10 Very Successful People without a College Degree
Gone are the days when the older generation always reiterated that if you went to school and studied well, you would be a successful person with a well-paid job. There are many examples nowadays, proving they are wrong and success without college exists. Even if you haven’t received your degree, you can still be an act to follow in a sphere of life you choose to succeed.
Here’s the list of rich people who didn't go to college.
1. Sean Connery
Sean Connery opens the list of celebrities who never went to college. Sean wasn’t fortunate enough to grow up in a rich family. He also wasn’t a good student and got expelled from the high school and started work. He joined the army after all. However, for some health issues he got discharged from the military. After that in 1951, he started working at the King’s Theater backstage. Since those times, not only he has won his Oscar, but also has earned the title of the ‘greatest living Scot’ and was benighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
2. John D. Rockefeller
Rockefeller was expelled from school two months before the final exams and graduation. He started as a bookkeeper assistant. Time passed by and he founded his Standard Oil company. He was at the top of the richest Americans in its history list. At the time he passed away in 1937, his wealth amounted to $1.5 billion. He is one of the best examples of people successful without college.
3. Richard Branson
Branson is famous for founding his own magazine when he was just 16 years old. He was selling this magazine to his classmates in a local school. When he graduated, which was also a complicated task, he decided not to go to college. Instead of this, he began to sell popular records and soon started his Virgin Records.
4. Abraham Lincoln
President Lincoln can show everyone how to be successful without college. He did not receive formal education and finished school studies in almost a year. He said later that he regretted the fact he hadn’t got proper education and confessed that he had to study grammar himself when he was 23.
5. Rachael Ray
Although known for her cooking, she didn’t attain any cooking classes. Having graduated from school she did not opt for college. Instead, she began to work for different food service companies. Soon, she started her teaching classes using an interesting format – she was cooking meals less than in 30 minutes. After that, a local TV station suggested her a segment.
6. Bill Gates
The example of Bill Gates is not a sporadic one in the technological industry. Of course, every new inventor is one of a kind. However, a lot of famous people, who introduced revolutionary inventions, attended top colleges and dropped out to follow their own path.
7. Will Smith
Smith had to start as an engineer; however, being a talented young man, he decided to start a music career. It became pretty clear soon that he made a right decision to enter the world of show business.
8. Henry Ford
When Henry Ford was just 15 years old, his father gave him a watch to dissemble. That was the moment when it all started. It can be said without exaggeration that Ford is one of the most breathtaking life stories, because he was able to figure out himself the grounds of cars mass production.
9. Dave Thomas
Thomas was lucky enough to understand at a very young age what his true life passion was. He began in a food industry when he was a teenager. He didn’t move together with his family, when he was in the 10th grade. Instead of that, he decided to work in food industry full-time. His passion and hard work let him open his first Wendy's in 1969.
10. Pete Cashmore
Cashmore, who is called one of the most influential people on Earth, dropped out of his college to start his tech-blog. Now he is known as a founder and CEO of Mashable, which is a world-known blog.
