Who does not want to be a billionaire and read books and articles to be crazy rich? But out of 7.5 billion people in the world, only 2,043 billionaires. The top ten billionaires have more money than half of the world population.
Don’t you think to be a billionaire, one’s parents must at least be multi-millionaires if not billionaires? If they are not, it does not mean their sons and daughters can never be a billionaire yourself. Here are the top 21 billionaires who became billionaires from scratch.
1. Roman Abramovich
Company – Millhouse Capital
Net Worth – $8.2 billion
He was born into poverty and became an orphan at the age of 2. He was raised by his uncle. He started plastic toy company and got into the oil industry and became a tycoon. Now, he is the owner Chelsea Football Club. His oil company is the fourth largest in the world, and he has world’s largest yacht.
2. Kenny Troutt
Company – Excel Communications
Net Worth – $1.5 billion
His father was a bartender, and he paid his college fees by selling life insurance. He founded the phone company Excel Communications and made it big in life from literally zero.
3. Howard Schultz
Company – Starbucks(CEO)
Net Worth – $2.9 Billion
He grew up in a complex where the poor used to live. He won a scholarship to complete his graduation and then worked in Xerox and soon joined Starbucks when it had only 60 outlets. He became CEO and made the company and his bank balance larger than life.
4. Mohed Altrad
Company – Altrad Group
Net Worth – $1 billion
He was born in a poor tribe of Syria, and his dad left her mom, and she died when he was young. He came to France to study and used to live on one meal. He got job opportunities in leading companies after graduation and bought a ruined company to turn it into a leading company. Now, he owns multiple companies under Altrad Group.
5. Ken Langone
Company – The Home Depot
Net Worth – $2.8 billion
His parents put their home into the mortgage to pay his university fees. His father was a plumber and used to do odd jobs to feed his family. Ken now owns multiple companies.
6. Shahid Khan
Company – Flex-n-Gate
Net Worth – $4.4 billion
He used to wash dishes to pay his university fees. Now, he is the owner of NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and EPL club Fulham.
7. Do Won Chang
Company – Forever 21
Net Worth – $6.5 billion
He had to do three odd jobs when he moved to the US from Korea and now his company cum clothing store Forever 21 is an international brand.
8. Lakshmi Mittal
Company – ArcelorMittal
Net Worth – $12.3 billion
He was born in a poor family in Rajasthan and worked his way up by working in steel industry which is appropriately said to be from scratch.
9. Ralph Lauren
Company – Ralph Lauren Company
Net Worth – $6.8 billion
He worked as a clerk in Brooks Brothers and when he spotted that people are liking ties of wider length and varied designs, he started Polo, and it literally went viral.
10. Francois Pinault
Company – Gucci, PPR, Stella McCartney, etc
Net Worth – $14.2 billion
He quit his high school as he was bullied for being too poor to study. Now, he owns so many different companies that he has become a multi-billionaire.
11. Sheldon Adelson
Company – Las Vegas Sands
Net Worth – $29.5 billion
His father was a cab driver, and he used to sell newspaper and slept on floors at an early age. Now, he runs the largest casino company in the world. At one time, he almost got bankrupted but became a multi-billionaire once again.
12. Larry Ellison
Company – Oracle
Net Worth – $49.8 billion
He was raised by his uncle and aunt, and after dropping out of his college, he went on to do odd jobs to survive. Now, he is the founder of Oracle which is one of the largest tech companies in the world.
13. Alan Gerry
Company – Cablevision Industries
Net Worth – $1.1 billion
He dropped out of high school to join marines. He then started television repair company and then create the cable company that made him a billionaire.
14. Carl Berg
Company – Mission West Properties
Net Worth – $1.3 billion
He was raised by his school teacher. He worked as a clerk and met a builder who offered him a job in his local office. From there, he started his own real estate venture and turned himself into a billionaire.
15. Stephen Bisciotti
Company – Allegis Group
Net Worth – $1.3 billion
When he was eight, his father died, and he used to work to earn and study. He had a temporary job after completing school and founded a company with his cousin for temporary workers. Later, he turned into an investor and created Allegis Group.
16. Thomas Peterffy
Company – Interactive Brokers Group
Net Worth – $1.4 billion
He moved to New York as a refugee from Russia. He started doing a job of draftsman and used to learn computer programming at night. He got into Amercian Stock Exchange and became a pioneer to merge computer technologies and stock exchange together. He founded IBG and has millions of traders under the company.
17. Late Steve Jobs
Company – Apple
Net Worth – $10.2 billion
His parents gave him for adoption, and he was dropped out of college and spent days like a maniac. He and his friend Wozniak founded Apple that from their garage room. He is definitely the best example of entrepreneurship and thinking smart and creatively.
18. Leonardo Del Vecchio
Company – Ray-Ban, Oakley
Net Worth – $24.1 billion
He grew up in an orphanage as his widow mother was very poor. He lost his one finger while working in a factory. Now, he has the largest sunglass and eyewear company in the world.
19. John Paul DeJoria
Company – John Paul Mitchell Systems
Net Worth – $2.9 billion
He used to sell Christmas cards and newspapers to sustain his family when he was merely 10. Then he started selling shampoo from door to door and now owns a leading company of hair care products.
20. Oprah Winfrey
Company – Oprah Winfrey network
Net Worth – $3 billion
She was born in a poor family, was sexually abused multiple times at young age. She became popular with The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the rest is history.
21. Bill Gates
Company – Microsoft
Net Worth – $75 billion
Bill’s dad was a prominent lawyer but was not a multi-millionaire. He was from well-to-do family, but he did not use his father’s money to become a billionaire. He used his talent in computer programming, and along with his friend Paul Allen, he revolutionized the computer world.
Stop complaining that you do not have enough money to take risks and you are not so fortunate as others. Hard work smartly and creatively and the rest will happen.
