These 9 Famous People Dropped Out of Harvard but Were Still Majorly Successful (2024)

Bill Gates

Microsoft founder and former chairman Bill Gates notoriously dropped out of Harvard only to become a multi-billionaire. In 1975, he let go of his studies in the Massachusetts Ivy to start his company with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Many “Richest Man in the World” titles later, it looks like it all worked out.

According to Insider, in addition to earning billions, he has also donated many of them too. Per the outlet, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated more than $30 billion to charities around the world.

Matt Damon

The Martian star Matt Damon dropped out of Harvard with only 12 credits away from graduating. Although it might feel like a shame to be so close to the finish line, we know now it was also worth it. As it turns out, Damon dropped out in 1997 to begin his acting career and star in Geronimo: An American Legend.

Mark Zuckerberg

As viewers of The Social Network can attest, Mark Zuckerberg dropped out two years into his time at Harvard after launching Facebook. Following its success, Zuckerberg left his studies, moved to Palo Alto, California, and continued to develop the site (and now Meta). Currently, Zuckerberg is worth a whopping 106.6 billion.

Bonnie Raitt

In 1970, country music sensation Bonnie Raitt dropped out of college before finishing her senior to dedicate herself to music. As of 2023, the “I Can’t Make You Love Me” singer has received 13 Grammy Awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Elisabeth Shue

Much like Matt Damon, Oscar-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue also dropped out of Harvard to pursue acting. Years later, however, Shue returned and earned her B.A. in political science in 2000. With or without the diploma, Shue has been working non-stop!

Pete Seeger

After receiving grades too low to be awarded financial aid, Grammy winner and folk icon Pete Seeger left Harvard in 1938, per Insider. As a result, he took a jumpstart on his music career earlier than expected and soon found success when joining The Weavers. Before his death in 2014, Seeger had been nominated for 15 Grammys and had won three.

William Randolph Hearst Jr.

Buckle up because this one’s a doozy! William Randolph Hearst, the late owner of the United States’ largest newspaper company, didn’t just leave Harvard, he was expelled. According to reports, Hearst loved to pull pranks during his time as a student, including sneaking a donkey into his professor’s room and harboring an alligator in his dorm. By 1885, he was expelled from the school.

Soon after, Hearst began his newspaper empire and revolutionized the American journalism industry.

Cole Porter

Anything Goes composer Cole Porter dropped out of Harvard Law School in 1914 to focus on his craft. As it turns out, the legendary musician will forever be a part of Tony Award history as he won the first-ever Best Musical Tony Award for Kiss Me Kate in 1949. What can we say… he’s the top!

Robert Frost

Before writing some of the most timeless pieces of American poetry, Robert Frost was a dropout of both Harvard and Dartmouth University. Two years into his degree at Harvard, however, Frost dropped out to dedicate himself to his craft and his growing family in 1899. “They could not make a student of me here, but they gave it their best,” Frost said, per CNN. Throughout his life, Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and even received an honorary degree from Harvard in 1937.