(rankings from 2022 Forbes Top 400)
WITH
College Degrees
WITHOUT
College Degrees
1
Elon Musk
BA in physics
BA in economics
University of Pennsylvania
Worth $251 billion
via Tesla, SpaceX, & other companies
2022 Forbes rank #1
Bill Gates
Dropped out
Harvard University
Worth $106 billion
via Microsoft
2022 Forbes rank #3
2
Jeff Bezos
BA in science
Princeton University
Worth $151 billion
via Amazon.com
2022 Forbes rank #2
Larry Ellison
Dropped out
University of Chicago & University of Illinois at Urbana
Worth $101 billion
via Oracle and other software
2022 Forbes rank #4
3
Warren Buffett
MS in economics
Columbia Business School
Worth $97 billion
via Berkshire Hathaway
2022 Forbes rank #5
Mark Zuckerberg
Dropped out
Harvard University
Worth $57.7 billion
via Facebook
2022 Forbes rank #11
4
Larry Page
MS in computer science
Stanford University
Worth $93 billion
via Google
2022 Forbes rank #5
Michael Dell
Dropped out
University of Texas at Austin
Worth $50 billion
via Dell
2022 Forbes rank #16
5
Sergey Brin
MS in computer science
Stanford University
Worth $89 billion
via Google
2022 Forbes rank #7
Thomas Peterffy
Dropped out
New York University
Worth $20.3 billion
via Interactive Brokers
2022 Forbes rank #31
6
Steve Ballmer
BA in applied mathematics and economics
Harvard University
Worth $83 billion
via Microsoft
2022 Forbes rank #8
Jan Koum
Dropped out
San Jose State University
Worth $13.6 billion
via WhatsApp
2022 Forbes rank #47
7
Michael Bloomberg
MBA
Harvard Business School
Worth $76.8 billion
via Bloomberg LP
2022 Forbes Rank #9
Diane Hendricks
did not attend college
Worth $12.2 billion
via ABC Supplies
2022 Forbes rank #51
8
Jim Walton
BA in science
University of Arkansas
Worth $57.9 billion
via WalMart
2022 Forbes rank #10
Donald Newhouse
Dropped out
Syracuse University
Worth $11.4 billion
via media
2022 Forbes rank #53
9
Rob Walton
JD
Columbia University
Worth $56.7 billion
via Walmart
2022 Forbes rank #12
Andrew Beal
Dropped out
Michigan State University
Baylor University
Worth $10.3 billion
via Beal Financial Corporation
2022 Forbes rank #61
10
Charles Koch
MS in mechanical engineering
MS in chemical engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Worth $56 billion
via Koch Industries
2022 Forbes rank #13
Michael Rubin
Dropped out
Villanova University
Worth $10.2 billion
via online retail
2022 Forbes rank #62
*Several families appear as collective units on the Forbes 400 list. Because the wealth is split among multiple people and this list is about individual wealth as related to college degrees, we have not included these families on this list.
Cumulative Wealth of Top 10 Wealthiest
Americans WITH College Degrees:
$1,011.4
billion
Cumulative Wealth of Top 10 Wealthiest
Americans WITHOUT College Degrees:
$343.1
billion
The cumulative wealth of the top 10 billionaires with college degrees is
194.8%
more than the cumulative earnings of those without college degrees.
Source:
Edited by Rob LaFranco and Chase Peterson-Withorn, “The Forbes 400: The Definitive Ranking of The Wealthiest Americans In 2022,” forbes.com (accessed June 9, 2023)
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