Super-rich billionaires who were once poor (2024)

While the super-richhavemore money than most of us can dream of, not all of them were born into a life of luxury. From Oprah Winfrey to the CEO of Starbucks, read on to discover the surprising billionaires who were born poor. All dollar amounts in US dollars.

The world's first billionaire author, J.K Rowling has accumulated her massive net worth through the world-famousHarry Potterbook series. Before her first novel was published in 1997, Rowling lived in relative poverty, recovering from the death of her mother and a recent divorce. A single parent, she received just £69 ($93) a week from Social Security and later described herself as being as poor "as it's possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless." All that changed whenHarry Potterbecame a global sensation, sparking one of the biggest media franchises in history and turning Rowling into a billionaire.

Alan Gerry (pictured second from left) was the son of Russian immigrants. Born in Liberty, New York during the Depression, Gerry dropped out of school as a teenager to join the Marine Corp before getting a job at a local TV repair shop. After noticing that lots of people in Liberty struggled to get good reception, he started his own television business from a converted grain elevator and began installing antennas on the mountains surrounding his hometown. In1956, helaunched alocal cable television system which soon grew into Cablevision Industries, America's eighth largest cable company by 1996. Gerry's currently worth $1.5 billion (£1.1bn).

The son of a bartender, founder of Excel CommunicationsKenny Troutt (right) didn’t grow up with money. But what he lacked in funds he made up for in drive. Determined to go to college,he paid his own way by selling life insurance. Troutt founded Excel in 1988, took it public eight years later,and went on to merge his company with Teleglobe in a $3.5 billion (£3bn) deal. He’s now retired and is worth a cool $1.5billion (£1.1bn).

After serving in World War II, David Murdock found himself homeless with little more than a dollar to his name. He borrowed $1,200(£890) from a good Samaritan to buya diner in Detroit, which hesoldatprofit of $700 (£518). Murdockused theproceeds to buy a car, drive to Arizona and take overa real estate company that grew to include Dole Foods Co. At 98 years old, he only left the business last year and isnow worth $2.3 billion (£1.7bn).

She might roll with A-list celebs and have as many as eightmansions to her name nowadays, but Oprah Winfrey had a tough start to life. Born into a poor family in Mississippi where she suffered shocking abuse, Winfrey was determined to break away, earning herself a scholarship to Tennessee State University. Aged just 19, shebecame the first African-American TV correspondent in the state andwent to host her own show, produce a magazine and start her own network. Winfrey isnow worth $2.6 billion (£1.9bn).

Between the ages of four and nine, John Paul DeJoria was sent to foster care while his single mother saved up to support her two sons. As a child he sold Christmas cards and newspapers to earn some extra cash. Despite joining a street gang, DeJoria passed high school and spent two years in the US navy before founding haircare businessJohn Paul Mitchell Systems. For the first two weeks after launching the business, he was homeless and had to sleep in his car. He later founded the Patron Spirits Company, a premium tequila brand, and now has a net worth of $2.8 billion (£2bn).

Before Do Won Chang and his wife Jin Sook founded the incredibly successful clothing empire Forever 21, he struggled to make ends meet. Moving to America from Korea in the early 80s, Do Won simultaneously worked three jobs – in a coffee shop, as a gas station attendant and a janitor – to support his family. Forever 21 reportedly made $4 billion (£2.9bn) in sales revenue last year, whileDo Won is worth $3billion (£2.2bn).

He was 2015's World Entrepreneur of the Year and serves as the chairman of Montpellier Hérault rugby club, but Mohed Altrad came from humble beginnings. Born into a nomadic tribe in the Syrian desert, Altrad was raised by his grandmother after his young mother passed away. He defied his grandmother by attending school, passing the baccalaureate with high scores at 17 before moving to France for university. Despite speaking no French and only having enough money for one meal a day, Altrad earned a PhD and went on to found the world's leading scaffolding company, the Altrad Group. He's currently worth $3.3 billion (£2.4bn).

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz grew up ina Brooklyn housing project where crime was rife. His family was so cash-strapped that Schultz once sold his blood while studying at the University of Northern Michigan, and his parents sadly couldn't afford to attend his graduation ceremony. After college he worked as a door-to-door salesman before joining a European homewares company. One of its clients was a little-known coffee shop in Seattle called Starbucks. Not long after, Schultz took over the business and turned it into the global coffee chain it is today. He's currentlyworth $4.3billion (£3.2bn).

Steve Bisciotti is best known as the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, which he bought in the early 2000s. Although he came from a middle-class family, money became incredibly tight after his father sadly died from leukaemia when Bisciotti was just eight years old. His grandfather, who had worked as a salesman for Ford, was left to support the family and Steve worked odd jobs to pay his way through college. After graduating, he and his cousin launched the staffing company Aerotek, working out of a basem*nt with second-hand equipment. The business quickly grew into the Allegis Group, now a multibillion-dollar company that's earnedBisciotti a fortune of $5.6 billion (£4.1bn).

WhenKen Langone, American businessmanand co-founder of The Home Depot,was in high school his principal advised his parents not to waste their money sending the “unpromising” student to college. Thankfully they disagreed and so hisfather and mother–Italian immigrants who worked as a plumber and cafeteria workerrespectively–mortgaged their house to send him to school. Once there, Langone worked as a caddy, butcher and ditch digger to stay afloat, before joining a financial services company on Wall Street. He’s now worth $6.2billion (£4.6bn).

Rocco Commisso emigrated from Italy at the age of 12, arriving in New York with his penniless parents. He reportedly got into a good school due to his ability to play the accordion, before winning a full scholarship that enabled him to study at Columbia University. After graduating with an MBA from Columbia Business School, he started working at Chase Manhattan Bank, now J.P Morgan Chase, before founding cable company Mediacom in 1995. By 2017, Mediacom was making annualrevenue of almost $2 billion (£1.5bn) and Commisso, the company's private owner, now has a net worth of $6.6 billion (£4.8bn).

Born in Pakistan to a middle-class family, Khan moved to the US when he was a teen to study. He reportedly slept in a YMCA hostel that cost $2 (£1.5) a night, washingdishes for $1.20 (90p) an hour to make ends meet. But the businessman’s hard work paid off. He started automotive firm Flex-N-Gate and is now worth $8.2billion (£6bn).

His legendary trading has made him billions – almost $25 billion (£18.5bn) at his peak. But the path to success wasn't easy for hedge fund tycoon George Soros.When he was just a teenager, Soros posed as the godson of an employee of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture to stay safe duringthe Nazi occupation of Hungary. In the late 40s he escaped to London where he worked two jobs as a waiter and railway porterto put himself through the London School of Economics. In 1992, he reportedly made $1 billion (£739k) by shorting the British pound and became known as the man who broke the Bank of England. Today, he's worth $8.6 billion (£6.4bn).

When Jan Koum came to the US from Ukraine as a teenager, his family struggled to stay above the poverty line and reliedon food stamps to get by. Despite his tough upbringing Koum worked hard at school, and in 2009he co-founded real-time messaging app WhatsApp. The app was so successful that Facebook bought it for a massive $19.6 billion (£14.5bn) in 2014, and now Koum is worth $10.1billion (£7.5bn).

These days you’re more likely to see Roman Abramovich on his superyacht or cheering on London's Chelsea Football Club, which he's owned since 2003. But life wasn’t always so sweet for Abramovich, who was born into poverty in southern Russia. Orphaned at age two, he was raised by his extended family. After leaving school he started his own company producing plastic toys with his first wife Olga Lysova, before moving into the oil business and even pig farms. Today, his considerable fortune is worth $13.5 billion (£9.9bn).

Growing up on a farm on Oklahoma with 13 kids, money wastight in the Hamm household. But youngest son Harold Hamm was a hard worker. From milking cows andgathering eggs to picking cotton and helping out at a gas station, Hamm worked odd jobs andmanaged to save enough money to buy a water pump truck when he was 20 years old. That was just the beginning. After transporting water to and from oil fields, Hamm went on to create Continental Resources, an oil and gas company that’s since netted him and his family a fortune of $16.9billion (£12.5bn).

Born in Italy, Del Vecchio was one of five children. Sadly, because his family was so poor, Del Vecchio and his siblings were sent to an orphanage as their widowed mother couldn’t afford to care for them. He later went to work gruelling shifts in a factory making moulds for eyeglass frames. But it all paid off; Del Vecchiowent on to open his own moulding shop Luxottica in 1961, which later acquired Sunglass Hut, Oakley and Ray-Ban andis now the world's leading maker of glasses.

He’s now one of the richest men in Asia, but businessman Li Ka-Shing’s life hasn’t always been so bountiful. Growing up in Hong Kong, Li’s father died when he was just 15, forcing him to leave school and work 16-hour days in a plastic factory to support his family. This gave him the drive to start his own company Cheung Kong Industries, which initially made plastics. He eventually moved into real estate and is now worth $37.4billion (£27.6bn).

His family isnow worth an incredible $47.4billion (£35bn) but businessman Francois Pinault was a high school dropout. The mogul was reportedly bullied so badly for being poor that he left school, but it didn't seem to affect his business smarts. The Frenchman went on to start Kering (formerly PPR), a luxury fashion conglomerate thatnow owns brands includingGucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Alexander McQueen.

He’s responsible for creating fast fashion giant Zara and was briefly the richest man in the world in 2015. However,Amancio Ortega had to fight for his billions. The mogul reportedly had a tough upbringing in post-war Spain, where his father’searnings often didn’t cover the monthly food bill and his mother had to beg for credit at local shops. Ortega dropped out of school aged around 14and worked as a messenger boy before joining a small company that made shirts. Here, he got the idea to mass-produce clothing very cheaply. He'snow worth $68.5billion (£50.6bn).