THESE tech billionaires you didn’t know came from poor families

When we think of billionaires in the tech world, names like Bill Gates often come to mind, individuals who had privileged upbringings and access to opportunities from the start.

But not every tech titan began life in luxury. Some of today’s wealthiest innovators came from humble beginnings, overcoming adversity and limited resources to build empires worth hundreds of billions.

Here are three remarkable stories of tech billionaires who came from poor families.

Larry Ellison

Net worth: $393 billion

Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, is the ultimate rags-to-riches story in Silicon Valley. 

Born in New York in 1944, he was given up for adoption by his mother and raised by his aunt and uncle in a modest Chicago neighborhood.

His adoptive father often told him he would “never amount to anything.” Despite dropping out of college twice and working odd jobs, Ellison’s vision led him to co-found Oracle in 1977.

Today, the company is a global software powerhouse, and Ellison sits among the richest people on Earth. 

Elon Musk

Net worth: $385.9 billion

Musk’s early life in Pretoria, South Africa, was far from glamorous. Growing up in a middle-class family, Musk displayed entrepreneurial spirit from a young age.

Alongside his brother Kimbal and cousins, he sold homemade chocolate Easter eggs in wealthy neighborhoods, charging $10 apiece for treats that cost them just 50 cents to make.

Sergey Brin

Net worth: $171.6 billion

Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, was born in Moscow in 1973 to a Jewish family facing antisemitic discrimination.

His parents left the Soviet Union for the United States when Brin was just six years old, seeking freedom and better opportunities.

Although rich in education, the family had little in terms of wealth when they arrived. 

Today, as part of Alphabet Inc., Brin’s innovation has shaped the internet as we know it.