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7 Life Stories of People who Succeeded Without Relevant Education

October 10th, 2024 | Posted by GradeMiners

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There are a lot of people who understand that to become a successful person is possible without diploma. However, there are even more of those who don’t believe it. This article will tell you about 7 famous and rich people, who have succeeded due to their bright minds without a relevant major or a diploma.

So, here is the list of 7 most successful people without higher education:

1. Richard Branson

Richard Branson is probably the first person coming to one’s mind when they think about successful people without degrees. Branson is known to have dropped out of school at the age of 16 because he was obsessed with the idea of starting the Student magazine. The latter became his first successful startup, which laid the basis for a series of other business undertakings. 

The decision was correct; Branson captured the moment to launch lucrative startups, which allowed him to buy a personal island in the Caribbean at the age of 24. He was also awarded the knighthood title in 1999 and launched a daring Virgin Galactic project to bring people’s dreams of commercial space flights to life. By achieving grand success without education, Branson has managed to accumulate a net capital of over $4 billion throughout his career. 

2. Ruth Handler

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

3. Henry Ford

Most Americans believe that Henry Ford invented a car. Many are convinced that Henry Ford invented a conveyor as well. Although Ransom Olds used moving trucks in his production 6 years before Ford. As for conveyor belts, they have been already used on grain elevators and meat-packing plants in Chicago. Ford’s great merit was that he created mass production.
He invented the automobile business. When the businesses become economically organized, the demand for a manager appeared. The XX century became the century of management. With only 8 years of education Henry Ford was recognized as the best businessman of XX century by Fortune magazine!

4. Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA)

Ingvar started doing business in childhood, selling matches to his neighbors. He discovered that he could buy them cheaply in Stockholm by large quantities, and then sell at retail at low cost, and as a consequence to have a good profit. Subsequently, he was engaged in fish, Christmas tree decorations, seeds, pens and pencils selling.
Ingvar has founded the company that later became IKEA. He has never studied in a University.

5. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs didn’t invent the first personal computer “Apple,” it was invented by his friend Steve Wozniak. However, Steve Jobs can be considered as its surrogate father as he brought the idea of PC performance. After six months of studying, Jobs left the Reed College considering higher education boring and formal. But this fact didn’t prevent him to be a genius Project Manager.

6. Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III, better known as Bill Gates is an American businessman and social activist, philanthropist. One of the founders and the largest shareholder of the Microsoft Company. In the period from 1996 to 2007 and in 2009 he was recognized as the richest man in the world by the Forbes magazine. He had left his college and got his diploma after 30 years.

7. Mark Zuckerberg

This man invented Facebook, one of the world’s most famous social networks. And he made that while being studying in Harvard. Facebook popularity has become so big that Mark completely abandoned high school and founded the company in Palo Alto.

How to Be Successful in Life Without Education

As you can see, there are many successful people without degrees around you. Many of them had bright business ideas and enough perseverance to bring them to life. Still, you should keep in mind that education alone (or its absence) doesn’t determine your life. To be successful, you should plan your time, hire the right people for the daily operations of your business, and have a wise business strategy. You should also be passionate about your ideas and have an entrepreneurial mindset that will help you build the practical side of a successful venture. 

In this article, we persude nobody to leave schools or universities. It is just an example of how many millionaires have succeeded without higher education and relevant majors. This fact did not prevent them to create their own companies and make millions or billions of dollars.

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