Entrepreneurs who dropped out of College

Steve Jobs, Co-Founder - Apple Inc.

Unlike the other entrepreneurs mentioned in this list, Steve Jobs didn’t drop out of college to pursue a specific business venture. Instead, Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College after just one semester, simply because he found the formal education system unfulfilling and felt it was not providing the value he sought. After dropping out, Steve worked various odd jobs and attended meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club, where he met Steve Wozniak. The two collaborated on projects, and in 1976, they co-founded Apple Computer (later Apple Inc.) in Jobs' parents' garage. Today, Apple by market cap is the largest company in the world.

Bill Gates, Co-Founder - Microsoft

Bill Gates since an early age has been obsessed with software development and computer programming. In 1975, Paul Allen came to Bill with the idea for Microsoft, convinced by the venture, Bill Gates made the decision to drop out of Harvard University. Microsoft would go on to revolutionize personal computing, making Gates one of the world's wealthiest individuals with a net worth of over $110 billion. His decision to leave college was driven by a vision for the potential of computer software and entrepreneurial pursuits. Today, Microsoft by market cap is the second-largest company in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder - Meta

Mark Zuckerberg started to build his revolutionary social networking app, Facebook, in his Harvard dorm room. Mark would later drop out of Harvard in 2004 to focus entirely on Facebook, soon becoming the youngest billionaire in history at the age of 23. Today, Mark’s net worth sits at over $126 billion.

Richard Branson, Founder - Virgin Group

This member of our list didn’t even make it to college.

Richard Branson dropped out of school at the age of 16, to focus on his first venture, a magazine called “Student,” which focused on youth culture and activism. His early taste for entrepreneurship led him to establish Virgin Records in 1972, birthing his Virgin empire. Richard would expand the Virgin Group into a diversity of industries, including airlines with Virgin Atlantic, telecommunications with Virgin Mobile, and even space travel with Virgin Galactic. Today Richard Branson’s net worth sits at over $3 billion.

Sean Rad, Co-Founder - Tinder

Sean Rad dropped out of the University of Southern California in 2006 to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions. Bouncing from startup to startup, Sean would finally strike success in 2012, co-founding Tinder - the most popular dating app used in the world, valued at over $40 billion.