Alexandr Wang
Founder & CEO of Scale AI
Dropped out from: MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Why: Left after his freshman year at 19 to join Y Combinator and build Scale AI
Tech
Built Scale AI, a multi-billion dollar company powering data infrastructure for the world’s top AI systems — from OpenAI to the U.S. government
Amadeo Peter Giannini
Founder of Bank of America
Dropped out from: High school
Why: Left school early to work and help his family
Finance
Revolutionized banking by offering financial services to immigrants and everyday Americans — helped fund early Disney and Hewlett-Packard
Amancio Ortega
Founder of Inditex (Zara)
Dropped out from: Formal education (no specific institution)
Why: Left school at age 14 due to family financial struggles, began working as a shop hand
Fashion
Revolutionized fast fashion by creating Zara and building Inditex into the world's largest apparel retailer
Bill Gates
Co-founder and former CEO and chairman of Microsoft
Dropped out from: Harvard University
Why: Wanted to pursue Microsoft full-time with Paul Allen.
Tech
Pioneered the personal computing revolution.
Bobby Fischer
Chess Grandmaster and World Champion
Dropped out from: Erasmus Hall High School (Brooklyn, NY)
Why: Left school at 16 to dedicate himself fully to chess.
Became the youngest U.S. Chess Champion at 14, defeated the Soviet chess machine during the Cold War
Brad Pitt
Actor and Film Producer
Dropped out from: University of Missouri
Why: Dropped out 2 weeks before graduation to pursue his passion for acting in Hollywood
EntertainmentMedia
Became one of Hollywood's most influential actors and successful film producers
Coco Chanel
Fashion Designer, Founder of Chanel
Dropped out from: Orphanage schooling (left formal education early)
Why: Pursued a singing career and later fashion, seeking independence
Fashion
Redefined women's fashion and built one of the most iconic luxury brands in the world
Dana White
President of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
Dropped out from: University of Massachusetts Boston
Why: Hated school; left to pursue a career in the fight business.
Entertainment
Took UFC from a struggling fight league to a global sports powerhouse worth billions
Daniel Ek
Co-founder and CEO of Spotify
Dropped out from: Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)
Why: Left to start businesses and pursue music tech
Tags: Tech, Music, Streaming
MusicTech
Built Spotify, which transformed how the world listens to music
David Karp
Founder of Tumblr
Dropped out from: High school at age 15
Why: Wanted to focus on programming and tech
Tech
Built Tumblr
David Ogilvy
Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Dropped out from: University of Oxford (Christ Church College)
Why: Academic struggles — left before graduating and took up a string of odd jobs (chef, farmer, salesman)
Media
one of the most influential ad men in history — wrote Ogilvy on Advertising and built one of the most iconic global ad agencies with wit, data, and storytelling
Edwin Land
Co-founder of Polaroid
Dropped out from: Harvard University
Why: Left to pursue independent research in optics and polarization
Tech
Invented instant photography and led Polaroid
Evan Spiegel
Co-founder and CEO of Snapchat
Dropped out from: Stanford University
Why: Left just before graduation to focus on Snapchat
Tech
Created Snapchat, paving the way for ephemeral content
Evan Williams
Co-founder of Twitter, Blogger, Medium
Dropped out from: University of Nebraska
Why: Left to pursue tech work in California
TechMedia
Helped shape online publishing and conversation through Blogger, Twitter, and Medium
George Hotz
Hacker, entrepreneur, founder of Comma.ai
Dropped out from: Carnegie Mellon University
Why: Left after a semester to pursue independent projects
TechTransportation
First to jailbreak the iPhone and hack the PlayStation 3; now pushing the boundaries of open-source self-driving tech.
Guillermo Rauch
Founder & CEO of Vercel, Creator of Next.js
Dropped out from: High school (Argentina)
Why: Wanted to focus on coding and building software
Tech
Authored Socket.io, Mongoose, designed and Co-authored Next js and established Vercel
Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Company
Dropped out from: High school
Why: Left school at 16 to work on the family farm and tinker with machinery
ManufacturingTransportation
Revolutionized transportation and manufacturing with the assembly line — turned cars into something the average person could own
Jack Dorsey
Co-founder of Twitter and Square
Dropped out from: Missouri University of Science and Technology & NYU
Why: Left school to work on dispatch systems and programming
Tech
Co-created Twitter and revolutionized payments with Square
Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor and Film Producer
Dropped out from: Chose to focus on his acting career full-time
Why: Established himself as a versatile actor known for complex and challenging roles.
Entertainment
Columbia University
James Cameron
Director of Titanic, Avatar, and Terminator
Dropped out from: Fullerton College
Why: Took a job as a truck driver while studying filmmaking on his own.
FilmEntertainment
Pushed the boundaries of cinematic technology and visual storytelling.
Jan Koum
Co-founder of WhatsApp
Dropped out from: San Jose State University
Why: Left while working at Yahoo to focus on new projects
Tech
Built WhatsApp, later acquired by Facebook for $19 billion
Jared Isaacman
Founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, Commercial Astronaut
Dropped out from: High school
Why: Left to pursue a career in technology and entrepreneurship at age 16
FinanceTech
Payment processing and became a pioneer in private spaceflight
John Carmack
Co-founder of id Software, Former CTO of Oculus VR
Dropped out from: University of Missouri–Kansas City
Why: Left college to pursue professional game development
Tech
Co-created Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D — pioneering 3D graphics engines; later helped lead VR innovation at Oculus (acquired by Meta)
John Collison
Co-founder and President of Stripe
Dropped out from: Harvard University
Why: Initially left to work on Auctomatic (a startup he co-founded before Stripe), which was later acquired
TechFinance
Revolutionized online payments and financial infrastructure for the internet
John Mackey
Whole Foods Co-Founder
Dropped out from: University of Texas at Austin
Why: Lost interest in formal academics to pursue natural foods retailing
Pioneered the organic supermarket concept and redefined grocery retail standards
Larry Elisson
Co-founder, Executive Chairman, and CTO of Oracle Corporation
Dropped out from: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & University of Chicago
Why: Left the University of Illinois after his second year following his adoptive mother's death. Attended the University of Chicago for one term before moving to California to work in tech.
Tech
Built one of the world's leading database software and technology companies, Oracle.
Mark Zuckerberg
Co-founder and CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook)
Dropped out from: Harvard University
Why: Left to focus on building Facebook
Tech
Connected over 3 billion people globally through social networking.
Markus "Notch" Persson
Creator of Minecraft, Founder of Mojang
Dropped out from: High school (Sweden)
Why: Left school early and taught himself programming while working as a game developer
Tech
Created Minecraft, one of the best-selling games of all time; sold Mojang to Microsoft for $2.5 billion in 2014
Melanie Perkins
Co-founder and CEO of Canva
Dropped out from: University of Western Australia
Why: Focused on democratizing design tools
DesignTech
Revolutionized graphic design accessibility for non-professionals
Michael Dell
Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies
Dropped out from: University of Texas at Austin
Why: Started building and selling custom PCs from his dorm room — the business took off.
Tech
Democratized access to personal computers and built one of the world’s largest tech companies.
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)
YouTuber
Dropped out from: East Carolina University
Why: Wanted to go all-in on YouTube and focus full-time on creating viral content
Entertainment
Redefined YouTube with massive giveaways and viral challenges, built a media empire, and launched businesses like Feastables and MrBeast Burger
Mustafa Suleyman
CEO of Microsoft AI, and the co-founder and former head of applied AI at DeepMind
Dropped out from: University of Oxford
Why: focus on real-world impact through social work and tech
Tech
Co-founded DeepMind (acquired by Google), helped pioneer modern AI, and now leads Microsoft’s AI division
Oprah Winfrey
Media Mogul
Dropped out from: Tennessee State University (left before finishing degree, later completed it)
Why: Accepted a job in media that launched her career
Media
Became one of the most powerful women in media and a global influencer
Palmer Luckey
Founder of Oculus VR and Andruil
Dropped out from: California State University, Long Beach
Why: Left to build Oculus Rift
Tech
Kickstarted the consumer virtual reality industry
Patrick Collison
Co-founder and CEO of Stripe
Dropped out from: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Why: At 16, he enrolled at MIT to study math but left after about six months in 2007 to co-found Auctomatic with his brother John
Finance
Co-founded Stripe, a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet
Paul Allen
Co-founder of Microsoft
Dropped out from: Washington State University
Why: Left to pursue a career in software development with Bill Gates
Tech
Transformed personal computing as Microsoft's co-founder, later became a major investor and owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers
PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg)
YouTuber
Dropped out from: Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden)
Why: Lost interest in industrial economics and wanted to focus on YouTube and video game content
Entertainment
Became the most subscribed individual YouTuber of all time.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actor
Dropped out from: High School
Why: Disliked school and was intensely focused on movies
EntertainmentFilm
Defined a generation of independent filmmaking with films like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Inglorious Bastards
Ralph Lauren
Founder and Executive Chairman of Ralph Lauren Corporation
Dropped out from: Baruch College
Why: Left to join the Army, then pursued his fashion interests
FashionDesign
Transformed the fashion industry with his distinctive American style and built a multi-billion dollar global empire
Ray Kroc
Later Owner of McDonald's Corporation
Dropped out from: High school
Why: Left at age 15 (1917) to join WWI as a Red Cross ambulance driver
Food
Revolutionized the food industry by systematizing McDonald's operations, turning it into the world's first global fast-food franchise
Richard Branson
Founder of the Virgin Group
Dropped out from: High School
Why: Preferred to pursue a magazine venture instead.
MediaTransportationTechMusic
Built a multi-industry empire spanning airlines, records, space travel, and more
Rihanna
Singer, Fashion Icon, Entrepreneur, Founder of Fenty
Dropped out from: High school (Barbados)
Why: Left formal education to focus on her music
FashionMusic
Transcended her music career to reinvent beauty and fashion standards with Fenty
Sam Altman
CEO of OpenAI, former president of Y Combinator
Dropped out from: Stanford University
Why: Left to build his startup, Loopt, which was accepted into Y Combinator.
Tech
Leading OpenAI in advancing AI research and development
Sean Parker
Co-founder of Napster and Founding President of Facebook
Dropped out from: Didn't enroll to a college
Why: Was already making $80,000 a year through various projects
Tech
Revolutionized digital music with Napster and played a pivotal role in shaping Facebook’s early growth and culture.
Shayne Coplan
Founder and CEO of Polymarket
Dropped out from: New York University (NYU)
Why: Left NYU at 19 to pursue crypto full-time and build decentralized prediction markets
Tech
Founded Polymarket, a leading blockchain-based prediction market platform known for real-time, incentive-aligned insights on global events
Steve Jobs
Co-founder and former CEO of Apple, Next and Pixar
Dropped out from: Reed College
Why: Couldn't see the value in it and didn't want to spend his parents' money
TechDesignMediaMusic
Revolutionized personal computing, music, and mobile phones
Steven Spielberg
Filmmaker and founder of DreamWorks
Dropped out from: California State University, Long Beach
Why: Left to pursue directing full-time — later returned to finish his degree decades later.
EntertainmentFilm
Redefined cinema with classics like Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List, and helped build the modern blockbuster industry.
Tobi Lutke
Founder and CEO of Shopify
Dropped out from: High school (Germany)
Why: chose to pursue a programming apprenticeship at Siemens
Tech
Built Shopify, powering millions of online stores and reshaping e-commerce for entrepreneurs globally
Travis Kalanick
Co-founder of Uber
Dropped out from: UCLA
Why: To work on his first startup, Scour.
TechTransportation
Redefined global urban mobility.
Vitalik Buterin
Co-founder of Ethereum
Dropped out from: Dropped out of University of Waterloo
Why: Received a Thiel Fellowship which allowed him to work on Ethereum.
Tech
Invented Ethereum, the world’s most versatile decentralized platform — powering smart contracts, NFTs, DAOs, and much of the modern crypto ecosystem.
Walt Disney
Founder of Disney
Dropped out from: High school
Why: Left school at 16 to join the army (underage, was rejected) and later pursued art
EntertainmentFilm
Pioneered animation and built one of the largest entertainment companies in the world
Ye fka Kanye West
Musician, Founder of Yeezy.
Dropped out from: Chicago State University
Why: Left to pursue a full-time music career, believing college was limiting his creative potential
MusicFashion
Won 24 Grammy Awards and reshaped hip-hop widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation. Founded Yeezy
Zhong Shanshan
Founder of Nongfu Spring and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy
Dropped out from: Elementary school (during Cultural Revolution)
Why: Forced to leave school and work to support family
Built a bottled water empire and became one of Asia's richest self-made billionaires