20 billionaire stories that began their fortune being very poor
Despite being some of Silicon Valley and Hollywood's most outstanding names, millionaires and billionaires who appear on this list have not always lived surrounded by wealth.
From the sordid streets of Los Angeles to Bayview projects, these celebrities and entrepreneurs triumphed despite coming from the most absolute poverty.
Here are the 20 most inspiring stories that show how you can go from poor to Rico.
Halle Berry slept in a homeless shelter.
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Years before Halle Berry won an Oscar, he slept in a homeless shelter.In fact, in an interview he said that the difficulties he faced during his career made her stronger.
In an interview with People, he said: "He taught me to take care of myself and showed me that I could survive any situation, even if that meant not having a home for a while".
Halle Berry currently has a heritage between 60 and 75 million euros.
Sarah Jessica Parker's family could not pay the electricity bill or birthday gifts.
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Long before Sarah Jessica Parker obtained her famous role as writer in Sex in New York, she was just a girl from a small town in Nelsonville, Ohio.
According to an online definances, SJP went through a moment of his life in which his family rarely celebrated birthdays, holidays or other family occasions.Parker, who had 8 brothers, recalled moments when those who at home could not deal with invoices.
The actress got her first role in Broadway at age 11, and moved to Hollywood in 1981 to appear in the Square Pegs series.After this, he rolled dozens of movies.
According to various publications, the actress has a fortune of more than 90 million.
Ed Sheeran left the studies and came to sleep at Metro stations.
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Ed Sheeran is currently one of the most important names of music, but began as an artist with economic troubles in the bustling music scene of London.
The singer spent many nights sleeping at the Metro stations of the English capital.
"There was an arc outside the Buckingham Palace that has a heating duct and spent a couple of nights there.That's where I wrote the song homeless and the lines 'it's not a homeless night for me, i'm just home less than i'd like to be', "Sheeran wrote in his book, Visual Journey.
On one occasion, while playing in a local shelter for homeless people, he met a drug addict prostitute called Angel.Sheeran felt so moved for her story that her song The Team dedicated her.This song would become one of the singer's first singles.
Today, full stadiums worldwide and has a heritage of about 100 million.
Leonardo DiCaprio comes from an area ravaged by drugs on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
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Before Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the most important names of Hollywood, with box office successes such as Titanic, the reborn and the wolf of Wall Street, he was a poor child who grew up on the outskirts of the.
The actor claims to have witnessed great poverty, use of drugs and violence at a very early age, which now allows him to portray the darkest side of humanity in his films.
After the violent reaction for his role in the Wall Street wolf, in which critics said he embellished the use of drugs, prostitution and other "amoral" acts, DiCaprio defended the role comparing it with his own childhood.
In an interview Conthe Times, he said: "Who am I to talk about this? Everything goes back to the neighborhood in which I grew up.It comes from the fact that I grew up being very poor and I could see the other side ".
The estimated heritage of DiCaprio is 237 million.
Arnold Schwarzenegger experienced hunger and disturbances in Austria after World War II.
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Before being Terminator and later becoming the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger lived telephone.
Growing up in an Austrian city after World War II, the actor had a shortage of food and disturbances on the street very often.
Now, one of the richest action film stars of all time with a fortune of about 365 million.
Celine Dion grew in a very humble family, being the youngest of 14 brothers.
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Celine Dion grew up in Canada being the youngest of 14 brothers.
"We were 3 or 4 in the same bed," said Dion A CBS News."I didn't have my own room.I climbed the stairs, before entering the bedrooms there was a small ramp.And my bed was there ".
Finally, Dion realized his musical skills and began acting in small local events.Later he reached the top of the lists with successes such as My Heart Will Go On and It's All Coming Back To Me Now.
As his fame increased, so did his fortune.In September 2019, it was estimated that it was about 34.3 million.
J.K.Rowling was a single mother who was fighting for the end of the month before writing Harry Potter's books.
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Before Harry Potter's idea came up with J.K.Rowling in a dream, the writer was a single mother who had problems paying rent.
Rowling fought against depression and other obstacles before becoming one of the most successful writers in recent history, as well as one of the most beloved British authors of all time.
The author's heritage is 84 million, with 7 novels by Harry Potter and a successful film franchise.
Roman Abramovich was an orphan child, now he has the third largest yacht in the world.
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Roman Abramovich is known worldwide as the billionaire with actions in Evraz, Norilsk Nickel and the United Kingdom's soccer team Chelsea.It also has the third largest yacht in the world (which bought for 365 million in 2010) and has a heritage of 10.243 million.
However, before appearing on the list of Forbes billionaires, it was nothing more than an orphan who grew up in Moscow.Always motivated to overcome himself, Abramovich left the university to be an entrepreneur.
He improved multiple investments in companies such as the Giant of the Sibneft oil industry, Russian Aluminum and the Evraz Group steel manufacturer to obtain huge profits.
The racing horse of billionaire Kenny Troutt won the triple crown, but before that, it was nothing more than the son of a waiter.
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Kenny Troutt made its way at the University of Southern Illinoisvending insurance while attending classes.Son of a waiter, he grew up in a poor family.
However, after graduating from the University, the Long Distance Telephone CompanyExcel Communications would found.In 1996, 12 years after founding her, he made her public.
In 1998, he sold it to Teleglobe in a 3 agreement.200 million.He took the money he earned from the agreement and reinvirting the profits in actions, bonds and racing horses.
Currently, he owns Winstar Farmilles, Kentucky.
Troutt has a fortune of almost 1.400 million.
Oprah Winfrey grew up as poor and went to college with a scholarship.
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Oprah Winfrey was born in a poor family in Mississippi in 1954, but that did not prevent him from achieving unprecedented success.After a traumatic childhood in which two family members and a friend mistreated her and abused her, she escaped from home at age 13.At age 14, he gave birth;The girl died shortly after.
She was always a young, intelligent and motivated woman, so she received a scholarship from Tennessee State University.After an appearance in a local beauty contest, it became the first African -American television correspondent in the state at 19 years.
The acclaimed presenter of interview programs later moved to Chicago, where she began working in her own morning program.It would later be widely known as The Oprah Winfrey Show.She was the first woman in history to possess and produce her own interview program.
It was issued for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011.Since he abandoned it, Winfrey has founded Own, (Oprah Winfrey Network).
It is estimated that your heritage is about 2.377 million euros, which makes it one of the richest black women in the world and the first black multimillionaire.
John Paul Deer sold Christmas cards and newspapers to help keep his family.
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Before being the intellectual author behind the John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patron Tequila Shampoo company, John Paul Deer was just an American who tried to get ahead.
After his parents (Germans and Italians) divorce when he was 2 years old, he decided to sell Christmas cards and newspapers to help keep his family when he was barely 10 years old.
"We grew up in the center of Los Angeles, in the Echo Park area.We were not aware of going through difficult times because everyone was going through the same thing, "he told Forbes."I remember that once in the institute, on Friday, my mother arrived at home and told my brother and me: 'Among us, we only have 27 cents, but we have food in the fridge, we have our little garden back, and we are happy, so we are rich '".
After accepting a work in a Redken factory, Depa began in the shampoo industry.He asked a loan of 650 euros to the company and invested it in his own brand, John Paul Mitchell Systems.He went to the door selling his product, so he slept in the car, waiting for his product to capture the attention of the buyers.
John Paul Dejoria today has a fortune of 2.800 million.
The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, grew in Brooklyn.
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Schultz grew up being the son of a truck driver who barely earned enough money to stay.Despite having grown up in a poor family, he had a great athletic talent and obtained a football scholarship for the University of Northern Michigan.After graduating with a communications title, Schultz worked for Xerox.
However, everything changed when he ran into a small cafeteria called Starbucks, which he later joined as an executive.
"[My mother] began to cry.He told me: 'A coffee company?Re crazy?Who is going to buy coffee? 'But I felt that I had to follow my dreams, "Schultz told Mirror.
He liked coffee so much that became the executive director in 1987 after leaving Xerox.With the help of Schultz, Starbucks soon went from being a small company with 60 stores to be a giant you are 16 of 16.000 points of sale worldwide.
In June 2018, Schultz resigned as executive president and as a member of the Starbucks Board.His title is now that of President Emeritus.
Howard Schultz's current heritage is about 2.700 million.
The founder of Forever 21, Do Won Chang, worked as a janter before reaching the top.
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According to Business Insider, in 1981, Jin Sook and Do Won "Don" Chang emigrated from South Korea to Los Angeles in search of success and new opportunities.Without a penny, without formal education, and speaking very bad English, the Chang had to fight a lot.
Starting in the coffee business, they soon discovered that this would not be their ticket to success.For a few years, Don worked as a janitor, in a gas station and served coffee to get to the end of the month and help his family.However, everything changed when it realized something crucial.
"I realized that the people who wore the best cars were in the preparation business," Don to La Times told La Times in a 2010 interview.
Shortly after, he opened a clothing store of 84 square meters called Fashion 21.This would become the Forever 21 fashion retailer.Although the store came to invoice billions of euros a year, the retailer has declared bankruptcy.
According to Forbes, Jin Sook and Do Won Chang had a heritage between the two of 5.400 million en 2015.It has currently fallen to 1.500 million.
In his institute yearbook, Ralph Lauren answered the question about his future goals with a word: "Millionaire".
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Ralph Lauren always dreamed of being rich and successful.In his Yearbook of the DeWitt Clinton Institute, 1957, according to information, he wrote "Millionaire" as one of his greatest objectives in life: he did not imagine that he would exceed that figure.
Being the youngest son of Jewish immigrants who lived in Bronx, Lauren escaped from his own reality.The young Ralph Lipschitz (then changed his last name for Lauren) loved the movies, and some say that the stars of old Hollywood continue to inspire their designs.
"It would literally fall into the fantasies of the films of that time," he told Bloomberg."He really screened himself in the scenes in which men like Gary Cooper and Cary Grant appeared.He sees the characters that populate their dreams and visions, and that vision, that ability to enter a fantasy world, led it to the fashion business ".
Ralph Lauren now has a fortune of 5.000 million.
Steve Jobs was the son of two immigrants and became a millionaire at 23 years.
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Although Steve Jobs is now highlighted as one of the greatest minds in modern history, its beginnings are humble.
Young Jobs working class parents fought to support him and to reach the end of the month.Soon he was welcomed by another couple, Paul and Clara Jobs.From a young age he felt fascinated by computers, but he never liked formal education.
After leaving the university after its first semester, it began working at the ATARI video game manufacturing company.A time later, Jobs created the first Apple machine with Steve Wozniak.The duo financed his business adventure through non -traditional roads at the beginning: Jobs sold his Volkswagen and Wozniak sold his beloved scientific calculator.
At 23, Jobs had almost 1 million euros.He was the youngest person in the Forbes list of the richest in the country at that time.He won 9 million at age 24 and exceeded the 100 million dollars (91 million euros) when he was 25 years old.
Before I died at the age of 56 in 2011, I had 9 9.300 million euros.
Lakshmi Mittal grew up in a poor Indian family in Rajasthan.
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The magnate of the steel industry Lakshmi Mittal has not always been rich.On the contrary, he grew up in a poor family near Rajasthan, India.
According to BBC News, Mittal "established the foundations of his fortune for two decades by devoting himself to the steel business".Bought parts of other steel companies that were getting cheaper and transformed them into profitable companies.
According to Forbes, Mittal is the ninth richest Indian person and has a heritage of 7.000 million.
Leonardo del Vecchio, whose goggling empire Ray-Bans and Oakleys, was a factory pawn.
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Now multimillionaire, Leonardo del Vecchio grew up being the son of a widow who was hurrying to reach the end of the month, and finally sent him to an orphanage.
To make a living, from VecchioTrabajó in a mold factory for glasses of glasses.
At the early 23 -year -old age, he opened his own mounted store.This would become Luxottica, which now manufactures brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley.
The current fortune of Leonardo del Vecchio is from 14.600 million.
Francois Pinault was mocked at school for being poor;He is now the leader of the PPR luxury articles group, who has Gucci and Stella McCartney.
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An outstanding story of poverty to wealth is that of Francois Pinault.According toinc, he left the institute in 1947 after his classmates made fun of him for being poor.Then, he began working in his family's wooden trade business.
Soon, he was buying smaller companies, making others record their "ruthless" work ethics.Then he began to create by, a group of luxury articles.
Pinault's son, Francois-Henri Pinault, is the honorary president and CEO of the Kering Luxury Group, owner of the fashion brands Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci.
The family is calculated a heritage of 27.000 million.
Sheldon Adelson distributed newspapers before becoming a billionaire.
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Although Sheldon Adelson now has a 26 a whopping fortune.800 million, sus comienzos también fueron humildes.
According to INC, Adelson's father was a taxi driver in Dorchester, Massachusetts.At the age of 12, Adelson earned money for the first time distributing newspapers in his neighborhood.
A Balmillionaire Forbes profile states that after leaving the City College of New York, Adelson "built a fortune managing vending machines, selling advertisements in newspapers, helping small businesses to quote on the stock market, developing apartments blocks and organizing commercial fairs".
After losing most of his money in the last recession, Adelson recovered most and now owns Las Vegas Sands, the world's largest casinos company.
Larry Ellison worked on occasional jobs in California before founding Oracle.
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As co -founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison has a heritage 51.000 million.Ellison was born in Brooklyn, New York, son of a single mother.
However, according toinc, he was raised by his uncles.After his aunt died, the future tycoon moved to California and made a living working on occasional jobs here and there.
Finally, he founded a small software development company called Oracle in 1977.Now it is one of the world's largest technology companies.
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