How the Big Data‑Minded Casino Wizard Ranked the World’s Biggest Money‑Makers by Their School Habits
When the Casino Wizard pulled up Forbes’ Real‑Time Billionaires List (over 2,781 rich folks), he decided to see who truly knew their way around a campus. The wizard didn’t just look at net worth; he brought an education scorecard that weighed four key factors: number of degrees, university rank, admission odds, and the time spent studying. Each sharp‑eyed billionaire gets a number out of ten.
Top 5 Educated Robbers of the Wealth Bank
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Stephen Schwarzman – 6.17/10… That’s like a “Master of the MBA” title
Net worth: $49.3 billion. Seven years in the academic trenches earned him a BA in Social Studies from Yale and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Yale and Harvard sit at an average ranking of 186 and share a 4 % acceptance rate. Good luck getting in, right?
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Michael Bloomberg – 6.8/10, a bank‑running breakdown
Net worth: $104.7 billion. He spent six years and collected a BS in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins plus an MBA from Harvard. The schools average around 185.2 in ranking with a 5 % acceptance twist.
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Larry Page – 6.92/10, the “Google‐grade” geek
Net worth: $147.7 billion. A buddies from the campus level: a BS in Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan and a CS master’s from Stanford. These universities rank 178.2 on average; they admit 11 % of prospects. No wonder Page met Brin and sparked the search engine superstition.
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Charles Koch – 5.5/10, an MIT triple‑tool kit
Net worth: $67.5 billion. Three degrees in three years: a bachelor’s in general engineering, a M.S. in mechanical, and another in chemical engineering—all from MIT. Average schooling rank? Roughly the same 186 ballpark, entry rate just a 4 % splash.
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Warren Buffett – 6.55/10, the “real” philosopher of finance
Net worth: $143 billion. At 17 he enrolled in the Wharton School, studied two years, then hopped to University of Nebraska‑Lincoln to finish his undergraduate at 19. A final tip: a Master’s in Economics from Columbia Business School. Schools average 225.1 in ranking, with a 30 % acceptance rate—Buffett really ran the numbers.
Positions 6‑10: The Tech Titans and the Sharp Minds
Below haven’t packed the same “degree” intimidation factor into the scoreboard but are still on the money list:
- Steve Ballmer – former Microsoft prez
- Sergey Brin – co‑founder of Google
- Elon Musk – space‑fuel backer
- Jensen Huang – visionary of NVIDIA
- Colin Huang – a Canadian tech whiz
Matt Schwachofer on the “School Advantage”
“Education gives you the credibility passport you need to open doors to funding, partnerships, and top talent. If you’re starting up, universities—especially the elite ones—connect you with a cache of brilliant minds, reliable mentors, and futuristic investors.
Take Larry Page’s chance: meeting Sergey Brin at Stanford sparked Google’s birth. Take Elon Musk’s physics lessons at university: that knowledge helped helium rockets and electric drivetrain engineers at Tesla and SpaceX.
Sure, you can learn on your own and even quit school like Gates or Jobs, but the network on campus still beats your solo hustle when you need an extra edge or a solid business partner.
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