5 Successful Billionaires Who Began With Very Little

It is still possible to build an empire of wealth if you hail from a modest background. The influential figures on this list started from humble beginnings to achieve net worths well past the millions. Each of these five individuals are worth billions, according to Forbes.

Find out which five billionaires experienced rags-to-riches levels of success.

With a net worth of $3 billion, entrepreneur and media personality Oprah Winfrey has come a long way since her childhood spent in rural Mississippi. 

After graduating from Tennessee State University, Winfrey was able to break into the media industry by becoming the first African American TV correspondent in Nashville, Tennessee. Her career later took take her to Chicago, where she hosted a TV talk show that became “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The wildly popular series ran for 25 seasons and empowered Winfrey to build her own media empire, including production company Harpo Productions and the OWN cable television network channel.

Fashion designer Ralph Lauren grew up in New York’s The Bronx borough and was the youngest son of immigrant parents. Lauren later started his fashion empire out of a small office in the Empire State Building in 1967. Since then, the company has grown to be one of the biggest in the industry, with Lauren remaining its executive chairman and chief creative officer.

According to Business Insider, Lauren wrote in his DeWitt Clinton High School yearbook that his life goal was to become a millionaire. Today, Lauren has surpassed millionaire status with a net worth of $10.4 billion.

Starbucks might not be where it is today if not for the leadership of its former CEO Howard Schultz — and vice versa.

As stated in The Washington Post, Schultz had a low-income background growing up in a housing project in Brooklyn, New York. He later graduated from Northern Michigan University and worked as a Xerox salesman and general manager for Hammarplast.

Schultz was hired by Starbucks in the 1980s as director of retail operations and marketing and swiftly moved up in the ranks to become CEO. Although Schultz has since stepped down from this role, his vision of positioning Starbucks as a social hub expanded the humble coffeehouse chain into a global brand sensation. Currently, his net worth is $3.4 billion.

You may not recognize the name John Paul DeJoria, but odds are good you’re familiar with his brands. DeJoria is the founder of Patrón Spirits Co. and co-founder of hair care company John Paul Mitchell Systems.

Though he has a net worth of $2.9 billion now, DeJoria previously experienced homelessness and lived out of his car early in his career. That said, he told CNBC a story of how wise words from his mother encouraging him to give what he could because “every little bit helps” allowed him to maintain a generous mindset regardless of his circumstances.

As the CTO and founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison’s amassed net worth of $182.7 billion is truly jaw-dropping to behold. It’s an even more satisfying Cinderella story considering Ellison was born into poverty in New York City’s Lower East Side and survived an unpleasant home environment. 

Prior to founding Oracle, Ellison experienced a series of starts and stops in his career and education, dropping out of college several times and working odd jobs. According to Forbes, Oracle has been able to successfully grow thanks to steadily acquiring various software companies. Ellison’s wealth is so vast, he owns nearly 40% of Oracle and purchased nearly all of the Hawaiian island Lanai for $300 million.