4 of 5 richest Americans are college drop-outs

Parents Forum
1

<p>Something to ponder...</p>

<h1>1 William Gates</h1>

<p>Net Worth: $51.0 billion
Source: Software, Microsoft
Self made
Age: 49
Marital Status: married, 3 children
Hometown: Medina, WA
Education: Harvard University, Drop Out</p>

<h1>2 Warren Buffett</h1>

<p>Net Worth: $40.0 billion
Source: Investments, Berkshire Hathaway
Self made
Age: 75 Marital Status: widowed, 3 children
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Education: University of Nebraska Lincoln, Bachelor of Arts / Science Columbia University, Master of Science</p>

<h1>3 Paul Allen</h1>

<p>Net Worth: $22.5 billion
Source: Software, Microsoft, investments
Self made
Age: 52
Marital Status: single
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Education: Washington State University, Drop O</p>

<h1>4 Michael Dell</h1>

<p>Net Worth: $18.0 billion
Source: Technology, Dell
Self made
Age: 40
Marital Status: married, 4 children
Hometown: Austin, TX
Education: University of Texas Austin, Drop Out</p>

<h1>5 Lawrence Ellison</h1>

<p>Net Worth: $17.0 billion
Source: Software, Oracle
Self made
Age: 61
Marital Status: married, 2 children, 3 divorces
Hometown: Silicon Valley, CA
Education: University of Illinois, Drop Out</p>

2

<p>not everyone got in on the ground floor at Microsoft
Steve Jobs- despite dropping out of Reed because of finaid- I think he did go back to school someplace in CA- although he did found APPLE with Steve Wozniak who was a dropout from Berkeley
Another guy ( who lives around here) Jeff Bezos had a little startup that grew- but he actually graduated from Princeton ;)</p>

<p>Peter Norton graduated from Reed ( another computer guy)
as did James T Russell the inventor of the digital compact disk!</p>

<p>Not necessarily "rich" though-</p>

3

<p>Does this mean that we shouldn't value higher education and just focus on getting rich instead? I never get the point of these things... ;)</p>

4

<p>I hope you see the connection between the four dropouts. </p>

<p>Forgive me for saying this, but the adulation to the wealth amassed by the four computer industry magnates is perverse. This is the type of information that despite being accurate end up being absolutely misleading. I'm sure you could extend the list to include athletes, musicians, and other high school or college dropouts who made it BIG. The reality is that most of the successful people had talent or intelligence well above the average, or were born under an unbelievably lucky star. Yet, most of the young minds who may be impressed by "easy" riches, are simply average kids without great talent. And, for them, dropping out of school at an early stage is the best recipe for remaining in the underperforming part of our society and continue the vicious circle of poor education, lower self-esteem, and unhappiness. </p>

<p>PS I prefer the contents of this linked article:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/press/article/0,3183,38993,00.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/press/article/0,3183,38993,00.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>I would be willing to bet that despite their being college dropouts that they have a large number of college degree holders working for them</p>

6

<p>Yes, it's just a list with no conclusions drawn.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
I would be willing to bet that despite their being college dropouts that they have a large number of college degree holders working for them

[/quote]
Too funny, and quite right.</p>

8

<p>I suspect several of them dropped out of college to pursue their businesses...maybe intelligence is the common success (success defined in this case by accumulation of wealth) factor.</p>

9

<p>I don't think even the average person would take this tidbit, a tiny sample of just five, and infer that if you drop out of college you will be super rich. </p>

<p>True the most vulnerable kids don't understand how great the odds are stacked against them that they'll make it big in sports, entertainment...but I do think they know as a rule more education=more success at least financial.</p>

10

<p>"True the most vulnerable kids don't understand ...."</p>

<p>The number of vulnerable kids might be a lot larger than most think. Even today, there are strong currents that undermine the "stay-in-school" message. While I cannot speak for the entire United States, I know that in our Texan neck of the woods, many students find as much pressure to drop put of school as to stay in. A great number of families are led by adults who do not have a high school education and have made a living with their bare hands. As soon as males are able to earn a living, it is expected of them to start contributing to the family, and that is usually by starting to work. Symbols of success quickly become associated with the purchase of a souped-up car with flashy modifications. As soon as they have it, the favorite destination is the high school campus where the owners can expect a lot of "WOW" and "GUE, what a car" from an adoring yet influencable crowd! Younger females do not fare much better as their expectations are even more modest: get married young to someone who can take care of you. Leaving the family environment is STRONGLY discouraged. </p>

<p>In our minds, we have this picture-perfect vision that everyone should value education. However, start making an inventory of the messages that are bombarded via airwaves and printed material, and you may realize that the picture is quite flawed.</p>

11

<p>GUE? My family's history extends far and deep into Texas panhandle redneck territory and I don't recall GUE. LOL.</p>

<p>But your point is, unfortunately, well taken. When I graduated from a HS deep in the acadian area of Louisiana, 8 of the top 20 graduates weren't even planning on attending college. And after starting, I would guess that 4 or 5 more dropped out along the way. So maybe 7 out of the top 20 got their degree -- the Val did, but I know the two co-Sals didn't. Frankly, I'd be surprised if it has improved since then.</p>

12

<p>The inference I draw is that these guys were so ambitious, convinced of their ideas, intelligent, and with such good timing, they would have done this no matter what. </p>

<p>Given the statistics on how everyone else does who drops out of college, I doubt there's a soul in the world who would say dropping out of college will improve your chances of becoming Larry Ellison.</p>

13

<p>I don't know about the others but Gates was not exactly "self-made" given that Gates senior was very wealthy in his own right. Mrs. Gates was a well-known philanthropist in Seattle. Furthermore, he did not drop out because he could not hack the work--which is the reason why most dropouts leave college--but because he did not see the point of a liberal education on the one hand and because university-based computer science at the time was not at the cutting edge. A friend of mine left a tenured job at Carnegie Mellon at the time when Gates was entering Harvard to go into industry because he felt industry was where the most exciting research was being done.</p>

14

<p>I'm with AluMother. </p>

<p>If Bill Gates stayed in college, he would probably have just ended up delaying his inventions. The vast majority of people working for a college degree are not delaying anything by staying in there - they are so much better for the degree than without it.</p>

<p>Statistically, a bachelor's degree confers something in the half-million range (net present value) of increased lifetime income. Considering that most students can get these degrees for about $10,000/year, that's an incredible return on investment. A law or medical degree is an additional million, on the average, over what someone with only a bachelor's would earn.</p>

<p>The big question is, IMO, whether drop outs are leaving FOR something better than they could get if they finished college. For the majority of people, the answer is a resounding "no." The rules that apply to well-connected inventors don't apply to the rest of us. Sure, y'all laugh that Bill Gates has a bunch of more educated people working for him... but I bet almost anything that, to work in a plum Microsoft job, that you need one hell of an educational pedigree. </p>

<p>There are 300 million people in the US. The top five are a statistical abberation. Let's look at the top 1%, which is combined household income of about $300,000/year. Who thinks that those people are mostly college drop-outs? Who thinks that most of them have a bachelor's degree? Masters? MBA? JD, MD? What rational person would be upset with a half-million annual salary, because it's not billions?</p>

<p>Now let's look at young people. College enrollment is up a tremendous amount. Graduate school is the new college - what you need to stand out. Do you think that the rules which applied to Bill Gates' generation apply to mine? Or can we fairly assume that, most of the time, a person without a degree will be shut out of jobs that he is otherwise completely qualified for?</p>

15

<p>not really related, but a very good movie IMO is "Pirates of Silicon Valley" not entirely accurate but pretty close.. i recommend it. It's about the history of apple and microsoft</p>

<p><a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0168122/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://imdb.com/title/tt0168122/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<p>xiggi and lderochi,
The family/peer anti-education/pro-work influences you describe are the exact opposite of those here in the northeast. How sad for the kids. I suspect the first-generation college kids in these families are brave, resilient, and determined. Or, even high school grads for that matter with those kinds of pressures bearing down on them.</p>

17

<p>ok, I have to ask...what is GUE?</p>

18

<p>Oops, sorry for using the term without an explanation.</p>

<p>Gue is a spanish word that is very similar to "dude" or "man" or to the countless equally dumb fillers people are using in conversations. </p>

<p>Educated people used to frown on its use and considered "gue" gang talk. However, it is used so widely that the pejorative views have diminished rapidly. It has become almost impossible to have a conversation without hearing it over and over.</p>

19

<p>Xiggi, I learn something new every day...had never heard that term before!</p>

20

<p>xiggi-More likely to hear French slang here than Spanish! CC is uniting our cultures!</p>