Many of us may spend our entire youth dreaming of getting into one of the 11 colleges most likely to make you a billionaire. Our entire lives revolve around money. We study hard to get good grades and get into good colleges. Then we work like dogs until we retire. Why?
The short answer is money. Everyone would like to be a billionaire. And we would all love to know the easiest way to do it. Where do billionaires go to college? You might actually be surprised to find out that an incredible 35% of billionaires did not even go to college. Even more amazing is the fact that some of the most famous and popular billionaires such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs all dropped out from college. One of the most popular ways to become a billionaire is via managing a hedge fund, as evidenced by the 10 youngest hedge fund billionaires.
We used a census carried out by Wealth-X, a firm which analyzes data regarding ultra high net worth individuals to determine the top 11 colleges most likely to make you a billionaire. This isn’t a ranking of colleges who have produced the highest number of billionaires. Rather, it shows which schools the 2,235 billionaires currently living have graduated from. Unsurprisingly, 8 of the top 11 schools are located in the United States. The reason behind this is the global power of the schools, attracting bright students from all over the globe to study at their prestigious campuses.
11. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 11
Established over 250 years ago, this university has thousands of undergraduates every single year, of which eleven have gone on to become part of the extremely distinguished and exclusive billionaires’ club.
10. London School of Economics and Political Sciences
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 11
Considered to be the best college in the United Kingdom, the London School of Economics and Political Sciences has seen an incredible 45 past or current prime ministers and presidents graduate, along with 11 billionaires.
9. University of Mumbai
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 12
It is one of the largest universities in the world in one of the most populated countries in the world, with over 500,000 students enrolled. It has managed to produce a dozen billionaires as well.
8. University of California, Berkeley
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 12
This University is considered to be among the top 5 universities in the world, according to U.S. News. In addition to producing 12 billionaires, the university is almost famous for the number of Nobel Laureates associated with the university, with the figure standing at 72.
7. Stanford University
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 14
Considered to be among the most reputed institutions in the world, many of Stanford’s distinguished alumni have established extremely successful companies such as Google, Nike and Yahoo!, explaining the number of graduates who have gone on to become billionaires.
6. Cornell University
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 14
Another American university that makes the list is Cornell, with 14 billionaires among its graduates. It is why it is sixth on the 11 colleges most likely to make you a billionaire. It currently hosts graduates from an incredible 122 countries and all 50 American states.
5. Princeton University
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 14
Princeton has the largest endowment per student for any university in the United States of America, at a current total of around $21 billion. This could be one reason why numerous billionaires have been associated with the university, extending its prestige and reputation worldwide.
4. University of Southern California
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 16
A private university also makes the list as the University of Southern California has been associated with 16 billionaires. However, that’s not the university’s only claim to fame as it has one of the best sporting programs in the world. This is in addition to its alumni of Nobel Laureates and Academy Award winners as well.
3. Yale University
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 20
One of the oldest universities in the country, having been founded in 1701, Yale’s prestige can simply be understood by the fact that 5 presidents of the most powerful country in the world, the United States of America, have graduated from the university.
2. Harvard University
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 22
The oldest university in the country, Harvard has produced 8 presidents of the United States of America and a total of 62 billionaires. Twenty two of these men are currently living.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Billionaire undergraduate alumni: 25
One cut above Harvard on this list, the University of Pennsylvania is the fifth Ivy League school to be featured on the 11 colleges most likely to make you a billionaire.