List: 100 Super-Rich People Without a College Degree

Some of the richest people in the world never went to university, while others dropped out early. Yet they went on to build fortunes worth millions and billions of dollars.

They include household names such as Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Amancio Ortega, Taylor Swift and Richard Branson. Education may increase the chances of financial success, but our list features 100 people who became wealthy without completing a university degree.

Entrepreneurs and Founders

1. Amancio Ortega

Zara/Inditex · left school at 13 or 14 · Net worth: around $141.7 billion

The Spaniard began his career as a delivery boy in a clothing store and later founded Zara and Inditex. Today, he owns around 60 percent of the group as well as a multibillion-dollar real estate portfolio.

2. Li Ka-shing

CK Hutchison/CK Asset · left school as a teenager · Net worth: around $49 billion

After his father died, Li had to start working at an early age. At 21, he founded a plastics company that developed over the decades into one of Asia’s largest conglomerates. Forbes explicitly lists his education as “Drop Out, High School.”

3. Reinhold Würth

Würth Group · began an apprenticeship in his father’s company at 14 · Net worth: around $27.3 billion

Würth joined his father’s small screw wholesaling business as an apprentice in 1949. The two-man operation eventually became a corporate group with more than 400 companies and around 86,000 employees.

4. Gina Rinehart

Hancock Prospecting · dropped out of an economics degree after about one year · Net worth: around $25 billion

Rinehart left the University of Sydney to work in her father’s mining business. She later inherited Hancock Prospecting and expanded the company significantly; today, she is Australia’s richest woman.

5. François Pinault

Kering/Christie’s · dropped out of school · Net worth: around $24.6 billion

Pinault started a timber and building materials business in 1963. He later shifted into luxury brands; today, his family owns stakes in Kering as well as the auction house Christie’s. Forbes explicitly lists him as “Drop Out, High School.”

6. Diane Hendricks

ABC Supply · high school graduate, no university degree · Net worth: around $23.6 billion

Together with her future husband Ken Hendricks, she founded building materials distributor ABC Supply in 1982. Today, the company is one of the largest US wholesalers of roofing, siding and window products. Forbes lists Hendricks as America’s richest self-made woman.

7. Harold Hamm

Continental Resources · dropped out of university · Net worth: around $19 billion

The son of tenant farmers began with his own trucking business serving the oil industry and later founded Continental Resources. He became one of the pioneers of large-scale horizontal drilling and fracking in the Bakken region. He never completed his studies at Phillips University.

8. Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corporation · dropped out of the City College of New York · Net worth: around $14.9 billion

Lauren began by selling ties and founded the company bearing his name in 1967. He never earned a university degree.

9. Micky Arison

Carnival · dropped out of the University of Miami · Net worth: around $11.7 billion

When his father co-founded Carnival, Arison left university and joined the company as a sales representative. He later led the cruise group for 34 years and is now its chairman.

10. Tilman Fertitta

Landry’s/Golden Nugget/Houston Rockets · attended two universities, no degree · Net worth: around $11.4 billion

Fertitta studied at Texas Tech University and the University of Houston but dropped out. He built Landry’s into a restaurant, hotel and casino empire and owns the Houston Rockets as well as the Connecticut Sun WNBA franchise. He currently also serves as U.S. ambassador to Italy.

11. Dennis Washington

Washington Companies · high school graduate · Net worth: around $8.9 billion

Washington moved to Alaska straight after high school and initially worked with heavy machinery. He later founded a construction company and expanded into mining, shipping and equipment distribution.

12. John Catsimatidis

Red Apple Group/Gristedes/United Refining · dropped out of New York University · Net worth: around $6.2 billion

Catsimatidis worked in a grocery store while studying. When he was offered the opportunity to become a partner, he left university. By 25, he already owned ten supermarkets; oil refining and real estate followed later.

13. Phil Ruffin

Casinos and real estate · dropped out of Wichita State University · Net worth: around $5.3 billion

Ruffin left college, initially sold hamburgers and invested the profits in convenience stores. He later moved into real estate, hotels and casinos; today, he owns Treasure Island in Las Vegas, among other properties.

14. Richard Schulze

Best Buy · high school graduate · Net worth: around $5 billion

Schulze opened a small hi-fi store called Sound of Music in 1966. He later turned it into electronics retailer Best Buy. According to Forbes, he never attended college.

15. Todd Christopher

Vogue International/OGX · dropped out of high school · Net worth: around $5 billion

Christopher comes from a family of hairdressers, left school early and founded Vogue International in 1987. The company later owned brands such as OGX and Maui Moisture; in 2016, it was sold to Johnson & Johnson for $3.3 billion.

16. John Paul DeJoria

John Paul Mitchell Systems/Patrón · high school graduate · Net worth: around $3.1 billion

DeJoria lived in his car for a time and sold shampoo door to door. In 1980, he co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems with Paul Mitchell and $700 in start-up capital; he later co-founded Patrón Tequila.

17. Richard Branson

Virgin Group · left school at 16 · Net worth: around $2.8 billion

Branson left school early and initially founded the youth magazine Student. That led to a record business, Virgin Records and eventually the Virgin Group, with activities ranging from aviation to telecommunications.

18. Farris Wilks

Frac Tech/oil and gas · high school graduate · Net worth: around $2 billion

Wilks initially worked as a bricklayer like his father. Together with his brother Dan, he later founded the fracking company Frac Tech, which was sold in 2011 for a total of $3.5 billion.

19. Richard Desmond

Northern & Shell · says he left school at 14 · Net worth: around $2 billion

Desmond started out as a drummer and advertising salesman before co-founding his first music magazine at 22. He later built Northern & Shell and owned publications including the Daily Express, Daily Star and OK!.

20. Shalom Meckenzie

SBTech/DraftKings · high school graduate · Net worth: around $1.6 billion

Meckenzie founded sports betting technology provider SBTech in 2007. Through its merger with DraftKings, he became the largest individual shareholder in the listed company. Forbes lists a high school diploma as his highest formal educational qualification.

Technology

21. Michael Dell

Dell Technologies · dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin · Net worth: around $266.1 billion

Dell began selling custom-built computers from his University of Texas dorm room at 19. After his first year, he left university to focus entirely on the business. The AI boom and soaring demand for Dell’s AI servers have driven his fortune dramatically higher in 2026.

22. Mark Zuckerberg

Meta/Facebook · left Harvard without graduating · Net worth: around $248.7 billion

Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 as a 19-year-old Harvard student and left university as the network expanded rapidly. Today, he still owns around 13 percent of Meta.

23. Larry Ellison

Oracle · left both the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago without graduating · Net worth: around $178.7 billion

Ellison dropped out of two universities. In 1977, he became one of the founders of Oracle and today still owns around 40 percent of the software group.

24. Bill Gates

Microsoft · left Harvard without graduating · Net worth: around $113.9 billion

Gates left Harvard in 1975 to build Microsoft with Paul Allen. Decades later, he famously joked during a Harvard speech about his status as perhaps the university’s best-known dropout.

25. Greg Brockman

OpenAI/Stripe · dropped out of Harvard and later MIT · Net worth: around $25.5 billion

Brockman left Harvard after his first year, transferred to MIT and dropped out again within months. He then became Stripe’s fourth employee and later its chief technology officer before co-founding OpenAI in 2015. Forbes lists him as the wealthiest newcomer to the 2026 Forbes 400.

26. Jan Koum

WhatsApp · dropped out of San José State University · Net worth: around $18.8 billion

Koum emigrated from Ukraine to the United States as a teenager and later worked at Yahoo. In 2009, he co-founded WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired five years later for a total of around $22 billion.

27. Patrick Collison

Stripe · dropped out of MIT · Net worth: around $17.5 billion

Collison studied at MIT before putting his university education on hold to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions. He ultimately left without graduating to focus on Stripe, the online payments company he co-founded with his brother John.

28. John Collison

Stripe · dropped out of Harvard · Net worth: around $17.5 billion

The younger Collison brother studied at Harvard but also left university to focus on Stripe. As teenagers, the brothers had already become millionaires after selling their first company, Auctomatic, for $5 million.

29. Daniel Ek

Spotify · dropped out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology · Net worth: around $12.2 billion

Ek studied engineering at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology for only about eight weeks before leaving to pursue a career in technology. In 2006, he co-founded Spotify with Martin Lorentzon and helped turn music streaming from a niche model into a global mass market. Since January 2026, he has served as Spotify’s Executive Chairman.

30. Gabe Newell

Valve/Steam · dropped out of Harvard · Net worth: around $10.2 billion

Newell left Harvard and subsequently spent 13 years at Microsoft. In 1996, he co-founded Valve with Mike Harrington; games such as Half-Life and, above all, the Steam distribution platform turned the company into one of the world’s most valuable private gaming businesses.

31. Dustin Moskovitz

Facebook/Asana · dropped out of Harvard · Net worth: around $8.8 billion

Moskovitz was one of Zuckerberg’s early Facebook co-founders and also left Harvard without graduating. He left Facebook in 2008 and co-founded work-management software company Asana. After stepping down as Asana’s CEO in 2025, he now serves as a board member and advisor.

32. Melanie Perkins

Canva · dropped out of the University of Western Australia · Net worth: around $7.6 billion

Perkins studied communications, psychology and business but left university at 19 to pursue her first design start-up. That venture, Fusion Books, eventually helped pave the way for Canva, now one of Australia’s most valuable private software companies.

33. Joseph Liemandt

Trilogy Software/ESW Capital · dropped out of Stanford · Net worth: around $7.6 billion

Liemandt left Stanford to build Trilogy Software and appeared on the cover of Forbes at just 27. He later shifted his focus to acquiring and restructuring software companies through ESW Capital.

34. Jack Dorsey

Twitter/Block · left two universities without graduating, most recently New York University · Net worth: around $7.3 billion

Dorsey attended the University of Missouri-Rolla before transferring to New York University, which he also left without graduating. He co-founded Twitter in 2006 and later co-founded payments company Square with Jim McKelvey, now known as Block.

35. Palmer Luckey

Oculus/Anduril · dropped out of California State University, Long Beach · Net worth: around $6 billion

Luckey built virtual-reality headsets as a teenager and founded Oculus, which Facebook acquired in 2014 for around $2 billion. He later founded defence technology company Anduril; Forbes counts him among the youngest members of the 2026 Forbes 400.

36. Travis Kalanick

Uber/CloudKitchens · dropped out of UCLA · Net worth: around $3.6 billion

Kalanick left the University of California, Los Angeles to focus on his first start-up. He later co-founded Uber and became one of the best-known — and most controversial — figures of the platform economy. Today, he is CEO of virtual-kitchen company CloudKitchens.

37. Sam Altman

OpenAI/Investments · dropped out of Stanford · Net worth: around $3.3 billion

Altman left Stanford in 2005 to found location-based start-up Loopt. After serving as president of Y Combinator, he became CEO of OpenAI. His fortune, however, comes primarily from private investments including stakes in Stripe, Reddit and nuclear-fusion company Helion rather than from a direct equity stake in OpenAI.

38. Alexandr Wang

Scale AI/Meta · dropped out of MIT · Net worth: around $3.2 billion

Wang left MIT at 19 to join Y Combinator and launch Scale AI. In 2025, Meta acquired 49 percent of the company in a deal valuing Scale at around $29 billion; Wang subsequently left Scale to become Meta’s chief AI officer.

39. Ritesh Agarwal

PRISM/OYO · dropped out of the Indian School of Business and Finance · Net worth: around $2.1 billion

Agarwal left the Business and Management programme at the Indian School of Business and Finance in Delhi and was selected for the Thiel Fellowship in 2013. His project for affordable accommodation evolved into OYO, now the flagship hotel brand within international hospitality group PRISM. The 2026 Hurun India Rich List estimates his wealth at ₹19,900 crore, equivalent to roughly $2.1 billion.

40. Lucy Guo

Scale AI/Passes · dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University · Net worth: around $1.5 billion

Guo studied computer science and human-computer interaction but left Carnegie Mellon to become a Thiel Fellow. In 2016, she co-founded Scale AI with Alexandr Wang; although she left the company in 2018, she still owns roughly three percent, which accounts for most of her fortune.

Music and Entertainment

41. David Geffen
Music labels/DreamWorks · Dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin · Net worth: around $9.7 billion
Geffen began in the mailroom at talent agency William Morris and worked his way up to become an agent. He later founded Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records and co-founded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. To keep his job at William Morris, he claimed to have a college degree and even forged a UCLA diploma.

42. Barry Diller
Media/People Incorporated/Expedia · Dropped out of UCLA · Net worth: around $5.8 billion
Diller also began his career in the William Morris mailroom. He later held senior positions at ABC, Paramount and Fox before founding IAC in 1995, now known as People Incorporated. Diller remains Chairman and Senior Executive there and holds the same positions at Expedia. Forbes explicitly lists him as a UCLA dropout.

43. Haim Saban
Television/Investments · High school diploma, no college degree · Net worth: around $3.3 billion
Saban turned the success of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” into the foundation of a media empire and built Fox Family Channel together with News Corp. In 2007, he was part of an investor group that acquired Univision for $13.7 billion. Forbes explicitly lists a high school diploma as his highest level of education.

44. Jay-Z
Music/Roc Nation/Investments · Dropped out of high school · Net worth: around $2.8 billion
Shawn Carter left school without graduating and later co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records. Today, his wealth extends far beyond music and includes Roc Nation, his music catalog, art and corporate investments. Major gains also came from deals involving his spirits brands Armand de Brignac and D’Ussé.

45. Taylor Swift
Music · High school diploma via distance learning, no college degree · Net worth: around $2 billion
As her music career began to take off, Swift transferred from Hendersonville High School to a homeschooling program at Aaron Academy, where she completed high school. She did not go on to college. Forbes now values her fortune at $2 billion and describes her as the first musician to reach billionaire status primarily through her songs and live performances.

46. Kim Kardashian
Skims/Entertainment · High school diploma, no college degree · Net worth: around $1.9 billion
Kardashian turned reality television and her enormous reach into a business empire whose most important asset today is her stake in Skims. She never attended college. Instead of going to a traditional law school, she entered California’s Law Office Study Program in 2018 and completed that alternative legal training in 2025.

47. Bruce Springsteen
Music · Dropped out of Ocean County College · Net worth: around $1.2 billion
Springsteen briefly attended Ocean County College after high school, but dropped out at 19 and focused on music. More than five decades of albums and touring, followed by the sale of his music catalog to Sony for around $500 million, made “The Boss” a billionaire according to Forbes.

48. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
Music/Entertainment · Dropped out of high school · Net worth: around $1 billion
Beyoncé began her career as a teenager and rose to global fame with Destiny’s Child. Forbes explicitly lists her education as “Drop Out, High School” and now estimates her fortune at $1 billion. She built most of that wealth over roughly three decades as a musician and entertainer.

49. Rihanna
Music/Fenty Beauty · Left school at 16 · Net worth: around $1 billion
Rihanna left Combermere School in Barbados at 16 to pursue a music career. Today, however, a significant share of her billionaire fortune comes from cosmetics: she is a co-owner of Fenty Beauty and also holds a stake in Savage X Fenty.

50. Dr. Dre
Music/Aftermath/Beats · No college degree · Net worth: around $1 billion
André Young changed high schools because of poor grades, later attended Chester Adult School and briefly studied at a broadcasting school, but never completed college. Alongside his career as a rapper and producer, Beats Electronics became his biggest financial breakthrough: Apple acquired the company he built with Jimmy Iovine in 2014 for more than $3 billion. Forbes has listed Dr. Dre with a fortune of around $1 billion since 2026.

51. Selena Gomez
Rare Beauty/Music/Film · High school diploma through homeschooling, no college degree · Net worth: most recently estimated by Forbes at around $700 million
Gomez began working in television as a child and completed high school through homeschooling in 2010. She did not go on to college. Most of her wealth is now tied to Rare Beauty: Forbes values the company at around $1.3 billion and estimates that Gomez owns at least 51 percent. Her personal net worth estimate of $700 million, however, still dates from 2025.

52. Andrew Lloyd Webber
Musicals/Theatre · Left Oxford after one term, later attended the Royal College of Music · Net worth: around £516 million, approximately $680 million
Lloyd Webber began studying history at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1965, but left the university after just one term. He then studied at the Royal College of Music, although he did not complete a conventional university degree there either. By then, he was already working with Tim Rice on his first musical projects.

53. Elton John
Music · Left school at 17, no university degree · Net worth: around £480 million, approximately $635 million
Elton John won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 11 and attended Saturday classes there for four years as a junior student. This did not amount to a university degree. At 17, he left school to become a musician. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £480 million.

54. Mick Jagger
Rolling Stones · Dropped out of the London School of Economics · Net worth: around £450 million, approximately $595 million
Jagger studied finance and accounting at the London School of Economics and initially even considered a career outside music. As the Rolling Stones began to take off, however, he left university without graduating. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £450 million.

55. Keith Richards
Rolling Stones · Dropped out of Sidcup Art College · Net worth: around £450 million, approximately $595 million
Richards was expelled from school for repeated absences and then enrolled at Sidcup Art College. He did not stay there long either: in mid-1962, he left college to focus entirely on the newly formed Rolling Stones. His fortune is likewise estimated at £450 million in 2026.

56. Simon Cowell
TV/Music Production · Left school at 16 · Net worth: around £430 million, approximately $570 million
Cowell left school as early as he could, according to his own account. After a series of casual jobs, he eventually found work in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing. The mailroom employee later became the entrepreneur behind Syco and international formats such as “The X Factor” and “Got Talent.” The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 puts his wealth at £430 million.

57. Ed Sheeran
Music · Left school at 16, later dropped out of music college · Net worth: around £410 million, approximately $540 million
Sheeran left school at 16 to focus on his music career. In 2009, at the age of 18, he began an undergraduate course at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, but dropped out later that same year to tour with rapper Just Jack. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £410 million.

58. Harry Styles
Music/Film · Left school after his GCSEs, no university education · Net worth: around £235 million, approximately $310 million
Styles completed his GCSEs at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School and then auditioned for “The X Factor” at the age of 16. That led to the formation of One Direction — and for Styles, the path went straight into the music business rather than university. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £235 million.

59. Adele
Music · Graduated from the BRIT School, no university degree · Net worth: around £172 million, approximately $230 million
Adele graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in 2006. Only a few months later, at the age of 18, she signed her first record deal with XL Recordings; university did not follow. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates her fortune at £172 million.

Film and Television

60. Peter Jackson
Directing/Wētā · left school at 16 · Net worth: around $1.9 billion
Jackson left Kāpiti College at 16 and took a job as a photo-engraver at a newspaper so he could save money for film equipment. Decades later, the 2021 sale of Wētā Digital’s technology assets and engineering operations to Unity for $1.6 billion in cash and stock propelled the “Lord of the Rings” director into the billionaire ranks.

61. Tyler Perry
Film/TV/Tyler Perry Studios · dropped out of high school, later earned a GED · Net worth: around $1.4 billion
Perry left high school without graduating but later earned his GED. After years of odd jobs, he began writing and producing his own stage plays in the 1990s. Today, he owns 100 percent of the content he has created as well as Tyler Perry Studios, a 330-acre production complex in Atlanta — two major pillars of his fortune.

62. James Cameron
Directing/Production · dropped out of Fullerton College · Net worth: around $1.1 billion
Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College to study physics, later switched to English and left without a degree. He worked jobs including truck driving while teaching himself about filmmaking and visual effects. “The Terminator,” “Titanic” and the “Avatar” films eventually turned him into one of cinema’s most successful directors, with Forbes estimating his fortune at $1.1 billion since late 2025.

63. Chuck Lorre
TV Production · dropped out of SUNY Potsdam after two years · Net worth: estimated at around $700 million
Lorre spent two years at SUNY Potsdam before dropping out in 1972 to pursue a career as a musician. After years of playing guitar and writing songs, he moved into television and went on to create or co-create hits including “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon.” His fortune is currently estimated at around $700 million.

64. George Clooney
Film/Production/Business · attended Northern Kentucky University and briefly the University of Cincinnati, no degree · Net worth: estimated at around $500 million
Clooney studied broadcast journalism at Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981 and briefly attended the University of Cincinnati, but graduated from neither. Alongside decades of acting, directing and producing income, his biggest single payday came from Casamigos: the tequila company he co-founded was sold to Diageo in a deal worth up to $1 billion.

65. Tom Cruise
Film/Production · high school graduate, no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $600 million
Cruise graduated from Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey in 1980 and moved to New York at 18 to pursue acting rather than attend university. Four decades of major film salaries and unusually lucrative backend deals have made him one of Hollywood’s richest stars. His career earnings from acting and producing have surpassed $1 billion.

66. Ellen DeGeneres
TV/Comedy/Production · dropped out of the University of New Orleans after one semester · Net worth: estimated at around $500 million
DeGeneres enrolled at the University of New Orleans to study communications but left after just one semester. She worked a series of jobs, including waitressing and bartending, before building a career in stand-up comedy. Television, production deals, endorsements and extensive real-estate investments later helped build an estimated fortune of around $500 million.

67. Jennifer Lopez
Film/Music/Production · dropped out of Baruch College after one semester · Net worth: estimated at around $400 million
Lopez attended Baruch College for one semester before leaving to pursue professional dancing, a decision that led to conflict with her parents and prompted her to move out of the family home. Dance was followed by music, film, television and a range of business ventures, building an estimated fortune of around $400 million.

68. Mark Wahlberg
Film/Production/Business · dropped out in ninth grade, completed high school at 42 · Net worth: estimated at around $400 million
Wahlberg left school in the ninth grade and spent decades without a diploma. In 2013, at the age of 42, he finally completed his high school education through an online program. By then, he had already built successful careers in music and film; today, his wealth also comes from producing and a broad portfolio of business investments.

69. Brad Pitt
Film/Plan B Entertainment · left the University of Missouri shortly before graduating · Net worth: estimated at around $400 million
Pitt studied journalism with a focus on advertising at the University of Missouri but left for Los Angeles just short of graduation — by his own account, with only about two weeks of coursework remaining. In addition to decades of acting income, his production company Plan B became a valuable asset, with a majority stake sold to French media company Mediawan in 2022.

70. Jackie Chan
Film/Production · ten years of opera-school training, no university education · Net worth: estimated at around $400 million
Chan entered Hong Kong’s China Drama Academy at the age of seven and spent the next ten years in intensive training in Peking opera, martial arts, acrobatics, acting and singing. He did not attend university. That highly specialized childhood training became the foundation for a film career spanning more than five decades and both Asian and Hollywood cinema.

71. Will Smith
Film/TV/Music · high school graduate, no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $350 million
Smith became successful as a rapper while still in his teens and was a millionaire by the age of 18. The often-repeated story that he turned down an MIT scholarship is not true: Smith has said that he never applied to the university. Instead, music led to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and eventually to one of Hollywood’s most lucrative acting careers.

72. Harrison Ford
Film · expelled from Ripon College four days before graduation, no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $350 million
Ford discovered acting while attending Ripon College in Wisconsin but never received his degree: he has said he was expelled just four days before graduation. After moving to California, acting initially paid so little that he supported himself and his family by working as a carpenter. “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” later transformed him into one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

73. Leonardo DiCaprio
Film/Production · dropped out of high school, later earned a GED · Net worth: estimated at around $300 million
DiCaprio left high school to devote more time to auditions and acting work, later earning a GED rather than a traditional diploma. He never attended university. Decades of major acting salaries, backend deals, producing income and investments have since built an estimated fortune of around $300 million.

74. Jim Carrey
Film/Comedy · dropped out of school at 16 · Net worth: estimated at around $180 million
Carrey left school at 16 as his family struggled financially and worked alongside family members at a factory while trying to establish himself as a comedian. Stand-up eventually led to television and Hollywood, where films including “Ace Ventura,” “The Mask,” “Liar Liar” and “The Truman Show” made him one of the highest-paid actors of his era.

Sports

75. Magic Johnson
Basketball/Investments · left Michigan State University after two years · Net worth: around $1.6 billion
Johnson left Michigan State after his sophomore season and entered the NBA following the Spartans’ 1979 national championship. His real wealth story, however, began beyond basketball. Investments in movie theaters, Starbucks franchises, real estate, healthcare and professional sports teams built his business empire, with his majority stake in life insurer EquiTrust now accounting for the largest share of his fortune.

76. Tiger Woods
Golf/Investments · left Stanford University after two years · Net worth: around $1.5 billion
Woods spent two years at Stanford before turning professional in 1996. His record-setting golf career provided the platform, but only a fraction of his fortune came from prize money. Decades of endorsements, licensing deals, real estate and business investments turned Woods into a billionaire; Forbes currently estimates his net worth at around $1.5 billion.

77. LeBron James
Basketball/Investments · went directly from high school to the NBA · Net worth: around $1.4 billion
James graduated from St. Vincent–St. Mary High School and went straight into the NBA as the number one pick in the 2003 draft. He has since earned more than $500 million in pretax NBA salary and more than $1 billion off the court through endorsements and business ventures, often taking equity rather than simply accepting sponsorship fees.

78. Cristiano Ronaldo
Football/Brands and Investments · ended formal schooling in his teens, no university degree · Net worth: around $1.2 billion
Ronaldo left formal education as a teenager to focus entirely on football. His fortune now reflects far more than playing salaries: the CR7 brand, sponsorships and business investments have added to career earnings that Forbes says have surpassed $2 billion before taxes and agents’ fees.

79. Lionel Messi
Football/Investments · no university degree · Net worth: around $1.1 billion
Messi moved from Argentina to Barcelona at 13 to join the club’s youth system and built his life around football from then on. He never pursued a university degree. Decades of playing contracts, a lifetime Adidas partnership, sponsorships and other commercial income have taken his career earnings to an estimated $1.8 billion and his net worth to around $1.1 billion.

80. David Beckham
Football/Inter Miami/Brands · no university degree · Net worth: around $1 billion
Beckham entered Manchester United’s youth system as a teenager rather than pursuing higher education. After retiring in 2013, he transformed his name into a business empire spanning endorsements, media production, startups and brand rights. His most valuable single asset is now his 26 percent stake in Inter Miami, helping make him a billionaire in 2026.

81. Roger Federer
Tennis/On/Investments · completed compulsory schooling, no university degree · Net worth: most recently around $950 million
Federer completed his compulsory schooling in Switzerland in 1997 and then concentrated fully on professional tennis. His greatest financial success off court came from endorsement contracts and his equity stake in Swiss sportswear company On. Forbes valued him at $1.1 billion earlier in 2026, but a sharp fall in On shares in August temporarily reduced its estimate to about $952 million.

82. Lewis Hamilton
Formula 1 · no university degree · Net worth: around £435 million, approximately $575 million
Hamilton joined McLaren’s young driver programme at 13 and pursued motorsport rather than university. Seven world championships, decades of Formula 1 salaries and a powerful portfolio of sponsorships and business interests followed. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £435 million.

83. Alex Rodriguez
Baseball/Investments/Sports Ownership · turned down a college scholarship · Net worth: currently estimated at around $550 million
Rodriguez had committed to play baseball at the University of Miami but went straight from high school into professional baseball after being drafted by the Seattle Mariners. He earned more than $450 million in MLB salary and later built extensive interests in real estate and private businesses. His stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx became considerably more valuable in 2026 as the franchises were valued at $4.5 billion.

84. Neymar
Football/Brands and Investments · no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $450 million
Neymar became a professional with Santos while still a teenager and never followed a university path. Record-breaking football contracts formed the foundation of his wealth, supplemented by sponsorships, image rights, property and other investments. Current 2026 estimates place his fortune at roughly $450 million.

85. Rory McIlroy
Golf · left school at 16 · Net worth: around £325 million, approximately $430 million
McIlroy left school as a teenager to devote himself fully to golf. Tournament winnings represent only part of the result: long-term partnerships with brands including Nike and other commercial ventures have greatly expanded his wealth. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £325 million.

86. Greg Norman
Golf/Business · no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $400 million
Norman began taking golf seriously comparatively late and turned professional without pursuing a university degree. He later used his sporting profile to build a broad business portfolio encompassing golf-course design, apparel, wine, real estate and other ventures. His fortune is currently estimated at around $400 million.

87. Anthony Joshua
Boxing · no university degree · Net worth: around £240 million, approximately $320 million
Joshua followed an unconventional route into elite sport and did not attend university. After taking Olympic heavyweight gold in London in 2012, professional boxing brought some of the biggest purses of his generation, while endorsements and property investments added to his wealth. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 puts his fortune at £240 million.

88. Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez
Boxing/Business · left school at 15, began university studies in 2026 · Net worth: estimated at around $300 million
Álvarez left school as a teenager and turned professional at just 15. Boxing made him one of the world’s highest-paid athletes, while businesses ranging from petrol stations and convenience stores to promotional and consumer ventures diversified his income. In April 2026, at 35, he returned to education and enrolled at San Diego University for Integrative Studies — an unusual reversal on a list dominated by people who never returned to higher education.

89. Kevin Durant
Basketball/Investments · left the University of Texas after one year · Net worth: estimated at around $300 million
Durant spent one season at the University of Texas before entering the 2007 NBA draft. Alongside hundreds of millions of dollars in NBA salary and a lifetime Nike deal, he and business partner Rich Kleiman built Thirty Five Ventures, investing in technology, media and other companies.

90. Max Verstappen
Formula 1 · left regular schooling at around 15 · Net worth: estimated at around €250 million
Verstappen has said he stopped regular schooling at about 15 and a half because international racing made the two increasingly impossible to combine. The gamble paid off quickly: at 17, he became the youngest Formula 1 driver in history. Major Red Bull contracts, bonuses and sponsorships have since helped build an estimated fortune of around €250 million.

91. Fernando Alonso
Formula 1/Business · no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $260 million
Alonso’s racing career took priority over a conventional academic path while he was still young, and he never attended university. More than two decades at the top level of Formula 1, supplemented by sponsorships and business interests, have generated an estimated fortune of around $260 million.

92. Kylian Mbappé
Football/Image Rights · Baccalauréat STMG, no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $250 million
Mbappé was already playing professionally for Monaco when he completed his French Baccalauréat STMG in 2016. He did not continue to university. Contracts with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, global endorsement agreements and unusually strong control over his image rights have since helped build an estimated fortune of around $250 million.

93. Novak Djokovic
Tennis/Investments · no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $240 million to $250 million
Djokovic’s education increasingly revolved around tennis from childhood. At 13, he began travelling to Nikola Pilić’s academy in Germany and turned professional at 16 rather than pursuing university studies. Record prize money of close to $200 million, sponsorships and business interests have built an estimated fortune of roughly $240 million to $250 million.

94. Rafael Nadal
Tennis/Hotels and Investments · left school in his teens, no university degree · Net worth: around $220 million
Nadal chose professional tennis over further formal education while still a teenager. His career produced more than $130 million in official prize money as well as major sponsorship income. Since retiring in 2024, he has expanded his business interests, including the ZEL hotel brand and his international tennis academy network.

95. Tyson Fury
Boxing · left school at 11 · Net worth: around £162 million, approximately $215 million
Fury left school at just 11 and began working alongside his father and brothers before devoting himself to boxing. World heavyweight titles and a succession of huge fight purses later transformed his finances. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £162 million.

96. Conor McGregor
MMA/Business · no university degree, dropped out of a plumbing apprenticeship · Net worth: estimated at around $200 million
McGregor did not attend university and began training as a plumber before abandoning the apprenticeship to pursue mixed martial arts full-time. UFC success and his blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather generated enormous earnings, but one of his biggest financial events came away from fighting: the sale of his stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey.

97. Zlatan Ibrahimović
Football/Investments · no university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $190 million
Ibrahimović focused on football rather than higher education and entered Malmö FF’s professional system as a teenager. More than two decades at leading European clubs, combined with endorsement income and business investments, built an estimated fortune of around $190 million.

98. Sachin Tendulkar
Cricket/Investments · attended Kirti College, no completed university degree · Net worth: estimated at around $170 million
Tendulkar was already playing international cricket for India at 16. He later enrolled at Kirti College in Mumbai, where his father taught, but did not follow a conventional path to a university degree as his cricket career consumed his time. Since retiring in 2013, endorsements, investments and property have kept him among the wealthiest figures in cricket, with his 2026 fortune estimated at around $170 million.

99. Harry Kane
Football/Image Rights · no university degree · Net worth: around £110 million, approximately $145 million
Kane developed through football academies while still at school and moved directly into the professional game rather than university. Playing salaries, commercial partnerships and image-rights income have since built substantial wealth. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £110 million.

100. Andy Murray
Tennis/Investments · no university degree · Net worth: around £110 million, approximately $145 million
Murray left Scotland at 15 to train at the Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, combining tennis with schooling at Schiller International School. He never went on to university, although he later received honorary degrees. Since retiring from professional tennis, his wealth has continued to include investments in startups, property and businesses. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 estimates his fortune at £110 million.

As of October 1, 2026. Wealth figures are based on the most up-to-date estimates available at that time.

Sources: Wealth estimates are based primarily on Forbes, supplemented by Bloomberg, Hurun and the Sunday Times Rich List. Education and career details were additionally verified against reliable biographies and corporate sources.

Stefanie S. Klief