Billionaires are synonymous with success in today’s world. They become an inspiration to millions who are still on the ladder to achieve what they aspire to. When we look at these rich people, we are often blinded by the bling bling of their immense wealth.
We fail to see that all this wealth was not always there for them, except in some cases. For most of them it took blood, sweat and tears to get to where they are today. In this article, we’ve listed five billionaires who started from scratch:
Jack Ma
Founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma’s net worth is $22.8 billion. But this wealth came to him after going through several falls. Ma remembers that when KFC came to China, 24 people applied for the job and 23 got in. Mom was the only one rejected. He was rejected by Harvard ten times! Now he owns the third largest e-commerce platform in the world.
Oprah Winfrey
CEO of The Oprah Winfrey Network and Harpo Productions with a net worth of approximately $2.5 billion, Oprah didn’t always have a spirited life. She went through terrible times with incidents of racism, poverty and sexism. She is now a role model for many and is popular for voicing the needy and oppressed.
Jan Koum
Jan was born and raised in a small village outside Kiev, Ukraine, which is currently in ruins due to the Russian invasion. He was mainly raised by his mother who did odd jobs to make ends meet. Nobody knew that a man who used to queue for food stamps will become a billionaire by selling one of the largest messaging platforms to one of the biggest tech giants in the world. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum sold the platform to Facebook for $19 billion.
Ritesh Aggarwal
Ritesh, from a small town in Odisha, came from a family with a humble background. A boy, who once sold SIM cards to earn some pocket money, now sits atop a $10 billion empire. Ritesh, who founded OYO in 2013, is one of the country’s youngest billionaires.
Howard Schultzo
Howard’s father could never afford a house. In a battered environment where his family briefly struggled to get food on the plate, Howard grew up as the owner of the most popular cafe in the world, Starbucks. According to a report in Forbes, Howard’s net worth is $4 billion.
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