Top 10 Tech Billionaires Who Dropped Out and Won

Dropped out of Harvard sophomore year after building a social network in his dorm room that now has 3.07 billion monthly active users — roughly 38% of all humans on Earth. Meta's market cap hit $1.5 trillion in 2024. Zuckerberg's personal net worth fluctuates around $180 billion, making him the 4th richest person alive. He was 19 when he left Harvard. The university named a scholarship after him. The irony of a dropout funding education isn't lost on anyone, but $180 billion buys a lot of irony.

Gates left Harvard in 1975 to co-found Microsoft with Paul Allen. For 13 consecutive years (1995-2007), he was the richest person on Earth. Microsoft's current market cap exceeds $3 trillion — the most valuable company in history. Gates has since given away over $50 billion through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, making him both the most successful dropout and the most generous philanthropist in human history. His father wanted him to be a lawyer. The world got Windows instead. Depending on your feelings about Windows, that's either a blessing or a curse.

Jobs dropped out of Reed College after one semester because he felt guilty spending his working-class parents' savings. He kept auditing a calligraphy class — which directly inspired the Mac's revolutionary typography. Apple is now worth $3+ trillion. Jobs was fired from his own company in 1985, built Pixar into a $7.4 billion acquisition, returned to Apple, and launched the iPhone — a device that has generated over $2.3 trillion in cumulative revenue since 2007. The Reed College calligraphy class might be the single most valuable elective in educational history.

Collison dropped out of MIT at 19 to build Stripe with his brother John (who dropped out of Harvard). By 2023, Stripe was valued at $65 billion — processing over $1 trillion in payments annually for companies like Amazon, Google, and Shopify. Patrick became Ireland's youngest self-made billionaire at 31. The brothers grew up in rural Tipperary and taught themselves to code. Two Irish teenagers from a village of 300 people now run the payments infrastructure that powers a significant chunk of the internet economy. That's a story even Hollywood couldn't write.

Dell dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin at 19 after his dorm-room computer business was generating $80,000 a month. Dell Technologies is now worth $100+ billion. He took the company private in 2013 for $24.9 billion (the largest tech buyout at the time), restructured it, took it public again, and emerged wealthier than ever. His net worth sits at $120 billion. The UT Austin dorm where he built his first PCs should honestly have a plaque. Instead, they probably converted it to a study lounge.

Spiegel left Stanford three classes short of graduating to run Snapchat full-time in 2012. By 2017, Snap Inc. went public at a $24 billion valuation — and Spiegel, then 26, became the youngest billionaire CEO on a major exchange since Zuckerberg. He famously rejected a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook in 2013 when Snapchat had zero revenue. That "no" was worth $30+ billion at peak. He married Miranda Kerr, lives in a $120 million Bel Air estate, and proved that disappearing photos were worth more than most people's permanent careers.

Kalanick dropped out of UCLA to pursue his first startup (Scour, a peer-to-peer search engine that got sued for $250 billion). Undeterred, he co-founded Uber in 2009, which peaked at a $120 billion valuation and fundamentally changed urban transportation worldwide. He was ousted as CEO in 2017 amid culture controversies but cashed out roughly $2.7 billion in stock sales. The man who couldn't finish college built a company that killed the taxi industry, invented the gig economy, and became a verb. "Uber" is literally in the dictionary now.

Ek dropped out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and by 23 was already a millionaire from his previous startup. He launched Spotify in 2008 when piracy was killing the music industry — and convinced labels that streaming could save them. Spotify now has 640 million users, pays over $9 billion per year to rights holders, and is worth $90+ billion. Ek essentially saved the music industry from itself while building a $6 billion personal fortune. Taylor Swift briefly removed her catalog in protest; she eventually came back. Everyone does.

Dorsey dropped out of NYU and co-founded Twitter — the platform that gave world leaders, journalists, and celebrities a direct megaphone. He was ousted, returned as CEO, then watched Elon Musk buy it for $44 billion. Meanwhile, he built Square (now Block) into a $40 billion fintech empire processing payments for millions of small businesses. Cash App alone has 57 million users. Dorsey is the only founder who built two publicly traded companies from scratch — and lost control of one to the richest man on Earth. His net worth: $5.5 billion. Not bad for a kid who quit NYU.

Dropped out of Harvard sophomore year after building a social network in his dorm room that now has 3.07 billion monthly active users — roughly 38% of all humans on Earth. Meta's market cap hit $1.5 trillion in 2024. Zuckerberg's personal net worth fluctuates around $180 billion, making him the 4th richest person alive. He was 19 when he left Harvard. The university named a scholarship after him. The irony of a dropout funding education isn't lost on anyone, but $180 billion buys a lot of irony.

Gates left Harvard in 1975 to co-found Microsoft with Paul Allen. For 13 consecutive years (1995-2007), he was the richest person on Earth. Microsoft's current market cap exceeds $3 trillion — the most valuable company in history. Gates has since given away over $50 billion through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, making him both the most successful dropout and the most generous philanthropist in human history. His father wanted him to be a lawyer. The world got Windows instead. Depending on your feelings about Windows, that's either a blessing or a curse.

Jobs dropped out of Reed College after one semester because he felt guilty spending his working-class parents' savings. He kept auditing a calligraphy class — which directly inspired the Mac's revolutionary typography. Apple is now worth $3+ trillion. Jobs was fired from his own company in 1985, built Pixar into a $7.4 billion acquisition, returned to Apple, and launched the iPhone — a device that has generated over $2.3 trillion in cumulative revenue since 2007. The Reed College calligraphy class might be the single most valuable elective in educational history.

Collison dropped out of MIT at 19 to build Stripe with his brother John (who dropped out of Harvard). By 2023, Stripe was valued at $65 billion — processing over $1 trillion in payments annually for companies like Amazon, Google, and Shopify. Patrick became Ireland's youngest self-made billionaire at 31. The brothers grew up in rural Tipperary and taught themselves to code. Two Irish teenagers from a village of 300 people now run the payments infrastructure that powers a significant chunk of the internet economy. That's a story even Hollywood couldn't write.

Dell dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin at 19 after his dorm-room computer business was generating $80,000 a month. Dell Technologies is now worth $100+ billion. He took the company private in 2013 for $24.9 billion (the largest tech buyout at the time), restructured it, took it public again, and emerged wealthier than ever. His net worth sits at $120 billion. The UT Austin dorm where he built his first PCs should honestly have a plaque. Instead, they probably converted it to a study lounge.

Spiegel left Stanford three classes short of graduating to run Snapchat full-time in 2012. By 2017, Snap Inc. went public at a $24 billion valuation — and Spiegel, then 26, became the youngest billionaire CEO on a major exchange since Zuckerberg. He famously rejected a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook in 2013 when Snapchat had zero revenue. That "no" was worth $30+ billion at peak. He married Miranda Kerr, lives in a $120 million Bel Air estate, and proved that disappearing photos were worth more than most people's permanent careers.

Kalanick dropped out of UCLA to pursue his first startup (Scour, a peer-to-peer search engine that got sued for $250 billion). Undeterred, he co-founded Uber in 2009, which peaked at a $120 billion valuation and fundamentally changed urban transportation worldwide. He was ousted as CEO in 2017 amid culture controversies but cashed out roughly $2.7 billion in stock sales. The man who couldn't finish college built a company that killed the taxi industry, invented the gig economy, and became a verb. "Uber" is literally in the dictionary now.

Ek dropped out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and by 23 was already a millionaire from his previous startup. He launched Spotify in 2008 when piracy was killing the music industry — and convinced labels that streaming could save them. Spotify now has 640 million users, pays over $9 billion per year to rights holders, and is worth $90+ billion. Ek essentially saved the music industry from itself while building a $6 billion personal fortune. Taylor Swift briefly removed her catalog in protest; she eventually came back. Everyone does.

Dorsey dropped out of NYU and co-founded Twitter — the platform that gave world leaders, journalists, and celebrities a direct megaphone. He was ousted, returned as CEO, then watched Elon Musk buy it for $44 billion. Meanwhile, he built Square (now Block) into a $40 billion fintech empire processing payments for millions of small businesses. Cash App alone has 57 million users. Dorsey is the only founder who built two publicly traded companies from scratch — and lost control of one to the richest man on Earth. His net worth: $5.5 billion. Not bad for a kid who quit NYU.