Lakshmi Mittal (Net worth: $28.7 billion)
Lakshmi Mittal was born into the Marwari Aggarwal caste in 1950 in Rajasthan, India, and lived with more than 20 family members in very meager conditions. His family’s home was made of bare concrete floors, each slept on rope beds, and cooking was done over an open fire in a brick yard. Today, he is CEO and founder of ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company. He is the richest man of Indian descent, and is continuously named one of Forbes’ most powerful people in the world
Without Ingvar Kamprad, the world would have had to go without the satisfaction that comes from assembling a couch, color-coordinating your entire kitchen, or owning the same end table as everyone else you know. As a boy growing up on a small farm in Sweden, Kamprad used to buy matches for in bulk from Stockholm, and sell them on his bicycle individually for a good profit to neighbors. This expanded into selling a variety of other things including pens, pencils, seeds, decorations, and eventually into the massive phenomenon known as IKEA. Despite his success, Kamprad is still notorious for shopping at sales, flying economy class and even stopping by his own stores for a cheap meal.
Sheldon Adelson (Net worth: $21.8 billion)
The man who currently controls most of Las Vegas did not grow up in the casino business; nor did he grow up around money. Sheldon Adelson lived in a less-than-safe neighborhood of Dorchester, Mass. outside Boston. His father worked as a cab driver and Adelson sold newspapers on a street corner. By age 12, he made it clear that he was meant to be the head honcho and own his own business. He had a business selling toiletry kits as well as a charter tour business. It was the first Sands Hotel and Casino that he took over in 1988 that churned out his immense wealth.
Howard Schultz (Net worth: $1.5 billion)
Every time you sip that caramel macchiato or peppermint mocha, you can thank Howard Schultz for ensuring that it’s available on almost every street corner in large cities. Schultz’s story began in public housing in Brooklyn, N.Y. – the Canarsie Bayview Houses. He was the first family member to graduate from high school. After heading to Seattle to check out a little-known, but locally popular, coffee bean store known as Starbucks, he joined the company and became head of marketing and operations in 1982. The plot thickens. Schultz left Starbucks after clashing with the owners over offering coffee in stores (can you imagine?!), and started his own coffee business, Il Giornale. A year later, Schultz had the last laugh and bought Starbucks for $3.8 million, turning it into the mega company it is today.
Oprah Winfrey (Net worth: $2.7 billion)
Arguably one of the most influential women in the world, media mogul Oprah Winfrey was raised in poverty by an unmarried teenage mother in rural Mississippi. With a rocky childhood that included abuse, pregnancy, and being bounced around the country, it wasn’t until she was midway through high school that Oprah got on track. She landed a job at age 17 doing the news part time for a local black radio station, and the rest is history. Oprah climbed her way up through anchor and host positions, and was catapulted to fame with “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1986. The Oprah empire now includes her own magazine, TV and radio stations, website, charities and countless other endeavors.
George Soros (Net worth: $19.2 billion)
Soros was 13 when the Nazis invaded his homeland in Budapest, Hungary. He immigrated to England four years later to live with his uncle, who paid for his school expenses. Soros had come with very little from war-torn Hungary. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the London School of Economics. Soros wore several different hats, working as a railway porter, waiter and souvenir shop salesman. He eventually got a job at merchant bank Singer & Friedlander. After moving to New York and holding various positions as an analyst and trader, Soros developed the Theory of Reflexivity. This theory refers to circular relationships between cause and effect with regard to the market, and it proved true for him when many of his speculations paid off – in a big way. He is now the chairman of Soros Fund Management, one of the most profitable hedge fund management firms in the industry.
David Murdock (Net worth: $3.3 billion)
David Murdock didn’t finish high school after dropping out in ninth grade. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 during World War II. After the war, he moved to Detroit and was homeless for a while until he received a $1,200 loan from a good Samaritan. He used it to buy and flip a diner, making a profit of $700 in 10 months. From there, he began working in housing and commercial real estate, acquiring a string of properties in Los Angeles. The turning point came when he began buying control of major companies in the late 1970s and early 80s including International Mining and Occidental Petroleum and Hawaiian company Castle & Cooke, owner of Dole Food Co. He turned Dole into the world’s largest producer, distributor and marketer of produce. Dole went public in 2009, and Murdock became one of the richest men in the world.
John Paul DeJoria (Net worth: $4.2 billion)
Luscious locks would lose some of their sheen without the help of John Paul’s famous hair care line, but the world he lives in now if a far cry from where he began. After his parents divorced, his mother couldn’t provide for John and his brother so they were sent to a foster home in East Los Angeles. Here, John Paul got caught up in a street gang for a while but managed to graduate from high school, then spent several years in the US Navy. He worked as a janitor and sold insurance. He finally found his calling working for Redken Labratories, but was fired over a disagreement on strategies. Looking to stick it to his former employers, John formed the John Paul Mitchell Systems shortly after and turned it into one of the most high-demand products for salon and at-home use.
Thomas Peterffy (Net worth: $1.4 billion)
Peterffy moved as a refugee to New York in 1965 to escape Communist Hungary. Born in Budapest in 1944, he survived a Russian bombing raid and arrived speaking no English. He taught himself computer programming and stirred up the room at the American Stock Exchange when he brought an early handheld computer there in 1977 after buying a seat. During his time at the AMEX, Thomas would write computer code in his head during the day and head back to the office at night to apply computer models to trading. The Interactive Brokers Group, an online discount brokerage firm, was born out of this. IBG gained popularity for its low costs and maintains the position of “least expensive trading venue for investors” – a surefire Oscar category for 2014
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