Millionaires are often looked up to for lifestyle tips and investing strategies. But some weren’t born with a silver spoon. From ruling pop culture charts to becoming the stalwarts of their industry, these personalities have a rags-to-riches story that will give you the real hardship beyond their glitzy lifestyle.
Ralph Lauren
What we call in today’s world, manifestation, Ralph Lauren embodied it in 1957. In his high school yearbook, when filling out his greatest life goals, he wrote “millionaire”. Today, a billionaire, he surpassed that figure standing among the top 200 richest men in the world. Youngest son of an immigrant Jew, Lauren used to live in the Bronx and was born with the name Ralph Lipschitz. Fantasising about movies and aesthetics as a means to escape, Lauren has revolutionised men’s fashion today.
Ed Sheeran
One of the most popular musicians, Ed Sheeran features among the biggest names in the industry. However, the Brit has spent several nights sleeping in the London Underground train stations or on top of heating vents after he quit school. “There was an arch outside Buckingham Palace that has a heating duct and I spent a couple of nights there. That’s where I wrote the song ‘Homeless’ and the lines ‘It’s not a homeless night for me, I’m just home less than I’d like to be,’” Sheeran wrote in his book, “A Visual Journey.”
Howard Schultz
The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz is the son of a truck driver who struggled to make ends meet. Using his inclination towards football to use, he secured a scholarship to the University of Northern Michigan for a degree in communications. After leaving Xerox in 19876, he joined Starbucks and grew it into an empire with nearly 20,000 stores globally.
Steve Jobs
Who doesn’t know Steve Jobs? The man behind the tech giant Apple, came from a humble background. Struggling in his familial life, since his parents couldn’t support him, he was taken in by another couple Paul and Clara Jobs. Being uninterested in formal education, he dropped out of college in his first year. By the age of 23, he became worth $ 1 million becoming the youngest person to make it to Forbes’ list of richest people. Passed away in 2011, he was reportedly worth $10.2 billion.
Oprah Winfrey
Born in 1945, Winfrey faced a harsh childhood with abuse and molestation but escaped at the age of 13. Oprah Winfrey earned a scholarship to Tennessee State University, and after competing in a local beauty pageant, she broke barriers at just 19 by becoming Tennessee’s first African-American television correspondent.
