The College Degrees Of The World's Richest People, Mapped | Digg (2024)

Some of the world's wealthiest individuals have multiple college degrees, while others obtained no formal higher education at all.

While nepotism and generational wealth are often behind the success and power of the world's richest people, it can be interesting to see how a college education — or lack of it — helped shape the path these individuals eventually followed.

Using Forbes's real-time billionaires list, Smartick mapped the educational background of the wealthiest people across the globe by country and degree subject. The net worths are accurate as of November 20, 2023.


Key Findings:

  • The most common college degrees among billionaires are business (22), economics (12) and engineering (11).

  • Spanish businessman Amancio Ortega Gaona, worth $93 billion, is one of 10 billionaires on the list without any degree at all.

  • Elon Musk — the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $241.2 billion — has obtained degrees in multiple areas of study.

  • Luxury goods businessman Bernard Arnault, who is the world's second-wealthiest individual along with his family, has a degree in engineering.


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Via Smartick.

The College Degrees Of The World's Richest People, Mapped | Digg (2024)

FAQs

What degree do the richest people in the world have? ›

Top 7 degrees that make the most millionaires
  • Engineering.
  • Economics/Finance.
  • Politics.
  • Mathematics.
  • Computer Science.
  • Law.
  • MBA.
May 29, 2024

Which college are most billionaires from? ›

  • University of Pennsylvania. 36 Billionaires. ...
  • Stanford University. 30 Billionaires. ...
  • Harvard University. 28 Billionaires. ...
  • Yale University. 19 Billionaires. ...
  • Cornell University. 13 Billionaires. ...
  • 6 (tie). University of Southern California. ...
  • 6 (tie). Princeton University. ...
  • 8 (tie). Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
3 days ago

What college did the richest people go to? ›

Harvard also ranks first in the number of ultra-high net worth alumni with assets greater than $30 million. Harvard's total number of ultra-high net worth alumni is more than twice that of the next highest ranking institution, Stanford University.

What degree does Jeff Bezos have? ›

Jeff Bezos graduated from Princeton University with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering.

Where do most billionaires graduate from? ›

The University of Pennsylvania has the most billionaires among its alumni, with 36, including Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Stanford University ranks second, with 33, followed by Harvard, with 28, and Yale, with 19. Wealthy alumni networks often result in significant financial contributions to a university's endowment.

What degree makes the most millionaires? ›

30 Most Popular Degree Majors Studied by Millionaires
  1. Engineering.
  2. Master of Business Administration (MBA) ...
  3. Economics. ...
  4. Law. ...
  5. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) ...
  6. Commerce. ...
  7. Accounting. ...
  8. Computer Science. ...

Which MBA has the most billionaires? ›

Harvard University

Its business education section – Harvard Business School, has been particularly instrumental in producing some top graduates who have handled many successful companies. Some of its very rich alumni include Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, and others.

What college produces the most millionaires? ›

1. Harvard University. Learn more about Harvard University.

Does Elon Musk have a college degree? ›

Two years later, he matriculated at Queen's University at Kingston in Canada. Musk later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania and received bachelor's degrees in economics and physics.

What college GPA is a millionaire? ›

According to the book “The Millionaire Mind,” the average college GPA of a millionaire was 2.9. They found no statistical correlation between economic productivity and academic performance. “Smarter” people tend to take less risk.

Which degree have most billionaires? ›

Fittingly, the most common subject matter for higher education was economics and finance, suggesting that when you know money, you know how to make money! Billionaires such as Warren Buffett, Alice Walton, and Elon Musk have degrees in economics. The college degrees studied by billionaires in the United States.

Where do top 1% send kids to college? ›

"Ivy plus" colleges — the eight Ivy League colleges along with MIT, Stanford, Duke and University of Chicago — admit children from families in the top 1% at more than twice the rate of students in any other income group with similar SAT or ACT scores, according to the new analysis from the Opportunity Insights, a group ...

What University do rich kids go to? ›

Sources of admissions advantage of students with parents in the top 1% vs. middle-class students, after accounting for academic qualifications. "Ivy-Plus" includes the eight Ivy League institutions plus the University of Chicago, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Duke University.

What is the most valuable degree in the world? ›

STEM majors are most valuable. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors make up every one of the top 25 degrees in our study, with engineering degrees claiming eight of the top 10 spots and 14 of the top 20 spots.

What degree has the highest income? ›

Computer engineering

What are all the degrees of rich? ›

Therefore, the comparative and superlative degrees of the word 'rich' are 'richer' and 'richest' respectively.

Which profession has the richest people? ›

In broader terms, the finance and investment profession has the most millionaires.

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