Degrees of five famous entrepreneurs

Most articles that you come across will list entrepreneurs that have made it big without degrees or sometimes without even having finished school.

However, in the majority of cases just have an entrepreneurial spirit isn’t enough to make you billions and you’ll need a strong foundation of knowledge and a good education to be successful.

Here are our favourite entrepreneurs that got an education and then became business tycoons:

Reed Hastings

Love Netflix? Well this guy co-founded the company and has a Batchelor’s in Mathematics from Bowdoin College and a Master’s in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Mr Hastings is now worth $280 million, more than enough to pay off your student loan and buy a few others things!

Vera Wang

Fashion design isn’t just about drawing and being able to use a sewing machine – you’ll need business acumen to run a fashion house as successful as the Vera Wang Bridal House.

Vera Wang has Batchelor’s in Art History from Sarah Lawrence College and is worth a cool $115 million.

Oprah Winfrey

She started as an actress with a degree in Speech and Performing Arts from Tennessee State University and now she’s estimated to be worth $2.7 billion.

Her company, Harpo Productions, is behind her hit television programme that covered some of the most important topics our generation has ever faced.

James Caan

Whilst four out of the five “Dragons” on Dragon’s Den don’t have a degree, James Caan does and we’d say with an estimated net worth of £85 million it was worth it.

James has a degree in Business from Harvard University and boasts two other degrees from Leeds Metropolitan and the University of East London.

Nicko Williamson

If you haven’t heard of him yet you will soon as his carbon neutral cab company, Climate Cars, has a turnover of £2.4 million and an annual profit of £1.6 million.

He graduated with a degree in Modern History from Bristol University and launched the company in 2007. Since then it’s gone from strength to strength so watch this space.

Get more inspiration from our University Course Finder.