6 tech billionaires who dropped out of college

When we think of billionaires, we often imagine Ivy League degrees, prestigious MBAs, and polished academic resumes.

That said, some of the most successful tech titans on Earth never finished college. In fact, many of them walked away from university classrooms to chase ideas that the world wasn’t ready for.

Here are some of the most famous and richest tech billionaires who dropped out of college and built empires instead.

1. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder

Microsoft’s co-founder, Bill Gates, enrolled at the renowned Harvard University in 1973, scoring an impressive 1590 out of 1600 on his SATs.

But two years later, he left to co-found Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen.

Often called “Harvard’s most successful dropout,” Gates spent decades as the world’s richest person. Today, in 2025, his net worth is estimated at $149 billion.

However, in 2007, Harvard finally gave him an honorary degree, a symbolic nod to the student who never finished, but went on to create one of the most valuable companies in history.

2. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO

Mark Zuckerberg launched “The Facebook” from his Harvard dorm room in 2004, along with roommates Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes.

The platform exploded in popularity, and Zuckerberg dropped out during his sophomore year to focus on growing the company.

Today, Facebook has evolved into Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

As of 2025, Zuckerberg’s net worth is around $183 billion, placing him among the world’s richest individuals.

3. Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder

Steve Jobs famously attended Reed College in Oregon but dropped out after just six months. Yet even after leaving, he continued to sit in on classes he found interesting, including calligraphy, which later influenced Apple’s signature typography.

Later, Jobs co-founded Apple in a garage with Steve Wozniak in 1976, eventually revolutionising personal computers, music, and smartphones.

Despite never completing his degree, Jobs built one of the most iconic companies of all time.

4. Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX CEO

Unlike many of his peers, Elon Musk actually did graduate with bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

But in 1995, he enrolled at Stanford for a Ph.D. in applied physics and famously dropped out after just two days.

From there, Musk went on to co-found PayPal, then launch Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.

He also acquired Twitter (now X), transforming it into his vision of a global town square.

As of 2025, Musk is the richest man on Earth, with an estimated net worth of $198 billion.

5. Michael Dell, CEO of Dell

Michael Dell was a pre-med student at the University of Texas at Austin when he decided to follow his passion for computers.

At just 19, he dropped out to focus on building PC kits in his dorm room, a project that became Dell Technologies.

By 1992, Dell was the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In 2025, his net worth is estimated at $78 billion, and Dell Technologies remains one of the largest PC and IT companies in the world.

6. Evan Williams, Twitter co-founder

Growing up in Nebraska, Evan Williams enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln but dropped out after a year and a half.

He tried his hand at multiple startups before co-founding Odeo, a podcasting platform, and later Twitter in 2006.

Today, Twitter has changed the way news, politics, and communication function globally.