Do You Need a Degree to Become a Billionaire?

Become a Billionaire

There are very few billionaires in the world relative to the global population, but their combined wealth accounts for a net worth of around $7 trillion. That’s pretty good going!
Of course, it’s not that easy to become a billionaire. People like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates make it look easy, but the reality is that they were incredibly lucky, as well as being very talented at what they do. It takes a special type of person to become a billionaire, but the question here is whether you need a degree to hit the heady heights of financial freedom.

Who Studied What at College

A quick look at the background of the world’s wealthiest people reveals a few interesting facts. Firstly, 32 per cent of the world’s wealthiest people don’t have a degree. That means that either they dropped out of college before graduation, or they failed to go to college in the first place.

Famous Billionaires

Some of these people we already know about: Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates being two famous examples of very wealthy, very successful people with no college degree. However, what we also know is that both Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates had the skills and the drive to make their ideas a success, so a college degree wasn’t so important. This may not apply to you, so a masters in computer science online could be what you need to take the next step in your career.

Engineering Rocks

Next, more than one fifth of billionaires have a background in engineering, which is rather surprising. Then again, a large number of Russian oligarchs achieved their fabulous wealth by investing in Russian infrastructure when the Soviet Union collapsed, so they must have had a background in engineering to know what they were doing. Engineering graduates are also the wealthiest of the super-rich.

Business Rules

The third most popular degree for billionaires is a business related subject, i.e. business administration, economics, accounting, etc. Billionaire businessmen are not uncommon. There are plenty of them out there, including Jack Ma who founded Alibaba, Jeff Bezos who created Amazon, and Warren Buffett who purchased his first investment stock when he was just 11 years old.

The Importance of STEM Subjects

STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – all account for a significant chunk of degrees held by other billionaires, which supports the argument that STEM subjects are an extremely important component of a modern educational system. Math, computers, engineering and science are not a guaranteed ticket into the world of the rich and mega rich, but a masters in computer science online will certainly open many doors.

The other main subject areas for would-be billionaires are finance, economics and law. Eight per cent of all billionaires studied a finance related subject at college, which is not surprising. Eight per cent studied economics and two per cent studied law.

Education is vital for future success. The better educated you are, the more opportunities you will have to improve your social status and wealth.