Indian entrepreneur and billionaire, Dhirubhai Ambani rose to success with his venture, the Reliance Industries. The passionate man started his business from scratch and took it to unimaginable heights. His success was even more surprising because he had never received any kind of formal education. Born on December 28, 1932, in Junagadh district of Gujarat in India, Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1966. As of now it is India’s second most profitable company. Dhirubhai was known to be a risk taker and very foresighted man. His health troubles began in 1986 when he got his first stroke in February 1986 which paralyzed his right hand. He passed away on July 6, 2002 after a major heart stroke. Bollywood movie ‘Guru’ which was released in 2007 is said to be inspired from the life story of Dhirubhai Ambani. The business and legacy of Dhirubhai Ambani are now being carried forward by his two sons – Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani.
2. Bill Gates:
Famous businessman and philanthropist, Bill Gates is a household name and needs no further introduction. A fact that many people don’t know, however, is that Bill Gates is actually a Harvard dropout. He had always been more interested in programming and other facets related to computers that it was hard for him to put in equal efforts for other subjects. In 1975, the launch of MITS Altair 8800, which was based on the Intel 8080 CPU, inspired Bill Gates and Paul Allen to start their own company. And that is how Microsoft was born. Microsoft is currently the largest PC Software Company in the world. Since 1994, he has been married to Melinda Gates and they have 3 children together. Bill Gates resigned from the post of Chairman of Microsoft in 2014 and became its technology advisor.
3. Thomas Alva Edison:
Who would have thought that one of the greatest scientists of all times, Thomas Alva Edison was considered dumb and stupid by his school teachers? Well, apparently this genius man was extremely underestimated by his peers and elders. Born in February, 1847, Edison has contributed enormously to the world with his revolutionary inventions of electrical light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera and several more. This brilliant man has over 1093 patents in his name only in the US and numerous others in UK, France and Germany. Edison began his career as a telegraph operator and all his later success and inventions followed from experiences gained during that time. He revolutionized industrial world with his development of electric power generators that would transmit power to homes, businesses and factories. His first power station was situated on Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York. He died at the age of 84 in 1931.
4. Henry Ford:
Born in July, 1863, Henry Ford is the founder of the famous Ford Motor Company. He revolutionized the automobile industry by developing and manufacturing the first ever automobile that was easily accessible to common public. When he was 16 years old, he left the family farm to relocate to Detroit. After that, there was no looking back. He built his first car in 1896. Note that Henry Ford had no formal education in machinery or physics. From rags to riches, this man went on to become one of the most influential men of his time. He was known for his global vision, “Fordism”, and introducing the world to the mass production of inexpensive goods. Unlike many rich factory owners of the time, Henry Ford was known to be extremely empathetic towards his workers and even offered them high wages. Died in 1947, his current net worth is over $199 billion.
5. Walt Disney:
Walt Disney. Who doesn’t know him? This man is the reason why we have so many good animated movies today. Pioneer of the American animation industry, Walt Disney was actually a high school dropout who wanted to start his own company. Born in 1901, he had always been interested in drawing. He took many art classes and got his first job as an illustrator at the age of 18. He set up the Disney Brother Studio with his brother Roy in early 1920s after moving to Hollywood. The famous character of Mickey Mouse was created in 1928. Thanks to his unending passion for art and animation, his company got more and more successful with every passing day. He introduced full colour three-strip Technicolour, synchronized sounds, feature length cartoons and many more new effects. Walt Disney has won 22 Academy Awards as a film producer and 2 Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards. He died due to lung cancer on December 15, 1966, just ten days after his 65th birthday.
6. Ted Turner:
One of the most famous media moguls in the world, Ted Turner is the founder of the Cable News Network (CNN), which was the first 24-hour cable news channel in the world. However, unlike other typical dropouts, Ted Turner was expelled from college for having a girl in his dormitory room. He later received an honorary B.A. from Brown University in 1989. His media business started when he took over his dad’s billboard business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, in 1963. Soon, he began the Turner Broadcasting System in 1970. The turning point for CNN, however, came when it covered the Persian Gulf War live in 1991. In the same year he became the first media personality to be named as Time Magazine’s Man of the year. Currently, his net worth is over US$ 2.2 billion. Also, he owns over 2,000,000 acres of land which makes him one of the largest private landowners in America.
7. Mark Zuckerberg:
Words aren’t enough to describe the unbeatable success of the young programmer and Internet entrepreneur, Mark Zuckerberg. The 20 year old Zuckerberg began what was soon going to completely change the scenario of Internet in 2004 with this joined venture, Facebook. Started out of a Harvard dormitory, it soon spread like wildfire. By 2012, Facebook had already got over one billion users engaged on it. The success obtained from this social networking site made Zuckerberg one of the richest people in the world. Currently the Chairman and CEO of Facebook, his net worth is over US $51 billion. Isn’t that beyond amazing for someone who dropped out of college?
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