Famous College Entrepreneurs

College entrepreneurs are today’s business wunderkinds, hotshots making millions before even getting their diplomas. These enterprising business-starters find that calculated risks can result in enormous payoffs, and they’re becoming so common that colleges have begun offering entrepreneurial studies as a major. With business startup as part of the curriculum, you can be assured that college entrepreneurs will continue to make waves in the business world. One of the biggest success stories among college entrepreneurs is Bill Gates himself. The magnate responsible for software behemoth Microsoft began his journey into becoming one of the world’s richest men while he was taking his classes at Harvard. His computer expertise, combined with his powerful business ambitions, led to the founding of Microsoft within a couple of years.

Other famous college entrepreneurs include Howard Dell, the founder and CEO of computer company Dell, Inc. He started a small software company, PC’s limited, while a student in the University of Texas at Austin. He would later drop out of college at the age of 19 to focus on PC’s Limited, which would eventually grow into Dell, Inc., one of the world’s most profitable computer manufacturers. He now boasts a net worth of over $12 billion, all thanks to a company he formed in his college years.

You can also count Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of the popular social networking website Facebook, among the many college students who found success in early entrepreneurship. He extended the popular site from his alma mater, Harvard University, into a worldwide phenomenon, and gained a net worth of roughly $1 billion in the process. Time Magazine even listed the young entrepreneur as one of the World’s Most Influential People of 2008. College entrepreneurs find success even outside the realm of information technology. Venus Swimwear, one of the world’s largest junior swimwear marketers, was founded by Stetson University student Daryle Scott. His original venture was in body-building suits, as weightlifting was his passion. However, he found opportunity knocking in swimwear, and built his fortune from there. Thanks to his ingenious idea of selling the tops and bottoms as separate pieces, he was able to gain a strong following out of customers who wore different-sized tops and bottoms.

You’d be surprised to learn that FedEx was the product of another entrepreneurial college mind. While a student at Yale University, Fred Smith came up with a concept for an overnight delivery service in an age of computer technology. Legend has it that he got a C for the paper that outlined the concept – a surprising start to one of FORTUNE Magazine’s Most Admired Companies!

There are many other famous college entrepreneur success stories out there. They stand as reminders that your career can begin at any time, and with determination to match your ambition, you can achieve practically anything you set your mind to. College entrepreneurs have proven to be incredibly successful; the next time you’re daydreaming in the middle of a college lecture, think about how you can start your own budding enterprise.