Last updated on: 10/19/2017 | Author: ProCon.org

Top Wealthiest Americans with and without College Degrees

(rankings from Forbes Top 400, Oct. 2, 2019)

WITH

College Degrees

WITHOUT

College Degrees

1.

BA in Science
Princeton University 

Worth $114 billion
via Amazon.com

Forbes Rank: 1

Dropped out
Harvard University

Worth $106 billion
via Microsoft

Forbes Rank: 2

2.

MS in economics
Columbia Business School

Worth $80.8 billion
via Berkshire Hathaway

Forbes Rank: 3

Dropped out
Harvard University

Worth $69.6 billion
via Facebook

Forbes Rank: 4

3.

MS in Computer Science
Stanford University

Worth $55.5 billion
via Google

Forbes Rank: 6

Dropped out
University of Chicago & University
of Illinois at Urbana

Worth $65 billion
via Oracle

Forbes Rank: 5

4.

MS in Computer Science
Stanford University

Worth $53.5 billion
via Google

Forbes Rank: 7

Dropped out
City College of New York  

Worth $34.5 billion
via casinos

Forbes Rank: 17

5.

MBA
Harvard Business School

Worth $53.4 billion
via Bloomberg LP

Forbes Rank: 8

Dropped Out
University of Texas at Austin

Worth $32.3 billion
via Dell

Forbes Rank: 19

6.

BA
Harvard University

Worth $51.7 billion
via Microsoft

Forbes Rank: 9

Dropped out
New York University

Worth $17.5 billion
via digital trading

Forbes Rank: 31

7.

BA in Science
University of Arkansas

Worth $51.6 billion
via WalMart inheritance

Forbes Rank: 10

Dropped out
Syracuse University

Worth $12.8 billion
via media

Forbes Rank: 37

8.

BA in Science
Trinity University

Worth $51.4 billion
via Walmart inheritance

Forbes Rank: 11

Dropped out
Harvard University

Worth $11.6 billion
via Facebook

Forbes Rank: 40

9.

JD
Columbia University

Worth $51.3 billion
via Walmart inheritance

Forbes Rank: 12

Dropped out
San Jose University

Worth $10.1 billion
via WhatsApp

Forbes Rank: 47

10.

MS in Mechanical Engineering
& MS in Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Worth $41 billion
via Koch Industries

Forbes Rank: 13

Dropped out
Michigan State University
& Baylor University

Worth $9.8 billion
via Beal Financial Corporation

Forbes Rank: 48

Julia Koch, David Koch’s widow, and their three children are worth a collective $41 billion. Because the wealth is split among the four people and this list is about individual wealth as related to college degrees, we have not included Julia Koch on this list.



Cumulative Wealth of Top 10 Wealthiest
Americans
WITH College Degrees:
 

$604.2
billion

Cumulative Wealth of Top 10 Wealthiest
Americans WITHOUT College Degrees:
 

$369.2
billion

The cumulative wealth of the top 10 billionaires with college degrees is

63.7%

more than the cumulative earnings of those without degrees. 


Source:
Editors Luisa Kroll and Kerry A. Dolan, “The Forbes 400: The Definitive Ranking of the Wealthies Americans,” forbes.com, Oct. 2, 2019