4 Billionaires Who Started with Little or Nothing

There are a number of examples where people began with little or nothing and which clearly indicates that the American Dream is alive and well.

Most of these success stories serve as a reminder that humble beginnings did not deter some people in turning into the richest people in the world.

That said, here are 4 billionaires that literally started with little or nothing:

#1: Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz grew in a housing complex built for the poor. Despite having a number of friends whose families had a lot more money and were happier, it instilled in him a determination to succeed and have that life for himself.

After winning a football scholarship to the University of Northern Michigan, he took a job at Xerox and then bought over Starbucks which had about 60 shops at the time and grew it to about 16000 outlets all over the world.

#2: Jan Koum

The founder of Whatsapp came to the United States when he was 16 and lived on food stamps. His current Whatsapp offices are located just a few blocks away from where he lived. In 2009, he launched the messaging app that replaces text messaging and was bought out by Facebook for $19 billion.

#3: Kenny Troutt

Troutt is the founder of Excel Communications which he built after paying for his college tuition by selling life insurance. His company went public in 1996 and only recently merged the company with Teleglobe for $3.5 billion.

#4: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah has the distinction of being the first African-American TV correspondent in Nashville at the age of 19. her net worth is almost $2.9 billion. Despite her family’s poor financial status, this didn’t stop her from getting a scholarship to the Tennessee State University.

After this, she moved to Chicago in 1983 to work on an AM show that would turn out to be called the “Oprah Winfrey Show”.