Rags To Riches Billionaires
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Michele Crosera, Getty Images
Almost two-thirds of the world's billionaires made their fortunes from scratch, relying on grit and determination, and not on good genes. Meet 10 of them.
Read the article: Rags To Riches Billionaires
Next: Sheldon Adelson -
Forbes
Sheldon Adelson, United States
Net worth: $26.5 billion
Age: 73
Son of a Boston cabdriver borrowed $200 at age 12 to start selling newspapers. Later did stints as a mortgage broker, investment advisor and financial consultant. The high school drop out and Broadway enthusiast studied voice in his teens, but it was another kind of stage that called him: trade shows, where he made his first fortune.
More on Sheldon Adelson
Next: Li Ka-shing -
Forbes
Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong
Net worth: $23 billion
Age: 79
Fled a turbulent China in 1940; settled in Hong Kong. At age 15, after the death of his father, was forced to leave school to work at a plastics factory. Later borrowed money to manufacture plastic flowers; eventually grew his Cheung Kong Industries into a conglomerate with stakes in supermarkets, property and cell phones.
More on Li Ka-shing
Next: Roman Abramovich -
Forbes
Roman Abramovich, Russia
Net worth: $18.7 billion
Age: 40
Orphan by age four; grew up with uncle and grandmother. After military stint, dropped out of college to take part in controversial Russian oil-export deals. In 1995, teamed up with fellow Russian Boris Berezovsky to take over oil giant Sibneft for a reported $100 million; sold it to Russia's Gazprom for $13 billion a decade later.
More on Roman Abramovich
Next: Kirk Kerkorian -
Forbes
Kirk Kerkorian, United States
Net worth: $15 billion
Age: 91
Son of Armenian immigrants dropped out of eighth grade and took up boxing. Amateur fighter threw punches under the name ''Rifle Right Kerkorian.'' Flew planes across the Atlantic during World War II. Made first bundle selling Tran International Airlines in the 1960s; invested proceeds in Las Vegas.
More on Kirk Kerkorian
Next: François Pinault -
Michele Crosera, Getty Images
François Pinault, France
Net worth: $14.5 billion
Age: 70
High school drop out started out as an unknown timber merchant from France's Brittany region. Speculation in commodities and ''predator'' business tactics helped him build a sprawling empire. Today he is the majority shareholder of luxury goods group PPR, whose brands includes Gucci, Balenciaga and Stella McCartney.
More on François Pinault
More Self-Made Billionaires
Next: Fallen Billionaires -
Fallen Billionaires
The richer are getting richer. Well, not all of them. Which tycoon's have taken the billion-dollar plunge?
Fallen Billionaires
Next: Single Billionaires -
Schneider Press/Sipa Press; Getty Images
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See Billionaire Bachelors
Next: World's Richest People -
Andy Manis, AP / Eric Francis, Bloomberg News/Land
World's Richest People
Forbes' 21st annual list of the wealthiest people on the planet spans industries and continents, and they inspire would-be newcomers to the billionaires' club. Who makes the list this year?
See the World's Billionaires
Next: Richest Celebrities Under 21 -
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