7 photos of billionaires still in education before they were rich - how many can you guess?


While Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates are now billionaires, they started somewhere. See photos of them in school before they made their fortunes


Oprah Winfrey smiling in a black and white photo, wearing a floral shirt and necklace.© Getty Images
Matthew Moore
Matthew MooreSenior Evening Writer
52 minutes ago

Although today the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are all billionaires, at one point they were in full-time education just like us.

So while they now control empires with fortunes beyond our imagination, in the past they also would have sat through the same lessons as many of us, including the dreaded double maths.

But if you saw photos of them while they were still in education, how many do you think you'd actually be able to recognise? Scroll down to find out…

Vintage photo of a young girl with braided hair, wearing a white shirt and brown vest.© oprah/Instagram

Oprah now has a vast media empire

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah is now worth over a cool $2 billion thanks to her media empire, but in this adorable photo, the star still had pigtails! With her serious expression, we wonder if this young Oprah knew what she would go on to achieve…

Bill Gates and a woman with blonde hair, both smiling, posing for a photo.© Corbis via Getty Images

Bill is one of the world's most successful billionaires

Bill Gates

Despite dropping out of Harvard, Bill became the world's youngest billionaire in 1987, and although that record has since been broken, the Microsoft co-founder is still the 19th wealthiest individual in the world.

In this photo, a young Bill can be seen with his then-girlfriend, Jill Bonnett, and the pair look like the cutest high school couple.

Jeff Bezos, smiling, sits with a stack of books, wearing a blue shirt and brown pants.© Getty Images

Jeff studied hard before founding Amazon

Jeff Bezos

At one point, Jeff was the richest person in the world, but when this photo was taken, he hadn't yet founded Amazon, the company that would lead to his innumerable wealth. The future billionaire was seen studying hard, surrounded by books.

Portrait of a smiling woman with short black hair, wearing a black shirt and necklace.© Instagram

Kim's fans loved this throwback

Kim Kardashian

Kim has crafted her fortune through her media and beauty companies, but at one point, she was just another girl in high school. In 2022, the star shared a photo of herself from the ninth grade, and fans noted that she looked so much like her daughter Chicago. Will the young girl follow in her mum's footsteps?

Young girl with blonde hair in a tie-dye dress holding a red object.© Taylor Swift/Instagram

Taylor grew up to be a billionaire

Taylor Swift

Taylor's musical career made her the world's richest female musician, and became the first billionaire primarily through music and performances. But back in this photo, she was just a young girl rocking a zany tie-dyed shirt.

Mark Zuckerberg smiling with a laptop in front of a brick building.© Corbis via Getty Images

Mark founded hsi company while still at Harvard

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark was still in university when he co-founded Facebook, later dropping out of the historic institution, just like Bill Gates did. In this photo, Mark is still just a student, rocking a blue polo top as he sits next to the machine that would help him rake in the billions.

Young boy in a dark suit and tie, smiling brightly at the camera.© Alamy Stock Photo

Do you recognise the musician?

Jay-Z

Thanks to his incredible career and business ventures, Jay-Z is currently the wealthiest musician in the world, but in this sweet photo, he's just another school boy wearing a suit for his class photo.

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