11 billionaires who were once very poor

11 billionaires who were once very poor

  

It is not a surprising fact that most billionaires were not born billionaires. They started from scratch; dreamed big and pursued that dream relentlessly to achieve it. 

According to data based on data from Bloomberg Billionaires Index, of the 100 richest people in the world right now, eight billionaires were neither born into money nor have a college education. The data also indicates that five of these eight invested during hard times, four bought companies that were all but ruined at the time of purchase, three had one lucky deal that changed the course of their life, seven were early adopters of trends that had yet to be recognized.

Here is a list showing some of those inspiring people who struggled against all odds to make it big.

Starbucks' Howard Schultz grew up in a housing complex for the poor.

Net worth: $2 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

As the world's leading coffee retailer, this global giant has more than 19,000 stores in 62 countries and serves over 40 million customers a week. At the helm of Starbucks' success is CEO Howard Schultz, the man who took the company from six small stores in the 1980s to the recognizable brand it is today. 

Howard Schultz grew up in a housing project in Canarsie, Brooklyn. After graduating from Canarsie High School in 1971, he took the job of a salesperson for Xerox Corporation. In 1979, he became a general manager for Swedish drip coffee maker manufacturer, Hammarplast. In 1981, Schultz visited a client of Hammarplast, a growing coffee-bean shop called Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle which he joined as the Director of Marketing a year later. He persuaded Starbucks owners to offer traditional espresso beverages in addition to the whole bean coffee, leaf teas and spices they had long offered. However, the owners refused to roll it out company-wide, saying they didn't want to get into the restaurant business. Frustrated, Schultz started his own coffee shop named Il Giornale (after a newspaper in Milan) in 1985. Two years later, the original Starbucks management decided to focus on Peet's Coffee & Tea and sold its Starbucks retail unit to Schultz and Il Giornale for $3.8 million. Schultz renamed Il Giornale with the Starbucks name and aggressively expanded Starbucks' reach across the United States.

Investor Ken Langone's parents worked as a plumber and cafeteria worker.

Net worth: $2.1 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

Kenneth G. Langone is an American businessman and investor best known for co-founding The Home Depot. Langone's high school principal had advised his parents not to burn money by sending the unpromising student to college. His father, a plumber, and his mother, a cafeteria worker, disagreed. Instead they mortgaged their house to send their son to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. As a college student, Langone worked as a caddy, butcher, and ditch digger to stay afloat. His parents’ faith in him and his hard work paid off: He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in about 3.5 years.

Langone supports many charitable organizations, including the New York Philharmonic, Ronald McDonald House, and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. He's also donated to Bucknell University and New York University and supports Ken’s Kids. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Langone’s message is simple: work, work, work.

Oprah Winfrey became the first African American TV correspondent in Nashville.

Net worth: $2.9 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

Forbes Magazine says Oprah Winfrey has risen from poverty and a troubled youth to become the most powerful and influential woman in television. Though primarily recognized as a talk show hostess, Winfrey also occasionally acts in television movies and feature films. Winfrey's parents were teens when she was born in rural Mississippi and never married. She spent her childhood growing up in abject poverty on her deeply religious grandmother's farm.

Businessman Shahid Khan washed dishes for $1.20 an hour 

Net worth: $3.8 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

Billionaire businessman Khan currently owns Florida based NFL side, Jacksonville Jaguars. Shahid Khan was born in Lahore to a middle class family. He later moved to the USA as a 16 year old to study. Staying at a $2 a night YMCA hostel and washing dishes for $1.20 an hour, Khan has come a staggeringly long way. He made a name for himself in the car-parts manufacturing trade and now employs thousands of staff across the globe at his firm Flex-N-Gate. 

Mega-resort owner Kirk Kerkorian dropped out of school in the eighth grade

Net worth: $3.9 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

Kirk Kerkorian was born on June 6, 1917 in Fresno, California, to Armenian immigrant parents. Dropping out of school in 8th grade, he later became a boxer called "Rifle Right Kerkorian. During World War II, Kerkorian worked for Britains Royal Air Force. He eventually turned his interest to constructing many of Las Vegas biggest resorts and hotels. He opened the original MGM hotel and casino and owns large stakes in the Bellagio, Excaliber, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Circus Circus, and The Mirage. 

John Paul DeJoria, the man behind a hair-care empire and Patron Tequila, once lived in a foster home and his car

Net worth: $4 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

American billionaire John Paul Jones DeJoria was born the second son of an Italian immigrant father and a Greek immigrant mother. To support his family, he sold Christmas cards and newspapers to help support his family. He was eventually sent to live in a foster home and even spent some time in a gang before joining the military. In 1980, he formed John Paul Mitchell Systems with hairdresser Paul Mitchell with a $700 loan and sold the shampoo door-to-door while living in his car. DeJoria also owns 70 per cent of The Patron Spirits Company. The company is an ultra-premium tequila brand, and in 2011 they sold approximately 2,450,000 cases.

Forever 21 founder Do Won Chang worked as a janitor, gas station attendant,

Net worth: $5 billion (as of Sept. 2013)

Do won chang, founder and CEO of Forever 21, was raised in South Korea before moving to California at age 18 in 1981. Initially he took up three jobs as a janitor pumping gas and working in a coffee shop. He was only a high school graduate. He opened a little store in Highland Park, Los Angeles and it was called Fashion 21 which sold trendy designs from Korea. The store got popular and at present has over 480 stores worldwide. Now he is worth 3.6 billion.