Some colleges are famous for producing some of the world’s richest people, including Filipino CEOs. Here’s a glimpse into the schools that have graduated the most billionaire alumni.
From visionaries to moguls, history’s most influential business leaders often share a common thread: a solid education from one of the world’s top colleges. But which institutions have churned out the most billionaire alumni?
According to Daily Sun, many did not attend college or left before graduating, including two Harvard dropouts who rank among the world’s five wealthiest people: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
However, among those billionaires who finished their undergraduate studies, a few schools are particularly notable. Harvard University stands out as the leader.
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Harvard University
Harvard University boasts the most billionaire graduates among all schools, with 29 in total. 17 of them made their fortunes in finance and investment.
This includes Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, known for Bitcoin, and former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
However, Harvard’s wealthiest alumni from undergrad days come from different fields. Steve Ballmer, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, amassed his $68.7 billion fortune through leadership at Microsoft.
University of Pennsylvania
According to Daily Sun, the University of Pennsylvania has 28 billionaire alumni. More than half of them earned their undergraduate degrees from the renowned Wharton School.
This Philadelphia institution launched two of today’s most prominent billionaires: former president Donald Trump and Elon Musk, whose stakes in Tesla and SpaceX propelled him to the top spot on the World’s Billionaires list.
The university also has two current billionaires among its alumni: Lance Gokongwei, CEO of Filipino conglomerate JG Summit, and venture capitalist Gary Lauder, whose fortune comes from the cosmetics empire Estée Lauder, founded by his grandmother.
Stanford University
Stanford University has produced 28 billionaire alumni. Among them are eight newcomers, all founders of technology or tech-related companies like Carvana, DoorDash, Nubank, Robinhood, and Zillow.
Colombian David Velez, for instance, transformed Nubank into the world’s most valuable digital bank.
Baiju Bhatt and Vlad Tenev, originally from Bulgaria, gained fame with Robinhood, known for its no-commission trading platform, which played a key role in the GameStop stock surge earlier this year.
Additionally, Stanford graduate Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, has been elected to chair the university’s board of trustees.
Yale University
Yale University counts 21 billionaire alumni among its undergraduate ranks. These include candy heirs John, Valerie, and Victoria Mars, as well as oil heirs Lee, Edward, Robert, and Sid Bass. In 2018, Edward Bass donated $160 million to the university for renovating its Peabody Museum.
Other notable billionaires from this college include Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, and Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of investment firm Blackstone.
Yale’s one of the newest billionaires Paul Sciarra, who achieved billionaire status thanks to the soaring shares of Pinterest, the image-sharing app he co-founded in 2010.
Mumbai University
Mumbai University, one of the world’s largest universities by enrollment, stands out as the only non-U.S. institution in the top ten list of schools producing billionaires.
Most of its billionaire alumni inherited their wealth, including Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest billionaire.
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Ambani leads Reliance Industries, a conglomerate involved in oil, gas, petrochemicals, and telecommunications.
While Ambani and his brother inherited assets from their father, Mukesh significantly expanded the family fortune.
Another notable Mumbai alumnus is Uday Kotak, who founded and heads one of India’s largest private sector banks.
Banner photo via Instagram @stanford.
