Worlds famous college dropout techies

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World's famous college-dropout techies

Indiatimes Infotech

You think one common thing among all our successful techies is a degree from a bluechip business or engineering college? Time for a rethink! World's most famoustechies -- like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison and Michael Dell -- are surelygeniuses, but may be not so-much academically.

For, what is common among all these technology stalwarts is that they all dropped out of college. So, if you thought it’s the degree that makes the men behind all those smashing product innovations, time you meet our most technology legends -- who all happen to becollege dropouts.

Michael Dell



While studying at the University of Texas at Austin, Michael Dell started a computer company called PC's Limited in room 2713 of twenty-seven story residence hall DobieCenter.

Then 19, Michael decided to drop out of college to run PC's Limited, which later became

Dell Computer Corp, and finally Dell Inc.

PC maker Dell is currently America's fifth biggest technology company in revenue.During 2008, the company recorded $61,101 million revenues slightly down (-0.1 per cent) compared to previous year. Company's profits stood at $2,478.0 million down 15.9 per cent from 2007

Bill Gates

The world's richest man Bill Gates is a Harvard university dropout. Bill Gates who scored1590 on his SAT test out of 1600 got admission in Harvard university in the year 1973,after completing his high school.

At Harvard University, Gates and his high school friend Paul Allen worked on a versionof the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer -- MITS Altair. Twoyears later in 1975, he decided to opt out of college to start Microsoft, what eventuallywent on to become the world's largest software company.

However, in 2007 Bill Gates finally got a degree from Harvard, when the universityconferred him with a honorary degree.Paul Allen



Like his pal Bill Gates, Paul Allen too droppedout of Washington State University in 1975, to build the software giant Microsoft.

Allen left Microsoft in 1983 after beingdiagnosed by Hodgkin's disease. According tothe annual Forbes' list of World's Billionaires,Allen's net worth is estimated at $10.5 billion.Microsoft now makes up 25% of his net worth.

Allen's investment portfolio includes largestakes in DreamWorks Animation SKG,Digeo, Oxygen Media, real estate holdings and

more than 40 other technology, media andcontent companies.

Fifty-six-year old Allen also owns two professional sports teams: The SeattleSeahawks of the National Football League andthe Portland Trail Blazers of the NationalBasketball Association.

Co-founder of world's largest softwarecompany Microsoft, Paul Allen has one of the

largest privately-owned super yachts in theworld called Octopus.

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Steve Jobs

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Few know that the world's most iconic tech czar Steve Jobs is actually a college dropout.In 1972, Jobs graduated from Homestead High School in Cupertino, California andenrolled in Reed College in Portland, Oregon. One semester later he dropped out.

In 1976, Jobs started Apple with a fellow college dropout Steve Wozniak in his family

garage in Los Altos, California. Jobs, then 21, was the pitchman, Wozniak worked as anengineer.

Larry Ellison

Another famous techie in the list of celebrity college dropouts is Larry Ellison, the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, one of the world's largest enterprise softwarecompany. Ellison left the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after his secondyear. Later he went on to join the University of Chicago for one term, however, didn'tcomplete it either.

In 1977, Ellison put up $2,000 to start Oracle Corporation. Two years younger to archrival Microsoft corp, Oracle went public a day before Microsoft in 1986. Today,according to Forbes magazine Ellison has a net worth of $22.5 billion.

In the past four years, Oracle has racked up 49 acquisitions, including BEA Systems(bought for $8.5 billion in 2008). The company also invested $125 million in Websoftware outfit Netsuite.

A licensed pilot, Ellison is said to own several unusual aircrafts. Known for hisflamboyant lifestyle, Ellison has got a leisure boat built for himself.



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Worlds famous college dropout techies