TOP 10 most famous people in the world who achieved success from scratch: list
In this article we will tell you about people whose names are well known. Many admire the creativity, inventions, and talents of these people, but few have thought about how they achieved success.
It has long been known that achieving a certain goal in life is much easier when you have a material base under your feet. The people we will talk about today started their activities from scratch, without the support of influential parents and money.
The TOP 10 most famous people in the world who have achieved incredible success include:
- Steve Jobs is the founder of Apple, a revolutionary in the field of IT technologies.
- Thomas Edison is a famous self-taught inventor who has patented more than 1,000 inventions.
- JK Rowling is a writer, author of the Harry Potter series of books.
- Henry Ford - inventor, automobile designer, founder.
- Walt Disney - animator, actor, screenwriter, founder.
- Amancio Ortega is an entrepreneur, founder of the fashion brand Zara, and the richest person in the world according to Forbes.
- Croc Ray is an entrepreneur, restaurateur, and founder of the fast food corporation McDonald's.
- Soichiro Honda is the founder of the world famous automobile company Honda.
- Elvis Presley is an American singer and actor, nicknamed the “King of Rock and Roll.”
- Sylvester Stallone - film director, screenwriter, actor.
All these people found themselves at the pinnacle of fame, but it is difficult to imagine what hardships they went through to achieve success. Their life stories are a clear example that the impossible is possible. You just have to believe in your dream and do everything to make it come true.
TOP 10 people who have achieved success in life
Steve Jobs: success story, achievements, photos
Important: Steve Jobs is an outstanding person who was able not only to build a computer empire, but also to change the lives of millions of people. He made complex technologies easy to use, aesthetically pleasing and accessible to people.
Steve Jobs was adopted by foster parents shortly after his birth. His biological parents were students, experienced difficulties and could not raise their son. It is known that Steve’s birth mother took a receipt from his adoptive parents stating that they undertake to pay for the boy’s college education.
Steve never considered his adoptive parents to be strangers; on the contrary, he was very irritated if this fact was mentioned in his presence. Steve Jobs' parents were people of humble origins: his father was an auto mechanic, and his mother was an accountant. Together they earned money to fulfill their promise and educate Steve. However, Steve himself was not distinguished by a diligent disposition, although he was a very capable child. His teachers called him a “prankster.”
After graduating from school, Steve left his parents' house and moved into a cabin with his girlfriend. By the way, he managed to go to college, but Steve could not finish it - his disposition was too free, not conducive to discipline.
Steve Jobs easily made new acquaintances, became interested in hippie culture and spiritual practices, and became a vegetarian. One of the decisive acquaintances was meeting Stephen Wozniak. Having become best friends, they began developing their first computer. To raise money for their developments, they sold their main assets: Jobs' minibus and Wozniak's programmable calculator.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in their youth
Thanks to the oratorical and entrepreneurial skills of Steve Jobs, it was possible to attract sponsors. Soon Jobs's house and garage were occupied: development of the first batch of Apple computers was in full swing here.
Steve Jobs loved simplicity, and successfully applied it to the design of his devices. Many team members found him extremely difficult to work with; he was characterized as a hot-tempered and stubborn person.
During the years of Steve Jobs's life, he managed not only to become the founder of Apple, but also to fail and be fired from his own company. Subsequently, Steve Jobs returned and helped Apple achieve unprecedented levels and success. But besides Apple, Steve Jobs made significant contributions to other industries, for example, he bought and developed the animation film studio Pixar.
Steve Jobs' irrepressible energy was undermined by health conditions; in 2003 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and in 2011 he resigned. That same year, Steve Jobs died at the age of 56. However, his name remains forever in the pages of history.
He is called differently: “father of the digital revolution”, “visionary”, dreamer and innovator. One thing is clear - crazy love for your hobby and confidence in what you do can change the world.
Steve Jobs
Marilyn Monroe
The success story of Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson in life) began with the wanderings of a little girl in orphanages, shelters, boarding schools and foster families. Her own mother could not provide her daughter with care and love. A difficult childhood led to Marilyn hastily getting married at the age of sixteen. She decided to take this step in order to avoid another boarding school.
When the girl was twenty years old, she was lucky enough to be offered a role as an extra in a film by the world famous film studio 20th Century Fox. This can be considered the beginning of a success story. During this period, Norma became Marilyn Monroe. The first role was not the most successful, but soon the aspiring actress signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, cooperation with which did not last long, since its employees considered Monroe a mediocre and mediocre girl.
The desire to become a famous actress and get the main role helped Marilyn not to give up everything halfway to recognition, and with diligence and zeal she played minor supporting roles many times until she was finally noticed and her dream came true. Monroe became a true legend, and even after her death people still talk about her. Her image became the standard of femininity and the personification of sex appeal, but few know that she had the deepest intelligence and insight, which is perfectly confirmed by the sensational book “Marilyn Monroe. Passion, told by herself" This book overturns all previous ideas about the "main blonde of Hollywood."
Thomas Edison: success story, achievements, photos
The future inventor was described at school as “limited.” The teachers considered him an absolutely incapable student, given his small stature and weak physique, and after three months of training they asked his parents to take Edison out of school. To which the mother categorically disagreed with the teachers, but still took the child from school and taught her on her own. Thomas Edison's mother was the daughter of a priest and had a good education.
Thomas Edison has been experimenting since childhood. After reading the book “Natural and Experimental Philosophy” by Richard Greene Parker, he repeated most of the experiments.
The future inventor set up a laboratory for his experiments on a train, where he earned extra money by selling newspapers and candy. But one day, as a result of his experiments, he started a fire right on the train, after which he was thrown out onto the street with a crash.
But this fact did not stop Edison. Once, by chance, he saved the life of the son of the head of one of the stations. This incident was happy for Edison, because the boss, as a thank you, taught Edison telegraphy. Subsequently, Edison got a job as a telegraph operator in.
Thomas Edison continued to invent, but his attempts to sell devices were unsuccessful. Until the moment when his improved telegraphy system was acquired by one rich company. Edison earned $40,000 for the invention, while his salary was only $300.
Thomas Edison
With the proceeds, Thomas Edison equipped the laboratory and continued his painstaking work. He became the author of many inventions, but the most popular of them was the electric light bulb, which is still used today.
Other inventions of Thomas Edison:
- Phonograph is a device for recording/reproducing sound;
- The carbon microphone is one of the first types of microphones;
- Kinetoscope is a moving image device used in cinematography;
- An aerophone is a device for transmitting sound over a long distance.
And many other inventions. In total, he patented more than 1000 inventions. By the way, Thomas Edison suggested using the word “hello” at the beginning of a telephone conversation.
Important: The great inventor was a great workaholic; he argued that what makes a person a genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. It is known that Edison worked 19 hours a day in his laboratory.
Thomas Edison in the laboratory
JK Rowling: success story, achievements, photos
The name JK Rowling became known after the world was stunned by the first book about Harry Potter. The writer worked on her book for many years. Over the years, she experienced a variety of life events, joyful and painful: the illness and death of her mother, the wedding and birth of her daughter, divorce soon after the wedding and life on the brink of poverty.
JK Rowling grew up in an ordinary family and did not experience any shocks until a certain stage in her life. However, the death of her mother and a divorce with a baby in her arms forced her to plunge into the abyss of life's troubles. After the divorce, the woman was forced to live on social benefits. She often felt humiliation, shame and resentment for her little daughter. It seemed to JK Rowling that this dark streak would never end, and the woman was often depressed.
Despite life's difficulties, for a long time Rowling wrote a book about a boy who was a wizard. According to Rowling's stories, her first inspiration came to her unexpectedly. She was just sitting on the train, which was delayed for 4 hours, and images and situations arose in her head.
When the manuscript was finished, Rowling sent it to 12 publishing houses and was rejected by them all. Only a year later, Bloomsbury gave the book the green light. And it was a real sensation! JK Rowling received a grant to continue writing the Harry Potter series of books.
Since then, the writer’s financial difficulties were resolved, and fame came to her. It is believed that JK Rowling introduced the fashion for knowledge. She was able to revive children's interest in reading at a time when children forgot about it and became interested in computer technology.
JK Rowling also wrote other books, such as “The Casual Vacancy”, “The Cuckoo’s Calling”, “The Silkworm”, etc. The writer married a second time, gave birth to a son and a younger daughter, continues to create and is involved in charity work.
Writer JK Rowling
Henry Ford: success story, achievements, photos
Henry Ford was the eldest of six children in a farming family. From childhood, interesting technical ideas that could make life easier arose in Henry Ford's head, but his father did not support him. Soon after his mother's death, Henry Ford ran away from his father's house.
First he worked as a mechanical engineer, and then received the position of chief engineer at the Edison Electric Company. Henry Ford worked on creating a steam engine. One day he met Thomas Edison, and he believed in Ford, which incredibly inspired the latter.
Later, Henry Ford and some businessmen created the Ford Motor Company. His goal was to create inexpensive cars that would be accessible to many, not just wealthy people. Ford's partners did not support his idea, and as a result, the majority of the company's shares passed to Henry Ford.
Later, he was able to establish an assembly line production of cars, which became his main achievement. The Ford car became easy to drive, did not require complex maintenance, and also differed from its predecessors by a significant reduction in cost. Now the car has become a means of transportation, and not a luxurious toy for the powers that be.
Henry Ford took strict control over the management of the plant and the automobile production line. He controlled all stages of production, organized a workers' village, and also established the highest minimum wage in the United States at that time - $5 a day. Henry Ford later handed over the management of the company to his son, but after the early death of his son, he again took the reins into his own hands. The company was then taken over by Henry Ford's grandson, Henry Ford II.
Henry Ford and his car
Richard Branson
UNclimatechange / Flickr
Born into a family of a lawyer and a flight attendant, Branson had a very difficult time studying: he suffered from dyslexia, got bad grades and constantly failed exams. But instead of resigning himself, Richard decided to go into business. He founded a record company, saving on everything - even delivering records to retail outlets in London in his own car.
Today, Branson has a huge fortune, which he amassed through his conglomerate of Virgin companies. He is one of the richest people in the UK, with more than five billion dollars at his disposal.
Walt Disney: success story, achievements, photos
Walt Disney was born into a poor family; from childhood he was forced to work as a newspaper delivery boy. When World War I began, Walt Disney had to become a Red Cross driver.
He had a passion for drawing, and later got a job as an artist in a film studio. He managed to open his own studio, but it soon went bankrupt.
Walt and his brother moved to Los Angeles, where together they founded the animation studio The Walt Disney Company. They began to produce cartoons, but did not achieve great success.
Success came to the company when the cartoon about Oswald the Rabbit was released. Later a new hero appeared - Mickey Mouse. At first, the cult cartoon character was not approved, but then Walt Disney received an Oscar for creating the image of this mouse.
In terms of the number of cinematic awards, Walt Disney is the most titled person. He made the world of animation completely new, revolutionized the idea of cartoons and animation.
His achievements include the famous Disneyland amusement park. The idea for the park came to Walt during a walk with his daughters, whom he adored.
Walt Disney and his heroes
Jan Koum
Tech.eu Photostream / Flickr Kum was born in Kyiv, but in the 90s he and his mother moved to Mountain View (California).
There he started as a janitor at a grocery store, and for a time they survived on food stamps. At the age of 18, Kum became interested in programming and decided to study on his own. At 19, he joined the hacker group w00w00, and from that moment his programming career began. After working for some time at Yahoo, he left there, deciding to found his own startup, which turned into WhatsApp.
The app was released in 2009, and only a couple hundred people—mostly Koum's friends—downloaded it. After such a failure, Ian decided to quit WhatsApp and return to work, but his partner Brian Acton persuaded him to wait. And over time, this messenger became one of the most popular in the world.
Amancio Ortega: success story, achievements, photos
Amancio Ortega is today one of the richest people in the world. But one day he had to quit school to help his family. The family was very poor, the mother worked as a maid, the father as a railway worker. The parents' salary was not enough to survive until the end of the month. The boy had a developed sense of pride, he did not want to live like that and got a job in a shirt store, where he was literally “at his beck and call.”
Thanks to his responsible attitude to work and determination, Amancio Ortega began to quickly climb the career ladder. By the age of 17, he had already gained sufficient experience and quit to create his own company. At first, in the small workshop of Amancio Ortega, workers sewed women's robes for a small fee. Gradually, production grew, all the proceeds were invested in production, the customer base also began to increase, and eventually the first Zara retail store opened.
Amancio Ortega became the founder of a group of companies that united various fashion brands. But Zara remained the most recognizable brand. Amancio Ortega occupies a leading position in the ranking of world millionaires according to Forbes.
Amancio Ortega
Oprah Winfrey
This is a shining example of a woman who never gives up and achieves everything herself . The TV presenter was born into a rather poor family. Her father was a miner, and her mother was an ordinary maid. The family always lacked money . They could satisfy the most minimal needs.
At the age of 6, Oprah was sent to live with her grandmother, who lived in the middle of nowhere. Here the girl had to face many trials , which the TV presenter is not particularly willing to talk about. She started her career at the age of 17. She first worked as a reporter and then created her own show. 25 years later, Oprah launched her own TV channel.
One day she was asked how one becomes rich. Oprah gave a simple answer . She believes that everything can be achieved only when there is desire and desire to work. Her determination and hard work helped her become the most popular TV presenter, whose net worth is estimated at more than $3 billion.
Oprah Winfrey
Croc Ray: success story, achievements, photos
Ray Kroc is a shining example that it's never too late to start. Success came to him at the age of 52. Before this, the future founder of the McDonald's empire sold paper cups and was even able to found a company producing mixers, but it did not bring tremendous success.
One day he was selling his mixers to the McDonald brothers and saw their roadside restaurant. It had a self-service system, and the price tags for food were obscenely low. And Ray Kroc, unlike the McDonald brothers, saw a “gold mine.” He invited them to sell franchises, the brothers quickly agreed and gave permission to use their name.
Ray Kroc improved the franchising system by establishing strict requirements - everything must meet the standards. He didn't want the brand to be disgraced in the pursuit of quick profits.
Kroc's real success came after McDonald's opened in a small town and lines began to line up at the cash registers. Since then, crowds of people who wanted to invest their money profitably came to Kroc, because, as it turned out, the business paid off very quickly.
Ray Kroc
Soichiro Honda: success story, achievements, photos
The future founder of a famous automobile company was born into the family of a village blacksmith. He did not like schoolwork; he believed that they would not bring him any benefit. Soichiro recognized only practice; later he gave preference to practitioners, not theorists, and emphasized that learning theory without real experience means nothing.
Since childhood, he adored the smell of machine oil; in his opinion, it was the best smell in the world. It is not surprising that Soichiro Honda's soul gravitated towards cars and everything connected with them.
However, his life passed through difficult years for Japan: first the Tokyo earthquake, then the war. His life was undergoing changes that were beyond his control. In the post-war years, a self-taught mechanic began to create motorcycles from bicycles by attaching a low-power motor.
Over time, Honda has become the leading motorcycle manufacturer in the world. This is how Soichiro’s main idea came to fruition - the production of cars. Despite the opposition of the Ministry of Industry, Honda achieved the creation of the largest automobile manufacturing concern in the world.
He adhered to strict rules, loved simplicity in clothing, and was interested in people who differed from him in their views. A person with a strong spirit did not break under the pressure of external circumstances and went towards fulfilling his dream.
Soichiro Honda
John Paul DeJoria
John Paul DeJoria's company produces the famous JPM Systems (John Paul Mitchell Systems) shampoo with an annual turnover of $900,000,000. Billionaire DeJoria is respected by all charitable foundations in the world, and he also took care of pets, developing a line of care products for them. In a word, John Paul readily helps everyone who needs his support. As often happens, a person who has not been treated kindly by fate since childhood treats the problems of other people with understanding.
John Paul's parents separated when he was barely 2 years old, so already as a child the boy was forced to earn extra money selling Christmas greeting cards. After 10 years, the child was taken in by a foster family. The beginning of the life of the future billionaire was not cloudless: he was a member of a Los Angeles gang and only military service saved him from a criminal future. After serving, Dejorio intended to go into business, but he had neither money nor relatives who could lend him money.
John Paul borrowed $700 from the bank and started a shampoo company. He personally had to sell products, literally moving from office to office. The car was both his home and his means of transportation, but John Paul was not one to back down from challenges. He was confident in the quality of his shampoo, purposeful and persistent. Now we already know that these qualities, together with talent and inspiration, made DeJoria a billionaire.
Elvis Presley: success story, achievements, photos
“The King of Rock and Roll” is the name given to Elvis Presley, who died early but left a significant mark on the history of music. Since childhood, Elvis liked music; he sang in the church choir. At school he took part in music competitions, for which he once received a guitar as a gift from his mother.
Elvis Presley's family cannot be called wealthy. My father worked various jobs to make ends meet. As a teenager, Elvis Presley became interested in styles such as blues, rhythm and blues, and boogie-woogie. He often played the guitar in the yard with friends.
After graduating from school, Elvis Presley began working as a truck driver, but did not want to give up his childhood dream. He went to auditions and failed them successfully.
One day, in frustration, Elvis began to play a melody, but because he was nervous, he did it too quickly. As a result, everyone liked his style of performance so much that the song soon became a hit. Since then, Elvis Presley's musical career has skyrocketed. One after another, hits and videos were released. A real “Elvisomania” began in America. Elvis Presley later began acting in films, but achieved enormous popularity thanks to his hits.
Elvis Presley
Francois Pinault
One of the most influential and wealthy citizens of France: a collector who owns the Christie's auction house, the Gucci brand, the Chateau-Latour vineyards and the capital's Marigny theater.
In 1936, in French Brittany, a son was born into the family of a simple forester. The father had difficulty making ends meet, but turned inside out so that Francois became a certified specialist. The young man did not appreciate his parents’ efforts, and at the age of 16 he left his studies and left home. Pino did not want to study, he only wanted to do what he liked and could bring good profit. Studying would take too much time, and he is still proud that his only diploma is a driving license. François Pinault did not want to drag out the drab existence of a worker, and his relatives vied with each other to teach him about life. Having quarreled with everyone and striving for an independent life, the young man left for Algeria.
What the future millionaire did in the French colony is unknown. There was a war in Algeria, and, according to Pino’s enemies, he had been selling weapons and drugs for three years. We are unlikely to ever know the details of the Algerian period of Francois’s life, but now it doesn’t matter. In any case, Pinault returned to France a different person - he had money, self-confidence and grandiose plans.
27-year-old Francois opened the Pinault group, a timber trading company. Business contacts and useful acquaintances began to be established. One of these promising contacts was meeting the promising politician Jacques Chirac. No one can say exactly what brought the impulsive Chirac and the rational Pinault together; perhaps the first was struck by Francois’s unerring business sense. His stock market foresight is legendary. Before the stock market crash in 1973, Pinault suddenly sold the successful Pinault Group for 30 million francs, and a year later bought back his brainchild for only 5 million. Thus, within a year he managed to earn an amount exceeding his income over the previous 5 years. And in 1976, Francois dissuaded Prime Minister Jacques Chirac from going on a business trip. It soon turned out that the train was mined by terrorists. Since then, Chirac is sure that he owes his life to Francois. It may be a coincidence, but after that incident, the Pino company's business went even better.
The respectable 52-year-old father of four became tired of the measured life, and he set about making his youthful dream come true. He wanted great wealth, and chose trading on the stock exchange as a way to enrich himself.
Paris Bourse and Francois Pinault
It is quite natural that Pinault’s famous flair made him one of the most successful speculators on the stock exchange: he bought and sold enterprises with constant success (see “Notes for the Beginning Speculator”). The morality of his operations raises doubts, however, such categories are alien to stockbrokers.
In 1989, Paul Paoli, chairman of the board of directors of the Franco-African trade union, offered François Pinault a share in the capital. Pinault started with 20%, and a few months later decided to merge Acquisition into the Pinault group. The directors, including Paoli, were immediately fired, and Pino's company began supplying African electrical equipment.
The successful takeover encouraged Pino, and in 1991 he acquired American Executive Life in violation of the law. The profit from the deal amounted to from 1 to 2 billion dollars, and the fine was only $185 million. With the billions he earned, Pino acquired the Conforama retail chain, and a year later - the largest department store Printemps, then the La Redoute chain and Fnac bookstores. Each time he fired top managers, putting his own people in their places. François Pinault's Pinault-Printemps-Redoute group is now one of the most powerful retail associations in France. But the billionaire does not stop, continuing to buy everything in a row, for which he deservedly bears the nickname Octopus.
Pino in "art"
Nouveau riche Pinault became interested in collecting and fashion. Having started out buying paintings, in 1998 he decided to take ownership of Christie's. This auction house, together with Sotheby's, controls 90% of all transactions. Approaching the art world did not change Francois's working methods: he fired almost the entire management and set up a hotel at Christie's headquarters. Everyone was talking about the dishonesty of Francois Pinault, who drowns his competitors indiscriminately, but Christie's revenue of $1.4 billion apparently left no doubt about the correctness of the chosen path.
In the world of high fashion, the billionaire also does not stand on ceremony. Acting in his favorite way, Sprut acquired the Gucci Group, Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, Bedat & Co, Stella McCartney, Balenciaga and Puma, etc. He has a controlling stake in the Redcats catalog and the largest chain of FNAC stores. It’s difficult to say what Pino hasn’t gotten to, but there’s no doubt that he won’t fail to chop off everything that’s bad and deserves attention.
True, in 2003, Pinault handed over the reins to his eldest son, Francois-Henri, and took up the world's best vineyard, Chateau-Latour, and collecting works of art. François Pinault achieved perfection in the ability to “occupy all the burners with his pans.” This French proverb fully characterizes the lifestyle of this billionaire: take advantage of all opportunities.
Sylvester Stallone: success story, achievements, photos
Sylvester Stallone's filmography includes more than 50 films. The first film that brought fame to the actor was “Rocky”. Sylvester Stallone himself wrote the script and wanted to star in the title role, but no one wanted to see an unknown actor of average height in the title role, albeit in good physical shape. However, Stallone did not concede anything and did not want to sell the script. His persistence and determination prevailed, and the director agreed to his conditions. Since the release of the film “Rocky”, Stallone has received long-awaited fame and success.
However, until this moment, Sylvester’s life had not been pampering: he studied at a school for difficult teenagers, then worked as a doorman, a bouncer in a night restaurant, and cleaned animal cages at the zoo. Once he was even forced to sell his dog because he could not feed it. It is worth noting that he later bought his four-legged friend back by paying his fee.
Sylvester Stallone
