5 Billionaires Who Didn't Finish High School

Two things are common between entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, Jay-Z and other rappers: Both are successful billionaires and neither one of them went to high school.

They are not the only billionaires to have never completed high school. While it is true that many billionaires did not complete college, such as Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, it is much more common to find billionaires who didn’t even finish high school. There are many.

Continue reading to discover which billionaires are most well-known for not having completed high school.

Zhou Qunfei, age 16, dropped out of highschool to work at a watch factory.

While she was taking evening accounting classes, she saved almost HK$ 20,000 (about $ 2,500) to start her own watch lenses business. She also runs the family’s business.

Lens Technology is Zhou’s current CEO. The company makes glass for companies like Apple, Samsung and Tesla. The company went public in 2015 and Zhou’s stake was valued at $ 7.2 billion according to the New York Times.

In an interview with CNBC Make It, she stated that “I have faced many difficulties and setbacks” as an entrepreneur. “But perseverance is key to success, even in the most difficult of times.”

Forbes reports that this self-made billionaire has a fortune in excess of $ 6 billion.

Amancio Ortega quit high school at 14 to run errands in support of local merchants.

Ortega started Zara stores in Spain years later. The company has grown internationally since then. With a staggering fortune of $ 70.4 billion, he is the second-richest man in Europe (behind Bernard Arnault who is president and CEO at LVMH).

Francois Pinault was 11 years old when he decided to quit high school to go work at his father’s sawmill.

Forbes reports that Pinault dropped out of school after his peers made fun about his “poor background.” Forbes reports that Pinault now has a fortune worth $ 33.2 billion.

Jay-Z was a student at George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education high school, but he never graduated.

Jay-Z was hip-hop’s first billionaire, and he has a fortune worth $ 1 billion according to Forbes. Forbes says that his fortune is derived from his investments in liquor brands, art and real estate, as well as companies such Uber.

The rapper is proud of his success, even though he dropped out of high school.

Jay-Z stated at a news conference that education is extremely important. “I don’t have a high school diploma or college degree, but education is necessary to express your thoughts.”

Richard Branson quit high school at 16 because he had dyslexia.

Branson started his first business shortly after dropping out from school. Later, he founded a student magazine and a mail-order records company. This later became Virgin Records. His company, the Virgin Group oversees approximately 500 subsidiaries. Branson has an estimated fortune worth $ 3.9 billion.