of the last century.

Only the lazy do not know that Bill Gates did not have a higher education. He did not graduate from college, yet he was named the richest man 27 times. In 1973, Bill dropped out of Harvard to found his own company in partnership with his classmate. This is how the now famous Microsoft was formed. It wasn't until 2007 that Bill Gates received his doctorate from his hometown Harvard University.

Next, let's remember Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the largest social network - Facebook. This is the youngest person ever to appear on the Forbes list of billionaires. He was born in 1984, and in 2008 his capital was already one and a half billion dollars. Zuckerberg left the prestigious Harvard without graduating abroad. In 2004, he was struck by the idea of ​​creating a social network, and he made the right decision.

John Rockefeller also did not graduate from high school, although he later became America's first billionaire. He was the first founder of the multinational corporation Standard Oil.

Walt Disney, known to all children and adults, dropped out of school when he was 16 years old. He has become the most influential cartoonist, and the company's annual revenue is more than $30 billion.

One of the most famous actors of our time, Tom Hanks, who is known for many legendary films, also dropped out of school in order to perform with a group of actors in Cleveland.

The famous pop singer who conquers video portals and the whole world with her shocking shows, Lady Gaga, once dropped out of the Convent School in Manhattan in her second year of study. Now she is one of the highest paid music stars.

A leading fashion designer from France, the most famous figure in the entire history of fashion, Coco Chanel did not study at higher institutions, did not receive higher education. She took courses to become a regular seamstress. Now the Chanel brand is known throughout the world.

The mind given to a person by nature, sixth sense and ingenuity can sometimes replace any education, turning an ordinary person into a world-famous idol.

Today I want to talk to you about such a necessary component of success as education. As statistics show, the number of people with one, two, or even three higher educations in Russia is growing.

However, again, the same statistics, and even our eyes, “tell” us that diplomas do not solve such issues as: increasing people’s well-being, their life satisfaction, self-realization, achieving dreams and goals, and a red diploma is not always a green light in life.

On the contrary, “bullies” (those who studied with D’s or C’s, slept in classes or skipped them) in many cases, thanks to the developed defense, “decide”, negotiate, “spin” (it’s better to come up with something than to teach), in a certain way communicate in life become more successful.

It turns out that examples of science are looking for work, and “idlers” who know nothing “have to” open, found businesses, companies and hire the first ones. Therefore, from the outside it turns out that a fool leads the wise. Indeed, at present, the market for those who are looking for work is much larger than those who give.

Why is that? Higher education has become a certain mania; there is a strong opinion that without education it is impossible to achieve anything, although more than 50% of “stamped” bachelors, specialists, and masters do not work in their specialty, which means that 4-6 years of LIFE are relatively lost.

A student comes with knowledge of a big “0” and says: “I need “4”. The answer is “for what?” - “Let it be, it might be useful.” There is no emphasis on education as a source of understanding yourself, some processes that are necessary for you , and the number on the certificate is a bubble that disappears after graduation outside the university door.

Sometimes people reach the point of absurdity and spend an amount on training (tuition fees, accommodation, search and “job solution”), which, if placed on a regular bank deposit, would give more than the “desirable” job received.

“Live forever and learn,” says popular wisdom. However, in this case we are talking about self-development, which, unlike the academic one, where everything is given with the thought “it might come in handy,” has an applied nature. And it is precisely those people who have developed this line for self-education who, as a rule, reach the top.

It is worth thinking about what you are doing at this stage of your life, what really interests you, and start studying it, looking for people who are masters of this business, make it a hobby, think about how to make money from it - after all, perhaps the point life is to do something that turns you on, inspires you, gives you pleasure and at the same time provides a decent living.

I would like to give a list of very famous and successful people who did not have an academic education, but, thanks to perseverance and self-education, became one of the richest in the world. Here is the list: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Picasso, Hemingway, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Howard Hughes, Stephen Hawking, Richard Branson, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, John Davidson Rockefeller, Paul Allen, Steve Wozniak, Ingvar Kamprad, Francois Pino, Michael Dell, Ruth Handler, Lillian Vernon, Kirk Kerkorian, Ralph Lauren, Sheldon Adelson and others...

These people are billionaires who influenced the development of humanity, who did not even deal with such little things as HIGHER EDUCATION! We all grew up firmly convinced that quality education and the opportunity to earn a lot are directly related to each other.

However, today the examples of numerous billionaires who did not even finish school are quite capable of convincing us otherwise. Here's a quick look at some of them:

Millionaires without education

Thomas Edison

John Davison Rockefeller

The name Rockefeller became a symbol of wealth, it became a household name. He had a villa and 700-acre plot of land on the outskirts of Cleveland, as well as houses in New York, Florida, Maine and a personal golf course in New Jersey. But most of all he loved the Pocantico Hills villa near New York. Rockefeller prided himself on his generosity. Considering himself a Christian businessman, from his childhood he donated 10% of his income to the church. In 1905, this “tithe” amounted to 100 million US dollars.

Bill Gates

“You can love him or hate him, but just don’t ignore him,” writes Fortune magazine, edited by John Hugh.

Paul Allen

He resigned from the Microsoft board of directors, retaining his position as chief strategy consultant, because Bill Gates will not tolerate anyone other than Allen as an adviser, with whom his friendship has been going on for four decades...

Steve Jobs

He was not the inventor of the first Apple personal computer; it was invented by Steve Wozniak. However, Steve Jobs can be considered his surrogate father as he brought the idea of ​​the PC to fruition. If Jobs had not put his maximum energy and dedication into commercializing the Apple 1 project, the PC might have faced a completely different fate.

Steve Wozniak

In 1975 he left the University of California (he would return there later to complete his EECS studies and receive his bachelor's degree in 1986) and emerged with the computer that would eventually make him famous. However, he mainly worked to impress the members of the Home Computer Club, which was located in Palo Alto. He did not set himself any high goal.

Larry Ellison

Founder of Oracle, one of the largest American companies, developer of database management systems.

Ingvar Kamprad

He started doing business as a child, selling matches to neighbors. He discovered that he could buy them cheaply in large quantities in Stockholm and then retail them at a low price and still make a good profit. He subsequently sold fish, Christmas decorations, seeds, ballpoint pens and pencils. When he was 17 years old, with money received as a gift from his father, Ingvar founded the company that later became IKEA.

Henry Ford

Most Americans believe that Henry Ford invented the automobile. Everyone is sure that Henry Ford invented the conveyor, although 6 years before Ford, a certain Ransom Olds used moving carts in production, and belt conveyors were already used in grain elevators and meat processing plants in Chicago. Ford's merit is that he created mass production. He came up with the car business. When enterprises became economically organized, the need for a manager arose. The 20th century became the century of management. But in order to achieve this, creators had to appear at the beginning of the century. Henry Ford was such a creator. And for this he was recognized by Fortune magazine as the best businessman of the 20th century.

Richard Branson

British entrepreneur, founder of the Virgin corporation, which includes dozens of different branches: stores selling music CDs, air and railway companies, a radio station and a publishing house. Branson is known to the general public for his unconventional actions, including creating his own talk show and repeatedly attempting to break world speed records. In 2007, according to the London newspaper The Times, his fortune amounted to 3 billion pounds sterling.

Francois Pinault

One of the richest Frenchmen (capital - 9.2 billion euros), head of the Pinault-Printemps-Redoute group, which includes numerous department stores and the auction house Christie's, as well as the fashion houses Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci.

Michael Dell

Investment fund managers are ready to blow dust off this person. Michael Dell, with his brilliant example, proved that to achieve financial success it is not at all necessary to have a higher education diploma.

Ruth Handler

This woman gave birth to two children and... a doll. Children brought her joy, and the doll brought her money. Today, “mom” Barbie is one of the richest and most famous women in the United States. Her company ranks first in the world in terms of capital turnover on toys.

Kirk Kerkorian

Almost a legend of Las Vegas: the billionaire owns shares of the largest casinos Bellagio, Excaliber, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Circus Circus, Mirage and so on. Kerkorian’s achievement of tremendous success in the world of gambling was not prevented by the fact that he left school in the 8th grade.

David Geffen

A famous figure in the American entertainment industry, he also failed to graduate from the University of Austin. However, this did not stop Geffen from becoming the co-founder of the popular DreamWorks studio, which has been releasing one animated hit after another over the past few years.

Ralph Lauren

The American designer has become one of the modern icons of the fashion world. Lauren announced his intention to become a millionaire back in school, where he earned his first money by selling ties. Ralph Lauren later dropped out of the City College of New York and founded his own brand, Polo Ralph Lauren, which has grown into one of the world's most popular fashion brands.

Sheldon Adelson

Another legend of the gambling business and, part-time, a former student at the City College of New York, next to Lauren, did not complete his education. Today Adelson is the executive director of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo & Convention Center. In addition, Adelson became one of the co-founders of one of the largest computer exhibitions in the United States, COMDEX.

Howard Hughes Robard Jr.

American industrialist-entrepreneur, engineer, pioneer and innovator of American aviation, director, film producer, and one of the richest people in the world. He is known for the construction of the Hughes Hercules aircraft (also known as the Spruce Goose, although it was made primarily of birch), the Glomar Explorer ship and project, and to some extent his eccentric behavior.

Stephen William Hawking

Famous astrophysicist, one of the most influential British scientists, co-author of the LHC. According to his own words, it is known that, being a professor of mathematics, he never received any mathematics education since high school. In his first year teaching at Oxford, Hawking read a textbook two weeks ahead of his own students.

Of course, the list of such people can be continued. And, as we see, it is not the number of diplomas, but the amount of starting capital that works wonders. There is only one conclusion: in order to achieve success, you need dedication, hard work, dedication to a job you love, and, of course, SELF-EDUCATION.