Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are 3 of the top billionaires in the world who are famous for their get-rich stories even though they didn’t graduate from college. But there is one important thing to keep in mind: school leavers are the exception, not the rule.
While tech unicorns write world-changing algorithms in their dorm rooms before they drop out, there are thousands of highly successful people who honed their talents while still in college. They also claim that such success would not have been possible without the knowledge and networks built into the university.
However, not everyone has a genius mind that can change the world like the above billionaires.
Billionaire Bill Gates always encourages people to read books. Photo: CNBC.
In early May, Ramsey Solutions published a research report based on the largest survey of millionaires ever, involving 10,000 Americans. The results show that 88% of the respondents have a bachelor’s degree, 52% a master’s degree or doctorate.
Or the October 2017 Forbes report found that 84% of America’s 400 wealthiest individuals are college graduates. Of those 400, 23% (more than a quarter) have a bachelor’s degree from an Ivy League school such as Harvard or Yale.
Learning may not be the only way to success, but it is the most sustainable and effective way. Formal education teaches us how to use our brains to innovate and solve problems. This is part of why most successful billionaires are so well educated. The value of education lies not only in what one learns, but also in training the mind to function more effectively.
The benefits of lifelong learning are enormous. You can study anytime, anywhere, by reading books, listening to podcasts or learning from friends and colleagues…
American businessman Steven Ballmer is a good example of how learning is the basis for success. He graduated valedictorian from a private school and scored a perfect 800 on the math SAT. Ballmer later studied applied mathematics at Harvard University. While in college, he entered the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, but did not win.
That winner was named Bill Gates and Ballmer hired shortly after Microsoft was founded. Here Ballmer became president and chief executive officer. Currently, he is the 11th richest billionaire in the world with a fortune of USD 80.4 billion.
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Photo: The Economic Times
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani attended Stanford University’s illustrious MBA program, but he did not complete the program to help his father grow the family business, Reliance Industries Limited. Still, Mukesh Ambani believes his time at Stanford has still had a major influence on his career.
The billionaire often emphasizes the influence of American economist and Stanford professor William Forsyth Sharpe, saying he is “the kind of teacher who makes you think outside the box”.
In addition to the lessons of getting rich, billionaire Bill Gates often shared about his favorite books. In the villa called “Xanadu 2.0” in the city of Medina (Washington, USA), billionaire Bill Gates has a remarkable library room of more than 195 square meters with two filled bookcases. Billionaire Bill Gates also regularly shares his favorite titles on his website.
Or Apple co-founder Steve Jobs went to Reed College in Portland, but dropped out after six months. However, Steve Jobs continued to review the courses he was interested in after he dropped out.
The moment you think there is nothing left to learn is when you commit suicide with your own potential to become a billionaire. Especially if you are interested in building wealth through inventions or innovations, you must be open-minded, curious and always learning. Those qualities enable you to see old things in a new light, to see the potential for change and profit, while others see only what has already been done.
If you get a chance to talk to billionaires, you’ll find that they always claim to be students, not teachers. In fact, most successful people will pay dearly to hone themselves in areas where they fall short. They join organizations, societies, and groups to practice a skill or learn something new. That is the fundamental difference between successful people and unsuccessful people.
By entrepreneur