Millionaire High School Drop Outs

Call me socially irresponsible but I can’t, with clear conscious, tell a kid “Just stay in school” the same way adults always told me.

Success….commercial success at least…are hinged on so many other things: Character, People Skills, Passion, Persistence, Courage, Etc.

Personally, I think the formal education system is more like a life time social compliance indoctrination program which attempts to prepare kids as best as possible for either a lifetime of being a cog in a corporate machine or incarceration.

That doesn’t mean I’m not big on Education.

I am….self education.

Knowledge is power, but the knowledge that brings power is not written in to most school curriculums….you must seek it out on your own.

That being said….Forbes has just released a list of Millionaire High School Dropouts, which I think is pretty cool.

While the rest of us were negotiating our curfews and cramming for the SATs, some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs ditched high school to start building their fortunes. Here are eight. – Forbes

1. Jay-Z: From crack dealer to rapper to lifestyle branding mogul, Sean Carter took his first single to Russell Simmon’s Def Jam Records in 1995. He would eventually helm the label from 2004 until 2007. In 2008 Jay-Z signed a 10-year, $150 million deal with Live Nation that gave him power over his records, tours and endorsement deals with companies like Dell and Budweiser. Betcha they don’t teach that in school.

2. Carl Lindner: Call him Mr. Ice-Cream Man, this billionaire dropped out of high school to be a milk man for the family dairy farm. Later he would borrow $1,200 dollars to open up an ice cream shop with is sister and brothers. Eventually he became a savings and loans and insurance investor. In 1984 Lindner bought Chiquita Brands International (formerly United Foods) and ran it until 2001. The old family dairy is now called United Dairy Farmers and has 200 ice cream parlors and convenience stores. This former milk-boy is now worth $1.7 billion! (Take that Mrs. Krandall!)

3. George Foreman: This Mogul Heavyweight grew up poor in Marshall, Texas. He took up boxing at age 15 while doing a stint in Lyndon Johnson’s Job Corp. Foreman would later win a gold medal in the 1968 Olympics. By 1999 Foreman had parlayed his fame and personality into a $138 million for selling naming rights deal with grill manufacturer Salton. He has since pitched brands like Doritos, KFC and Meineke. What if George would have just stayed in school?

>>> Click here to get a taste of George Foreman’s Success <<<

4. Simon Cowell: Ole Simon raked in $75 million dollars last year, thanks to his deals with American Idol, Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor and SyCo records, his production company. Simon dropped out at 16 years old and started working in the mailroom at EMI. At 23 he started his own record label, Fanfare.

How many parents tell their kids that listening to pop music was a waste of time and that they should be studying instead.

Tell that to Simon Cowell.

5. Giselle Bundchen: Discovered at 14 years old in a Brazilian shopping mall, Mrs. Giselle Bundchen-Brady earned $25 million last year, thanks to deals with Versace and Dior, to name a few. Shes even launched her own line of sandals called Ipanema by Giselle.

6. David Murdock: High school drop out drafted into the Army in 1943 , Murdock took over Dole Food and Hawaiian real estate concern Castle & Cook in 1985. David Murdock would take Dole public in October 2009. He is now worth $3.5 billion dollars.

7. Richard Branson: You know we love ole’ Sir Richard. Richard Branson dropped out of school at age 16 to start an arts and culture mag called The Student. He parlayed that into a mail-order record business called Virgin Records. He would later open up a record store, a recording studio and eventually an airline. Virgin Group now owns 200 companies in 30 countries, and Sir Branson is Lord over two private Caribbean islands, Necker and Mosquito.

Hey you aspiring Moguls!

If you ever get the chance Richard Branson’s autobiography Losing My Virginity is a great read and very motivational!

Did you know Richard Branson’s first office was a Crypt and that he almost went to prison!

8. Jim Clark: How many of you web heads forgot about ole Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape(also Healtheon and Shutterfly)? Yup…Jim is a drop out and worth $900 million.

Hey you think if he just stayed in school he’d be a billionaire right?

Now I know what some are you are thinking. What about all the millions of people impoverished for want of an education.

I mean hey…degrees are a first class ticket to the status quo.

But this isn’t a site about Models & The Middle Class

My point is that the keys to profound success, in my opinion, are not taught in school and if you want to learn how to swim you gotta jump in the water!

I would say “keep your opinions to yourself” but that what the comment section below is for.

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So I won’t tell your kids to drop out of school. (But I will tell them that dual-major is a waste of time and money…nobody cares)

But I will tell them to download Blogging To The Bank 2010...YOU TOO!