Historical Figures

• 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.
• 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.
• Benjamin Franklin, inventor, scientist, author, entrepreneur. Primarily home-schooled.
• Christopher Columbus, explorer, discoverer of new lands. Primarily home-schooled.
• Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb, phonograph, and more. Primarily home-schooled, then joined the railroad when he was only 12.

Business Pioneers

• Amadeo Peter Giannini, multimillionaire founder of Bank of America. Dropped out of high school.
• Henry Ford, billionaire founder of Ford Motor Company. Did not attend college.
• 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.
• 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.
• Walt Disney, founder of the Walt Disney Company. Dropped out of high school at 16.

Tech Innovators

• Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com. Dropped out of college during his second year.
• Larry Ellison, billionaire co-founder of Oracle software company. Dropped out of two different colleges.
• Michael Dell, billionaire founder of Dell Computers, which started out of his college dorm room. Dropped out of college.
• Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable.com at the age of 19.
• Shawn Fanning, developer of Napster. Dropped out of college at the age of 19.
• Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, billionaire. Did not complete college.

Food & Lifestyle Entrepreneurs

• Dave Thomas, billionaire founder of Wendy’s. Dropped out of high school at 15.
• Jimmy Dean, multimillionaire founder of Jimmy Dean Foods. Dropped out of high school at 16.
• John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods. Enrolled and dropped out college six times.
• Rachael Ray, Food Network cooking show star, food industry entrepreneur, with no formal culinary arts training. Never attended college.
• Wally “Famous” Amos, multimillionaire entrepreneur, author, talent agent, founder of Famous Amos cookies. Left high school at 17 to join the Air Force.
• Wolfgang Puck, chef, owner of 16 restaurants and 80 bistros. Quit school at the age of 14.

Arts & Entertainment

• Ansel Adams, world-famous photographer. Dropped out of high school.
• Frank Lloyd Wright, the most influential architect of the twentieth century. Never attended high school.
• James Cameron, Oscar-winning director, screenwriter, and producer. Dropped out of college.
• Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc. Did not attend college.
• Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam records, founder of Russell Simmons Music Group, Phat Farm fashions, bestselling author. Did not finish college.
• Sean John Combs, entertainer, producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Never finished college.
• Simon Cowell, TV producer, music judge, American Idol, The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent. High school dropout.

Education Paths