This holiday season, America’s billionaires have a lot to be thankful for. With the stock market riding high, there are a record number of billionaires, who are richer and more powerful than ever. Many of these moguls started from humble beginnings, exemplifying true rags-to-riches stories that show just how far someone can go in one generation. Take Frank VanderSloot, founder of Melaleuca, who grew up working on a farm in Idaho and could only afford college by living in a laundromat. Oprah Winfrey, now worth $3 billion, also came from a challenging background, living with her single mother on welfare and learning that Santa Claus didn’t exist when she was 12. However, a few nuns showed up unexpectedly to offer food and a doll, making it the best Christmas of her life.
Forbes recounts 10 tales of billionaires who grew up more like Tiny Tim than Mr. Scrooge. Harold Hamm, born to poor sharecroppers in Oklahoma, is now worth $18.5 billion, having founded Continental Resources in 1967. Jan Koum migrated to California with his mother from rural Ukraine and went on to found WhatsApp, later selling it to Facebook for $19 billion. David Steward, now worth $11.4 billion, grew up in segregated Missouri and founded World Wide Technology in 1990. Igor Olenicoff, coming from a family that fled Russia under the Bolshevik takeover, now owns a real estate empire.
Gail Miller, born into a family that struggled through the Great Depression, turned a single Toyota dealership into a massive auto dealer network. Bob Parsons, who grew up poor in inner city Baltimore, made a fortune with GoDaddy web hosting firm and now owns various businesses. David Murdock dropped out of school at 14 and eventually bought up companies like Dole Food, with a focus on healthy living and longevity. Howard Schultz, growing up in Brooklyn, paid his way through college working odd jobs before taking over Starbucks in the 1980s and expanding it into an international brand.
John Paul DeJoria, who was once homeless and living out of his car, co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems, now a global hair care company. Rihanna, who grew up in Barbados with a father suffering from addiction, went on to become a music and cosmetics mogul, co-owning Fenty Beauty with LVMH. These stories of resilience, hard work, and determination show that even those who start with very little can achieve incredible success. These billionaires serve as inspirations to others during the holiday season, reminding us of the power of possibility and the importance of giving back to those in need.
