Here are some of the most influential people today. Hopefully this will inspire anyone that if you believe in yourself you can find success. Do I recommend not attending college or high school? NO WAY! An education is priceless and will always be useful. Getting a college degree will always be a persons defining moment before getting that 6 figure job. But I know not everyone can afford to go or may have situations that will not allow them to attend. Just remember life doesn't give shortcuts but life does give every person a chance. When that chance comes, you have to grasp it and never let go.
The List
Abraham Lincoln, lawyer, U.S. president. Finished one year of formal schooling, self-taught himself trigonometry, and read Blackstone on his own to become a lawyer.
Amadeo Peter Giannini, multimillionaire founder of Bank of America. Dropped out of high school.
Andrew Carnegie, industrialist and philanthropist, and one of the first mega-billionaires in the US. Elementary school dropout.
Andrew Jackson, U.S. president, general, attorney, judge, congressman. Home-schooled. Became a practicing attorney by the age of 35 – without a formal education.
Andrew Perlman, co-founder of GreatPoint. Dropped out of Washington University to start Cignal Global Communications, an Internet communications company, when he was only 19.
Anne Beiler, multimillionaire co-founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Dropped out of high school.
Barbara Lynch, chef, owner of a group of restaurants, worth over $10 million, in Boston. Dropped out of high school.Barry Diller, billionaire, Hollywood mogul, Internet maven, founder of Fox Broadcasting Company, chairman of IAC/InterActive Corp (owner of Ask.com),
Benjamin Franklin, inventor, scientist, author, entrepreneur. Primarily home-schooled.
Billy Joe (Red) McCombs, billionaire, founder of Clear Channel media, real estate investor. Dropped out of law school to sell cars in 1950.
Bob Proctor, motivational speaker, bestselling author, and co-founder of Life Success Publishing. Attended two months of high school.
Bram Cohen, BitTorrent developer. Attended State University of New York at Buffalo for a year.
Carl Lindner, billionaire investor, founder of United Dairy Farmers. Dropped out of high school at the age of 14.
Charles Culpeper, owner and CEO of Coca Cola. Dropped out of high school.
Coco Chanel, founder of fashion brand Chanel. A perfume bearing her name, Chanel No. 5 kept her name famous.
Colonel Harlan Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Dropped out of elementary school, later earned law degree by correspondence.
Dave Thomas, billionaire founder of Wendy’s. Dropped out of high school at 15.
David Geffen, billionaire founder of Geffen Records and co-founder of DreamWorks. Dropped out of college after completing one year.
David Green, billionaire founder of Hobby Lobby. Started the Hobby Lobby chain with only $600. High school graduate.
David Karp, founder of Tumblr. Dropped out of school at 15, then homeschooled. Did not attend college.
David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue airlines. Dropped out of college after three years.
David Oreck, multimillionaire founder of The Oreck Corporation. Quit collegeto enlist in the Army Air Corps.
Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery. Later renamed, franchised, then sold Mrs. Field’s Cookies.
DeWitt Wallace, founder and publisher of Reader’s Digest. Dropped out ofcollege after one year. Went back, then dropped out again after the second year.
Dov Charney, founder of American Apparel. Started the company in high school, and never attended college.
Dustin Moskovitz, multi-millionaire co-founder of Facebook. Harvard dropout.
Frank Lloyd Wright, the most influential architect of the twentieth century. Never attended high school.
Frederick Henry Royce, auto designer, multimillionaire co-founder of Rolls-Royce. Dropped out of elementary school.
George Eastman, multimillionaire inventor, Kodak founder. Dropped out of high school.
H. Wayne Huizenga, founder of WMX garbage company, helped build Blockbuster video chain. Joined the Army out of high school, and later went to college only to drop out during his first year.
Henry Ford, billionaire founder of Ford Motor Company. Did not attendcollege.
Henry J. Kaiser, multimillionaire & founder of Kaiser Aluminum. Dropped out of high school.
Hyman Golden, co-founder of Snapple. Dropped out of high school.
Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, one of the richest people in the world, dyslexic.
Jack Crawford Taylor, founder of Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Dropped out ofcollege to become a WWII fighter pilot in the Navy.
Jake Nickell, co-founder and CEO of Threadless.com. Did not graduate fromcollege.
James Cameron, Oscar-winning director, screenwriter, and producer. Dropped out of college.
Jay Van Andel, billionaire co-founder of Amway. Never attended college.
Jeffrey Kalmikoff, co-founder and chief creative officer of Threadless.com. Did not graduate from college.
Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo! Dropped out of PhD program.
Jimmy Dean, multimillionaire founder of Jimmy Dean Foods. Dropped out of high school at 16.
John D. Rockefeller Sr., billionaire founder of Standard Oil. Dropped out of high school just two months before graduating, though later took some courses at a local business school.
John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods. Enrolled and dropped out college six times.
Joyce C. Hall, founder of Hallmark. Started selling greeting cards at the age of 18. Did not attend college.
Kemmons Wilson, multimillionaire, founder of Holiday Inn. High school dropout.
Kenneth Hendricks, billionaire founder of ABC Supply. High school dropout.
Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com. Dropped out of college during his second year.
Kirk Kerkorian, billionaire investor, owner of Mandalay Bay and Mirage Resorts, and MGM movie studio. Dropped out eighth-grade.
Larry Ellison, billionaire co-founder of Oracle software company. Dropped out of two different colleges.
Leandro Rizzuto, billionaire founder of Conair. Dropped out of college. Started Conair with $100 and hot-air hair roller invention.
Leslie Wexner, billionaire founder of a Limited Brands. Dropped out of law school. Started the Limited with $5,000.
Marcus Loew, multimillionaire founder of Loews theaters, co-founder of MGM movie studio. Elementary school dropout.
Mark Ecko, founder of Mark Ecko Enterprises. Dropped out of college.
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc. Did not attend college.
Michael Dell, billionaire founder of Dell Computers, which started out of his college dorm room. Dropped out of college.
Michael Rubin, founder of Global Sports. Dropped out of college in his first year.
Micky Jagtiani, billionaire retailer, Landmark International. Dropped out of accounting school.
Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate. 4th grade education.
Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable.com at the age of 19.
Philip Green, Topshop billionaire retail mogul. Dropped out of high school.
Rachael Ray, Food Network cooking show star, food industry entrepreneur, with no formal culinary arts training. Never attended college.
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s. Dropped out of high school.
Richard Branson, billionaire founder of Virgin Records, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile, and more. Dropped out of high school at 16.
Richard DeVos, co-founder of Amway. Served in the Army and did not attend college.
Richard Schulze, Best Buy founder. Did not attend college.
Rob Kalin, founder of Etsy. Flunked out of high school, enrolled in art school for a time, faked a student ID at MIT so he could take classes. His professors subsequently helped him get into NYU, they were so impressed.
Ron Popeil, multimillionaire founder of Ronco, inventor, producer, infomercial star. Did not finish college.
Rush Limbaugh, multi-millionaire media mogul, radio talk show host. Dropped out of college.
Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam records, founder of Russell Simmons Music Group, Phat Farm fashions, bestselling author. Did not finish college.
S. Daniel Abraham, founder of Slim-Fast, billionaire. Did not attend college.
Sean John Combs, entertainer, producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Never finished college.
Shawn Fanning, developer of Napster. Dropped out of college at the age of 19.
Simon Cowell, TV producer, music judge, American Idol, The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent. High school dropout.
Steve Madden, shoe designer. Dropped out of college.
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, billionaire. Did not complete college.
Ted Murphy, founder of social media company Izea Entertainment. Dropped out of college.
Theodore Waitt, billionaire founder of Gateway Computers. Dropped out of college to start Gateway – one semester before graduating.
Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb, phonograph, and more. Primarily home-schooled, then joined the railroad when he was only 12.
Tom Anderson, co-founder and “friend” of MySpace. Dropped out of high school.
Ty Warner, billionaire developer of Beanie Babies, real estate investor, and hotel owner. Dropped out of college.
Vidal Sassoon, founder of Vidal Sassoon, multimillionaire. Dropped out of high school.
W. Clement Stone, multimillionaire insurance man, author, founder of Success magazine. Dropped out of elementary school. Later attended high school, graduating. Attended but did not finish college.
W.T. Grant, founder of W.T. Grant department stores, multimillionaire. Dropped out of high school.
Wally “Famous” Amos, multimillionaire entrepreneur, author, talent agent, founder of Famous Amos cookies. Left high school at 17 to join the Air Force.
Walt Disney, founder of the Walt Disney Company. Dropped out of high school at 16.
Wolfgang Puck, chef, owner of 16 restaurants and 80 bistros. Quit school at the age of 14.
Y.C. Wang, billionaire founder of Formosa Plastics. Did not attend high school. 