College Degrees of the World’s Richest People
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim studied engineering in college. Marco Ugarte / AP Photo
Education and great wealth often go together. While there will always be outliers, many of the world’s richest individuals went to college and earned degrees they’d later use to amass their vast fortunes.
Some got an undergraduate education. Other folks have additional college education after that. But most do not. Here’s what the richest person in countries around the world studied in college.
40. Vietnam: Pham Nhat Vuong
College degree: Unknown
College: Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute
Year graduated: 1993
Net worth: $6 billion
Note: Data is from Resume.io for the rankings. When possible, all details were confirmed by Forbes databases. But wealth is a secretive issue, so only information that could be cited appropriately was included.
Bottom Line: Pham Nhat Vuong
Pham Nhat Vuong was so good at math that he earned a scholarship to study the economics of raw material extraction at the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute.
He started a popular instant noodle business before moving back to Vietnam and became the country’s first billionaire.
He now runs one of the country’s largest conglomerates, Vingroup, that has various business interests, including real estate, healthcare, and retail.
39. Nigeria: Aliko Dangote
College degree: Business studies and administration
College: Al-Azhar University
Year graduated: 1977
Net worth: $8.1 billion
Bottom Line: Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest man thanks to his company Dangote Cement, which is Africa’s largest cement producer. He also has stakes in publicly traded salt, sugar, and flour manufacturing.
In 2013, the billionaire started work on the Dangote Refinery, which will be one of the largest oil refineries in the world once construction is complete.