Billionaires came from nothing 5
Facebook spending up to 19 billion USD to buy the free messaging application WhatsApp yesterday made co-founder and CEO Jan Koum a billionaire.
The names on the list below are all among the richest in the world, even though they are not leaders in their fields.
1. Jan Koum – CEO and co-founder of WhatsApp
Used to live on stamps
Assets: 6.8 billion USD
Koum’s family moved from Ukraine to the United States when he was 16. The first years were a very difficult time, when the family had to rely mainly on food stamps for those who could not afford to buy food.
In 2009, he and Brian Acton founded the free messaging application WhatsApp.
2. Howard Schultz – CEO and founder of Starbucks
Used to live in a group home for the poor
Assets: 2 billion USD
In an interview with the Mirror, Schultz said: “I grew up feeling like I was always on the other side of everyone.
Later, Schultz received a football scholarship to Northern Michigan University.
3. Oprah Winfrey
Assets: 2.9 billion USD
The American television queen was born into a poor family in Mississippi.
4. Kirk Kerkorian
Dropped out of school in 8th grade to become a boxer
Assets: 3.9 billion USD
To financially support his Armenian immigrant family, Kerkorian dropped out of school in 8th grade, then became a boxer under the name `Rifle Right Kerkorian`.
5. Do Won Chang
Used to work as a gas station attendant, waiter, and house cleaner when he first moved to America
Assets: 5 billion USD
Founder of the Forever 21 fashion chain – Do Won Chang moved from Korea to the US in 1981. In the early years, he had to work three jobs at the same time to meet daily life.
6. Ralph Lauren
Used to be a lowly employee at Brooks Brothers
Assets: 7.7 billion USD
Lauren graduated from high school in New York (USA), but then dropped out to join the army. While working as a sales assistant at Brooks Brothers, he always thought about making big and colorful ties.
7. Francois Pinault
He dropped out of school because he was bullied by his friends
Assets: 15 billion USD
Pinault is currently the face of fashion empire Kering (formerly PPR).
8. George Soros
Survived the Nazi invasion of Hungary
Assets: 20 billion USD
To save his son’s life from the Nazis, George Soros’s father had to bribe a Hungarian government employee to accept Soros as his godson.
After graduating, Soros worked at a souvenir shop before being accepted into a bank in New York.
9. Li Ka-shing
He dropped out of school to help his family after his father passed away
Assets: 31 billion USD
Li Ka-shing’s family left China for Hong Kong (China) in the 1940s. However, when Ka-shing was only 15 years old, his father died of tuberculosis.
In 1950, Li founded his own company called Cheung Kong Industries.
10. Larry Ellison
Dropped out of school after his relative passed away and worked many jobs for 8 years
Assets: 41 billion USD
Born in Brooklyn (New York, USA), Ellison was raised by his aunt and uncle.
