Education Level on Billionaires….
It’s illustrated by powerful examples from Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg to Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller to James Cameron and Tom Hanks (every one of them is a College dropout.
It’s the sub-headline and positioning of a recent “Billionaire University” story in the Forbes 30 Under 30 issue: “Some of the Forbes 400 have Ph.D.s; far more never finished college.”
The Concept: College is unnecessary if you want to get rich. The best school is the school of hard knocks ( school of life or learning by losing ). The lecture hall pales in value to life experience. Learning means doing.
The concept is true. College is not absolutely necessary. High school grads and college dropouts do populate the Forbes 400
While I concede that it’s true, it’s also misleading, as is the positioning of the Billionaire University piece (comparison of college dropouts to a narrow segment of advanced degree holders).
The Chart: Using data published in and adding a couple observations, I produced this chart.
Education Levels of the Forbes 400 – the Richest People in the United States
Observations:
- Yes, there are high school grads and college dropouts among the 400. They represent 8% of the group.
- Yes, there are many more college dropouts than PhDs – by a ratio just shy of 2:1.
- But, there are 341 total advanced degrees. If each person only had one, that would represent more than 85% of the 400.
- Even assuming that each person with an advanced degree held two of those 341, that leaves 170 of them with advanced degrees. That’s more than 42% of the 400 and nearly five times more than college dropouts.
- There are more than twice as many MBAs in the Forbes 400 than there are college dropouts.
Final Thoughts:
- But what is wealth worth is you don´t have anyone to share it with.
- Also you will never become a billionaire, if you don´t love you business a work with the perfect team.
Next week I will blog about How to become a success with you self or you business….
Kristian Kongstad Holm is a Successful action-focused entrepreneur with successful exits in multiple geographies. Currently Kristian Kongstad Holm is focused on Mobile App and IT investments, new media and Real Estate, but open to any investment propositions “ Business angel “ 1992 - 1999 Kristian Kongstad Holm Co-founded Bildillen, a franchise chain of stores in Denmark, which in 1999 had 21 stores nationwide. Sold to Franchise members 1999 - 2007 Kristian Kongstad Holm built BilXperten from start-up to matching competitor by franchise store numbers in just 2 years. BilXperten bought Bildillen in 2004 and was sold to Thansen at the end of 2007. 2005 - 2008 Kristian Kongstad Holm founded and CEO of the agency for LG and VSX electronics in Denmark. Vision behind some of the largest fairs in Denmark such as Biler i Bella, Cph Motor Show, DHB and RaceX. 2008 - present Kristian Kongstad Holm is Ceo of Kongsholm Invest Ltd. CEO of European based construction firm focusing on residential renovations. Responded to a widespread demand for construction companies as many firms had been hit by the financial crisis and house price falls. The company offers construction financing for renovations, which means that the home owner only pays for the work when it is 100% complete. 2008 – present Kristian Kongstad Holm is Ceo of Victoria Capital II Ltd. and various other companies. Active investor in multiple App / IT / New media projects. Interested in innovative new ideas. Kristian Kongstad Holm moved from Denmark in 2009 and lives today in Monaco and Dubai with his family. Always interested in discussing new projects and investment opportunities. See more at www.about.me/holm Kristian Kongstad Holm Motto´s is: If you can dream it, you can do it! Winners are losers that just didn´t give up! Danish Vellykket action-fokuseret serie iværksætter med succesfulde exits på flere geografier. I øjeblikket fokuserer på Mobile App og it-investeringer og Real Estate, men åben for enhver investering udsagn "business angels" 1992 - 1999 Medstifter Bildillen, en franchise kæde af butikker i Danmark, som i 1999 havde 21 butikker på landsplan. Solgt til Franchise medlemmer 1999 - 2007 Bygget BilXperten fra opstart til matching konkurrent ved franchise-butik numre på bare 2 år. BilXperten købte Bildillen i 2004 og blev solgt til Thansen i slutningen af 2007. 2005 - 2008 Grundlagt og administrerende direktør for agenturet for LG og VSX elektronik i Danmark. Visionen bag nogle af de største messer i Danmark såsom Biler i Bella, Cph Motor Show, DHB og RaceX. 2008 - nuværende administrerende direktør i Kongsholm Invest Ltd CEO for europæisk baseret byggefirma med fokus på bolig renoveringer. Reageret på en udbredt efterspørgsel efter byggefirmaer så mange virksomheder er blevet ramt af den finansielle krise og boligpriserne falder. Virksomheden tilbyder konstruktion finansiering til renoveringer, hvilket betyder, at boligejeren betaler kun for det arbejde, når det er 100% gennemført. 2008 - nuværende administrerende direktør i Victoria Capital II Ltd Aktiv investor i flere App / it-projekter. Interesseret i nye innovative idéer. Kristian Kongstad Holm flyttet fra Danmark i 2009 og bor i dag i Monaco med sin familie. Altid interesseret i at diskutere nye projekter og investeringsmuligheder. Se mere på www.about.me / holm Motto: Hvis du kan drømme det, kan du gøre det! Vinderne er tabere, der bare ikke give op!
About me Kristian Kongstad Holm 
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