Some of the world's richest people had to crawl their way from rags to riches.Even though they were disadvantaged in so many ways,they were able to rise to the very top leaving behind tales of inspiration for anyone who cares .
In this post, I present to you the 11 most inspiring rags to riches stories of billionaires ever told. These stories reminds us that with determination,grit and a little bit if luck,anyone can overcome their circumstances and achieve extraordinary results.
Born February 24,1955,in San Franscico, he was given away for adoption by his biological parents.Even though he got enrolled at Reed College,Portland Oregon, he eventually dropped out after a semester because his education was costing his foster parents a lot. He however continued auditing classes,sleeping on the floors of friend's room.He used to collect water and soft drink bottles for food and getting free meal every Sunday at a local Hare Krishna temple.
In 1974 he joined Atari, a video game maker where he attends meetings of the homebrew computer club with Steve Wozniak,a childhood friend who was a few years older.
In 1976, he founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in a garage. Apple is now worth $750 B. Steve Jobs was worth approximately $10.2 B in 2011 before his death.
"Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick, don't lose faith"
- Steve Jobs.
Further Reading : Steve Jobs: The man who thought differently: A Biography
Li Ka Shing was born in Chaozhou in Guangdon province China on the 29 of July 1928.He grew up in a period of great political turmoil in China. His family fled to Hong Kong in 1940 after the Japanese invasion of China. The family struggled to re-establish their lives in their new surroundings when another major tragedy befell the family within a span of three years. His father became ill with tuberculosis and died a painful death when Li Ka-shing was just 15 years old. He was forced to drop out of school and take up a job in order to provide for his family. He started working in a plastics trading company as a salesman selling plastic watchbands and belts. He worked hard, often working up to 16 hours a day and proved to be a capable salesman.
After gaining valuable experience working in plastic industries, Li was able to form his own business, a plastics company named Cheung Kong in 1950.
While at first manufacturing plastics, the company later moved into real estate. Similarly, Li expanded his ownership of different companies, and today has his hands in banking, cellular phones, satellite television, cement production, retail outlets, hotels, domestic transportation, airports, electric power, steel production, ports, and shipping, among other industries. He employs more than 270,000 people in 52 countries, according to Forbes.He is worth $38.3 B.
"Knowledge changes fate"
- Li Ka Shing
Further Reading: Li Ka Shing: Hong Kong's Elusive Billionaire
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29 1954 in Kosciusko,Mississippi to single teenage mother Vernita Lee and named Orpah after a biblical figure in the Old Testament Book of Ruth. Orpah's estranged father Vernon Winfrey was in the US Army at the time.
Not long after she was born, Orpah was left with her maternal grandmother Hattie Mae Lee in Mississippi as her mother headed north to find work in the state of Wisconsin. The little girl spent the first six years of her life living with Grandma in abject rural poverty.
When she was a toddler, family and friends frequently misspelled Orpah as Oprah and the name stuck. Super-bright from the get-go, little Oprah was taught to read by her grandmother at the age of three and she would often 'interview' her home-made corn dolls, a sign of things to come.
The poverty Oprah experienced as a young child was extreme to say the least. With very little money to buy groceries let alone clothes, Hattie Mae had to resort to dressing her granddaughter in old potato sacks.
In 1960, Hattie Mae fell ill and a six-year-old Oprah was packed off to live with her mother Vernita Lee in a rough neighbourhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Working 24/7, Vernita soon found it hard to cope with her daughter. In 1962, Oprah was sent to live with her father Vernon Winfrey in Nashville, Tennessee.
Oprah returned to her mother's home a year later and life got even harder. From the age of nine, she was sexually abused by several family members and neglected by her mother. Overwhelmed by all the trauma, Oprah ran away from home not long after her 13th birthday.
At rock bottom, Oprah lived on the mean streets of Milwaukee for a time before she decided to return to her mother's house, narrowly escaping a stint in a juvenile detention centre. A year later, she gave birth to a child, who died shortly after the delivery.
While she was showing great academic promise at school, Oprah was going off the rails big time, stealing money from her mother's purse and staying out late, so Vernita Lee sent the tearaway to live with her father Vernon Winfrey again in Nashville.
Strict yet nurturing, Vernon imposed a curfew and banned his daughter hanging out with boys. Oprah soon flourished in this disciplined environment and fast-became an honours student, shining at school and bagging straight As.
During her high school and college days, Oprah entered several beauty pageants and won the Miss Black Tennessee title at the age of 17. Fiercely ambitious, she also landed a part-time job reading the news at the local black radio station, WVOL, her first real media work.
The rest,they say is history. She has since gone to amass a fortune of $3 B.
"You get in life,what you have the courage to ask for"
- Oprah Winfrey
Website: oprah.com
Oprah Winfrey books
Joanne's Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury, England in 1965. Her interest in writing began early and at the age of 6 she wrote a story called ‘Rabbit’, which she never finished.
As soon as Harry Potter hit the shelves,it became a smashed hit. It was such a success that U.S. publishers started a bidding war for the book. This ended in Scholastic buying the rights for $105,000 – more than they have ever paid any author, never mind one who had never been published before.
Ellison was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 17, 1944, to single mother Florence Spellman. When he was nine months old, Ellison came down with pneumonia, and his mother sent him to Chicago to be raised by her aunt and uncle, Lillian and Louis Ellison, who adopted the baby.
As a rebellous teenager,Ellison always butted heads with his adoptive father,who according to reports,took every opportunity to tell young Larry that he'd never amount to anything.
After heading west to Berkeley,California, with nothing more than a few dollars in his pocket.Ellison worked a number of Jobs over the next eight years until he found a home as a programmer at Ampex, according to him,he never attended a computer science class in his life,he was self - taught.
In 1997,Ellison and two Ampex coworkers started their own company,Software Development Labs,with Ellison serving as CEO.The Company now known as Oracle has a market cap of $182.2 B. Larry Ellison currently the world's seventh richest man is worth $59.4 B.He's amassed all of the toys you'd expect from a billionaire - planes, yachts, multiple mansions, and even an entire Hawaiian island.
"Great achievers are driven, not so much by the desire for success, but by the fear of failure" - Larry Ellison
In this post, I present to you the 11 most inspiring rags to riches stories of billionaires ever told. These stories reminds us that with determination,grit and a little bit if luck,anyone can overcome their circumstances and achieve extraordinary results.
1. Steve Jobs
Born February 24,1955,in San Franscico, he was given away for adoption by his biological parents.Even though he got enrolled at Reed College,Portland Oregon, he eventually dropped out after a semester because his education was costing his foster parents a lot. He however continued auditing classes,sleeping on the floors of friend's room.He used to collect water and soft drink bottles for food and getting free meal every Sunday at a local Hare Krishna temple.
In 1974 he joined Atari, a video game maker where he attends meetings of the homebrew computer club with Steve Wozniak,a childhood friend who was a few years older.
In 1976, he founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in a garage. Apple is now worth $750 B. Steve Jobs was worth approximately $10.2 B in 2011 before his death.
"Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick, don't lose faith"
- Steve Jobs.
Further Reading : Steve Jobs: The man who thought differently: A Biography
2. Li Ka - Shing
Li Ka Shing was born in Chaozhou in Guangdon province China on the 29 of July 1928.He grew up in a period of great political turmoil in China. His family fled to Hong Kong in 1940 after the Japanese invasion of China. The family struggled to re-establish their lives in their new surroundings when another major tragedy befell the family within a span of three years. His father became ill with tuberculosis and died a painful death when Li Ka-shing was just 15 years old. He was forced to drop out of school and take up a job in order to provide for his family. He started working in a plastics trading company as a salesman selling plastic watchbands and belts. He worked hard, often working up to 16 hours a day and proved to be a capable salesman.
After gaining valuable experience working in plastic industries, Li was able to form his own business, a plastics company named Cheung Kong in 1950.
While at first manufacturing plastics, the company later moved into real estate. Similarly, Li expanded his ownership of different companies, and today has his hands in banking, cellular phones, satellite television, cement production, retail outlets, hotels, domestic transportation, airports, electric power, steel production, ports, and shipping, among other industries. He employs more than 270,000 people in 52 countries, according to Forbes.He is worth $38.3 B.
"Knowledge changes fate"
- Li Ka Shing
Further Reading: Li Ka Shing: Hong Kong's Elusive Billionaire
3. Oprah Winfrey
Not long after she was born, Orpah was left with her maternal grandmother Hattie Mae Lee in Mississippi as her mother headed north to find work in the state of Wisconsin. The little girl spent the first six years of her life living with Grandma in abject rural poverty.
When she was a toddler, family and friends frequently misspelled Orpah as Oprah and the name stuck. Super-bright from the get-go, little Oprah was taught to read by her grandmother at the age of three and she would often 'interview' her home-made corn dolls, a sign of things to come.
The poverty Oprah experienced as a young child was extreme to say the least. With very little money to buy groceries let alone clothes, Hattie Mae had to resort to dressing her granddaughter in old potato sacks.
In 1960, Hattie Mae fell ill and a six-year-old Oprah was packed off to live with her mother Vernita Lee in a rough neighbourhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Working 24/7, Vernita soon found it hard to cope with her daughter. In 1962, Oprah was sent to live with her father Vernon Winfrey in Nashville, Tennessee.
Oprah returned to her mother's home a year later and life got even harder. From the age of nine, she was sexually abused by several family members and neglected by her mother. Overwhelmed by all the trauma, Oprah ran away from home not long after her 13th birthday.
At rock bottom, Oprah lived on the mean streets of Milwaukee for a time before she decided to return to her mother's house, narrowly escaping a stint in a juvenile detention centre. A year later, she gave birth to a child, who died shortly after the delivery.
While she was showing great academic promise at school, Oprah was going off the rails big time, stealing money from her mother's purse and staying out late, so Vernita Lee sent the tearaway to live with her father Vernon Winfrey again in Nashville.
Strict yet nurturing, Vernon imposed a curfew and banned his daughter hanging out with boys. Oprah soon flourished in this disciplined environment and fast-became an honours student, shining at school and bagging straight As.
During her high school and college days, Oprah entered several beauty pageants and won the Miss Black Tennessee title at the age of 17. Fiercely ambitious, she also landed a part-time job reading the news at the local black radio station, WVOL, her first real media work.
The rest,they say is history. She has since gone to amass a fortune of $3 B.
"You get in life,what you have the courage to ask for"
- Oprah Winfrey
Website: oprah.com
Oprah Winfrey books
4. J.K Rowling
Joanne's Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury, England in 1965. Her interest in writing began early and at the age of 6 she wrote a story called ‘Rabbit’, which she never finished.
After graduating, Rowling worked several jobs including a short stint as secretary for a publishing company, where she was responsible for sending out rejection slips. Rowling married a man in Portugal and together they had a child. Soon after however, the marriage turned sour and she moved back to the UK, living in Edinburgh.
It was here that her life began to deteriorate into new levels of sadness. Rowling found herself fighting both depression and poverty as she tried to support her daughter in a mice infested flat, living on welfare. As a single mother she struggled to find work and didn’t trust leaving her daughter with state-run childcare.
On a train ride from Manchester to London, Rowling had a spark of inspiration that would go on to change both her life, and the lives of millions of others. It was here that she first came up with the story of Harry Potter.During that train journey, the entire world of witches and wizards began to take shape as she created characters and plot features such as Hogwarts and Azkaban.
Returning to Edinburgh, Rowling continued to write the story while living in the tough conditions of poverty. She was exhausted and as a first time author, wasn’t even sure if she would be published or not. However, she mastered through it and her determination saw her complete the book. Now only did she finish the book, Rowlings dedication was so high that she had created entire backstories for all characters featured in the book including school houses, family trees and much more!
With the book finished she went about trying to get it published. She was turned down by 12 of the biggest names in publishing until she eventually sold the rights to Bloomsbury, who paid only $4,000. But it didn’t matter, her hard work had paid off and she had been published
With the book finished she went about trying to get it published. She was turned down by 12 of the biggest names in publishing until she eventually sold the rights to Bloomsbury, who paid only $4,000. But it didn’t matter, her hard work had paid off and she had been published
The Harry Potter series continues to expand and it is the most successful book and movie series of all time.
JK Rowlings determination in the face of deep struggle is incredibly motivating for anyone who is trying to make their own success.J K Rowling is one personality I admire greatly. She's been off and on Forbes billionaires list.
Ellison was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 17, 1944, to single mother Florence Spellman. When he was nine months old, Ellison came down with pneumonia, and his mother sent him to Chicago to be raised by her aunt and uncle, Lillian and Louis Ellison, who adopted the baby.
As a rebellous teenager,Ellison always butted heads with his adoptive father,who according to reports,took every opportunity to tell young Larry that he'd never amount to anything.
After high school, Ellison enrolled at the University of Illinois, Champaign (1962), where he was named science student of the year. During his second year, his adopted mother died, and Ellison dropped out of college. The following fall, he enrolled at the University of Chicago, but he also dropped out after only one semester.
Louis Ellison was,by now, more convinced than ever that Larry was headed no where in life.
In 1997,Ellison and two Ampex coworkers started their own company,Software Development Labs,with Ellison serving as CEO.The Company now known as Oracle has a market cap of $182.2 B. Larry Ellison currently the world's seventh richest man is worth $59.4 B.He's amassed all of the toys you'd expect from a billionaire - planes, yachts, multiple mansions, and even an entire Hawaiian island.
"Great achievers are driven, not so much by the desire for success, but by the fear of failure" - Larry Ellison
"I have all of the disadvantages required for success"
- Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison further reading
6.Richard Branson
Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on July 18, 1950, in Surrey, England. His father, Edward James Branson, worked as a barrister. His mother, Eve Branson, was employed as a flight attendant. Richard, who struggled with dyslexia, had a hard time with educational institutions. He nearly failed out of the all-boys Scaitcliffe School, which he attended until the age of 13. He then transferred to Stowe School, a boarding school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England.
Still struggling, Branson dropped out at the age of 16 to start a youth-culture magazine called Student.
After selling Student to a larger company in 1970, Branson started a mail-order record company, Virgin Mail. The following year he opened a retail store, which by 1972 had become a chain of 14 shops around the United Kingdom. Charged with evading purchase taxes on import record sales, Branson escaped prosecution by paying an out-of-court settlement. Saddled with $90,000 in fines and debts, a sobered Branson expanded his chain of stores and purchased a small castle in Wales, turning it into a recording studio. His next project was to launch a record company of his own. With his cousin Simon Draper as the creative director and Nik Powell as the business manager, Branson inaugurated Virgin Records in 1973. Among the label's first releases was Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells, which topped the U.S. charts in 1974 and sold more than 13 million copies. Virgin had suddenly become one of the most successful independent record companies in the United Kingdom. Despite his image as a "hippie capitalist" dabbling in business, Branson proved an astute negotiator from the start, signing his artists to long contracts, acquiring worldwide rights to recordings, and owning copyrights for as long as possible
With a conglomerate of businesses bearing the "Virgin" brand name, including Virgin Galactic and Virgin Atlantic.Richard Brandon is worth $5.1 BB
Richard Branson books
Howard D. Schultz was born on July 19, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of a former US Army trooper and later truck driver Fred Schultz, and his wife, Elaine. The family had three kids and was poor, even though the parents worked hard to give a decent future to their children. Then they could not even imagine that their son would become one of the wealthiest businesspersons of the United States.
I saw my father losing his sense of dignity and self-respect. I am sure that this was caused mostly by the fact that he has been treated as an ordinary working man.” – Howard Schultz recalls.
7. Howard Schultz
Howard D. Schultz was born on July 19, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of a former US Army trooper and later truck driver Fred Schultz, and his wife, Elaine. The family had three kids and was poor, even though the parents worked hard to give a decent future to their children. Then they could not even imagine that their son would become one of the wealthiest businesspersons of the United States.
The childhood of the future billionaire was spent in the neighborhood of the houses for low-income families, where there was nothing but the basketball court. Most of the people over there were extremely poor and it is evident, that the children from this area were considered quite ordinary. That is why Howard always knew how difficult it would be for him to break out of this poverty. However, his dream of becoming successful was stronger than any obstacle.
Being a little boy, Howard often watched his father trying to find a job, which would meet his expectations. When Howard was seven years old, his father broke a leg while being at work. As he had no medical insurance, the subsequent family financial difficulties left an indelible mark in the boy’s memory.
I saw my father losing his sense of dignity and self-respect. I am sure that this was caused mostly by the fact that he has been treated as an ordinary working man.” – Howard Schultz recalls.
At the age of 12, Howard got his first job. First, he was selling newspapers and then working in a local cafe. The boy faced rather hard experience when he turned 16. He was working at the fur store, where he had to deal with stretching the leather. This exhausting job only made Howard stronger and firmed his wish to succeed in future. Being physically strong, Schultz excelled at sports and was awarded an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Communications in 1975.
After his graduation, Howard Schultz spent three years as a sales manager at Xerox, and then he started working at a Swedish company Hamamaplast, where he was selling home appliances, including coffee grinders to the businesses like Starbucks. Once Schultz discovered, that this little company purchases his coffee machines way more then some other popular stores. Howard decided to meet the owners of Starbucks and went to Seattle.After tasting Starbucks coffee, Howard immediately fell in love with it, as it was something much better than everything he had tried before. Later, Schultz recalled, “I went outside whispering to myself: Oh my Gosh, what a wonderful business, what a wonderful city! I want to be a part of this.” It was love at first sight.
The company had a credo, which made its stores popular in Seattle – they actually taught the customers the art of making coffee. This approach and the enthusiasm impressed 29-year-old Schultz, and he was literally begging for a job at Starbucks and bothering its director, Jerry Baldwin, with the phone calls. Schultz was trying to persuade him that the company is capable of opening more stores but Baldwin feared that a rapid expansion might kill the spirit of Starbucks. Once, Schultz finished his attempt with the words, “Well, let’s do it all gradually, in your usual pace, but let’s also create something truly significant.” Next day he was asked to become the marketing director at Starbucks with a salary less than half of what he was getting at Hamamaplast. Howard saw a great potential of the business and realized that he wanted to connect his life with Starbucks. Thus, he agreed to work there even under such inconvenient conditions. In 1982, he moved to Seattle.
In 1983, Howard went to Milan and returned with the recipes of latte and cappuccino, which tripled Starbucks’ sales over the next year. However, the concept of Italian café amazed Schultz the most – it was not just a store but a place for social meetings and leisure. In the United States, the socializing role was mostly held by the various fast-food restaurants. Schultz spent a long time thinking of this entirely new concept when in 1985 he proposed Baldwin to make a focus on creating a network of coffee houses. However, the CEO of Starbucks answered with a categorical refusal. The founders believed that such approach would cause their shop to lose its individuality. They were the men of traditional views, which supposed real coffee to be made at home. But the idea of drinking coffee out literally elated Schultz, and he, being confident in his venture, resigned from the company to open his own business.
Howard needed $1.7 million for opening his own business. The owners of Starbucks partly borrowed the money and the rest of the money he lent in a bank. In April 1986, Schultz opened a coffee shop in Seattle. He gave it an Italian name of ‘Il Giornale,’ (Italian pronunciation: [eel johr-nah-leh]). This place was a great success, and 300 people visited it during its first working day.
A year later, Howard found out that the owners of Starbucks were going to sell their stores, the roasting factory, and brand itself, as they could not manage the functioning of the large company. They announced a price of $4 million, and Schulz immediately went to his creditors, persuading them to give him a new loan. It is interesting to know that one of the early investors of Starbucks was Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Like McDonald brothers, three coffee fans from Seattle stepped out of their own business for the worthy reward, and Howard Schultz became the only owner and manager at Starbucks. Starbuck now has a market cap of $84.6B.Howard Schultz is worth $2.7 B
Howard needed $1.7 million for opening his own business. The owners of Starbucks partly borrowed the money and the rest of the money he lent in a bank. In April 1986, Schultz opened a coffee shop in Seattle. He gave it an Italian name of ‘Il Giornale,’ (Italian pronunciation: [eel johr-nah-leh]). This place was a great success, and 300 people visited it during its first working day.
A year later, Howard found out that the owners of Starbucks were going to sell their stores, the roasting factory, and brand itself, as they could not manage the functioning of the large company. They announced a price of $4 million, and Schulz immediately went to his creditors, persuading them to give him a new loan. It is interesting to know that one of the early investors of Starbucks was Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Like McDonald brothers, three coffee fans from Seattle stepped out of their own business for the worthy reward, and Howard Schultz became the only owner and manager at Starbucks. Starbuck now has a market cap of $84.6B.Howard Schultz is worth $2.7 B
"You have to have a 100% belief in your core reason for being"
- Howard Schultz
"If you dream small dreams, you may succeed in building something small. For many people, that is enough. But if you want to achieve widespread impact and lasting value, be bold."
- Howard Schultz
Further Reading: Howard Schultz and Starbucks
8. John Paul Dejoria
John Paul Deforia was born on the 13th of
April,1944, in Echo Park, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, he was the second son of an Italian father and a Greek mother. He was two years old when his parents divorced. Hence, to support his mother, he started selling Christmas cards and newspapers at the age of nine, along with his older brother.
DeJoria attended Atwater Elementary and then John Marshall High School. His mother could not support both her children so she had to send them to a foster home. As a teenager he got involved in some street gang activities but he decided to change his path after being advised by a teacher at school. In 1962 after he graduated from high school, he joined the United States Navy as USS Hornet and served for two years. When he got out of the Navy in 1964, he didn't have the money to go to college. So he worked as a salesman for Collier's Encyclopedia. In fact, he did a string of jobs, including as a caretaker, a door-to-door salesman of shampoo, and also an insurance salesman, over the next few years
He acquired knowledge about hair care products when he worked at Redken Laboratories in 1971, as a representative selling hair care products. After a year and a half, he started looking after two divisions—scientific schools and chain salons. In 1975, over a disagreement on business strategies, he was fired from the job.
Next, he joined Fermodyl Hair Care, where he trained the management and sales force on how to sell. Despite the sales going up by 50%, he was fired, as the company said that he didn’t fit in.
He joined the Institute of Trichology and started selling their hair care products. He earned $3,000 a month and 6% commission on the new business he brought in. After a year, he was fired as the company couldn’t afford his salary anymore.
In 1980, his hairdresser friend Paul Mitchell was also struggling, so they decided to start a business together, and founded John Paul Mitchell Systems on a loan of $700. They decided to develop products for professional stylists that would help to reduce time needed to do a client's hair.
He also founded tequila maker Patrón Spirits Company.His net worth stands at $3.1 B according to Forbes.
"Success is how well you do what you do, when nobody else is looking"
- John Paul Dejoria
DeJoria attended Atwater Elementary and then John Marshall High School. His mother could not support both her children so she had to send them to a foster home. As a teenager he got involved in some street gang activities but he decided to change his path after being advised by a teacher at school. In 1962 after he graduated from high school, he joined the United States Navy as USS Hornet and served for two years. When he got out of the Navy in 1964, he didn't have the money to go to college. So he worked as a salesman for Collier's Encyclopedia. In fact, he did a string of jobs, including as a caretaker, a door-to-door salesman of shampoo, and also an insurance salesman, over the next few years
He acquired knowledge about hair care products when he worked at Redken Laboratories in 1971, as a representative selling hair care products. After a year and a half, he started looking after two divisions—scientific schools and chain salons. In 1975, over a disagreement on business strategies, he was fired from the job.
Next, he joined Fermodyl Hair Care, where he trained the management and sales force on how to sell. Despite the sales going up by 50%, he was fired, as the company said that he didn’t fit in.
He joined the Institute of Trichology and started selling their hair care products. He earned $3,000 a month and 6% commission on the new business he brought in. After a year, he was fired as the company couldn’t afford his salary anymore.
In 1980, his hairdresser friend Paul Mitchell was also struggling, so they decided to start a business together, and founded John Paul Mitchell Systems on a loan of $700. They decided to develop products for professional stylists that would help to reduce time needed to do a client's hair.
He also founded tequila maker Patrón Spirits Company.His net worth stands at $3.1 B according to Forbes.
"Success is how well you do what you do, when nobody else is looking"
- John Paul Dejoria
9.Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Gary Adelson, was born in the poor Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1933, is a classic American rags-to-riches story. Sheldon’s father drove a taxicab and sold advertisements, and his mother ran a small knitting store. Sheldon start working at a young age selling newspapers. He spent a little time in college but left before graduating.He served in the army in the 1950s, got out and started another business selling toiletry kits. He then went to Wall Street where he worked as a court stenographer.
Sheldon earned his first million dollars as an investment advisor to companies interested in selling shares on the stock market. He also got into real estate and eventually started investing in numerous companies in a variety of industries. One of his most successful investments was in a travel agency: the American International Travel Service. That one made him a millionaire over and over again.
Adelson did well for himself, but his first really big break came after putting together a computer trade show business in the late 1970s and early 80s. He saw an opportunity to bring computer industry insiders together where they could present their products to potential buyers. This came at a time when the computing industry was just starting to take off in a major way, and his trade show was a massive success.
He sold the trade show business in 1995 and instantly added $500 million to his personal fortune. While this was all going on, Sheldon had his eye on the gambling industry. His company purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1988. Three years later, he demolished the hotel and replaced it with one of the first mega resorts in Las Vegas: The Venetian. This man that once shared a bedroom with his parents and three siblings is now worth $36.1 B.
"An entrepreneur is born with the mentality to take risk, though there are several important characteristics: courage, faith in yourself , and above all, even when you fail, to learn from failure and get up and try again"
- Sheldon Adelson
10. Fracois Pinault
François Pinault was born on 21 August 1936 in Les Champs-Géraux, a commune in the north of Brittany in the West of France.
When he was very young, during the Occupation of France, Francois Pinault used to carry food to Allied airmen hidden near the family home in Brittany. Returning home one day, a German patrol grabbed him and beat his father savagely with a riding crop in an effort to make one of the two talk.
Neither did. Apparently, Francois never even blinked. At the age of seven, so legend has it, he was already cultivating the determination, recklessness and contempt for authority that, over half a century later, made him France's richest man.
Pinault quit high school in 1947after being teased for his poor background. He joined his family's timber trading business and in the 1970s began buying up smaller firms. His ruthless business tactics - including slashing jobs and selling his timber company only to buy it back at a fraction of the cost when the market crashed - gave him a reputation as a "predator." He had similar tactics in the real estate business, and did well buying French junk bonds and taking government money to save businesses from bankruptcy.
His self-made worth helped him start Kering (formerly PPR), a luxury goods group that sells brands like Gucci, Stella McCartney, and Yves St. Laurent. At one point the richest man in France, Pinault and his family are now worth $24.3 B.
"I have no sense of nostalgia.Tomorrow is what interests me"
- François Pinault
11. Leonardo Del Vecchio
Leonardo was born to a poor Milanese family in 1935. Leading a fatherless childhood, he was forced to live in an orphanage at the age of 7 under the care of nuns and at the age of 14, circumstances required him to work in order to support his impoverished family. His first job was in Milan working as a novice with a tool manufacturer. He joined evening classes studying industrial engineering at the age of 19, continuing working during the day all along.
At 23, he opened his own molding shop. That eyeglass frame shop expanded to the world's largest maker of sunglasses and prescription eyewear. Luxottica manufactures sunglasses from brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley, with 6,000 retail shops like Sunglass Hut and LensCrafters. His net worth an estimated
$18.7B billion.
"The values of life are most valuable" -Leonardo Del Vecchio
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"The values of life are most valuable" -Leonardo Del Vecchio
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11 inspiring billionaires who started from rags to riches
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October 07, 2017
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October 07, 2017
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