It is really surprising to know that some of the most powerful entrepreneurs and top business tycoons did not attend college or if they did, they never graduated. 

Below is list of some very rich and successful people who did not go to college or need a degree in order to make it big:

Dhirubhai Ambani never went to college. He was only 16 when he left for Aden to work as a gas station attendant. He returned to India to start his own business at only 26 years of age. Dhirubhai Ambani set up Reliance, the largest private sector company of India. Ambani family became one of the richest families in the world, with the fortune running into billions of dollars. The business empire got split between his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani in 2005.

Subhash Chandra, the Indian Media Tycoon, dropped out of school in class 12. He is the man behind Zee TV, one of the most popular Satellite TV networks in India.  At just 19 years of age, he started a vegetable oil unit and after some time he began exporting food grains. He ventured into packaging business in 1981, set up Essel World Amusement Park in 1988. He started Zee in 1992. Forbes’ 2009 estimated his net worth to be $ 1.1 billion.

Indian Entrepreneur and Self Made Billionaire Gautam Adani, is the man behind Adani Group, one of the leading diversified conglomerates of India. Gautam Adani a college dropout, was only in his teens when he came to Mumbai where he got the job of a diamond sorter. After some time, he started a diamond brokerage business. He entered the Plastics Business in the 80s. In the late 90s Adani diversified into infrastructure. Had net worth of $ 1.6 Billion according to Forbes’ 2009.

The richest man in the world and the the Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is a Harvard University dropout. He dropped out of college to concentrate on software development business. He co-founded Microsoft along with Paul Allen. According to Forbes 2009, he had a net worth of $ 40 Billion.

Paul Allen started Microsoft along with Bill Gates after dropping out from Washington State University. They became friends when they were at the Lakeside School, Seattle. Both of them had keen interest in computers. After schooling Gates went to Harvard University and Allen to Washington State University. Paul Allen dropped out after 2 years to work as a programmer. He convinced Gates to drop out so that they could focus on software development. His wealth according to forbes 2009 was $ 10.5 billion.

Larry Ellison is the CEO and co-founder of Oracle, the multi billion dollar enterprise software giant. He dropped out of University of Illinois and later from University of Chicago. He worked as a computer programmer for a number companies. Started Oracle in 1977 with an investment of $ 2000. Forbes’ 2009 estimated net worth to be $ 22.5 billion.

Micheal Dell is the founder of Dell Computers. Micheal Dell dropped out from the University of Texas at 19 years of age to venture into the computer business. He started with just $1000 dollars which he turned into a multi billion dollar corporate empire. Forbes’ 2009 estimated his net worth to be $ 12.3 billion.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, dropped out of Reed College, Portland, Oregon after completing just one semester. He started Apple 1976 along with his friend Stephen Wozniak. He introduced the Macintosh computer in the year 1984. He was also the co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios. Forbes’ 2009 estimated his net worth to be $ 3.4 billion.

British business tycoon Richard Branson started his first venture at only 16 years of age. Branson established the famous ‘Virgin Brand’ which includes companies such as Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Records. Forbes’ 2009 estimated his net worth to be $ 2.5 billion.

Does this mean that one should dropout in order to become rich and successful? Well, I don’t think so. Dropping out is not a good idea. Starting a business without any qualification may turn out to be risky, the individual may end up losing everything.

Why these people succeeded is because they knew what they were doing. They had the necessary skill and talent. Also they had complete knowledge about the business they were entering into. And after all, everybody is not Bill Gates or Dhirubhai Ambani.