Millionaires who dropped out of high school

Jay-Z grew up in one of Brooklyn's roughest projects, while a talent scout discovered Gisele at a mall.

Millionaire High School Dropouts: For some, diplomas are (barely) worth the paper they're printed on. These star entrepreneurs jumped right in. While the rest of us were negotiating curfews and cramming for the SATs, some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs ditched high school to start building their fortunes. Many did it out of necessity; others had a mentor (or at least a backer looking to piggyback on their success). All, however, had a demon drive to build something of their own. Even at a young age, that commitment and passion can win over investors. "Investors really look at the person and the quality of his or her idea more than their experience,” says Brad Burke, managing director of Rice University's Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, which incubates new companies. For all the new entrepreneurship programs popping up at business schools, there will always be a slew of born entrepreneurs who prove that high school diplomas, let alone fancy graduate degrees, might well be (barely) worth the paper they're printed on. Here are just a handful of examples.

1. Jay-Z (Shawn Carter): This high-school dropout grew up in one of Brooklyn's roughest housing projects, dealing drugs before finding salvation in hip hop. In 1995 Carter took his first single to Def Jam Records, the company he ended up running from 2004 until 2007. In 2008 he signed a 10-year, $150 million deal with Live Nation that gave him control over his records, tours and endorsement deals with companies like Dell and Budweiser.

2. George Foreman: This ubiquitous pitchman grew up poor in Marshall, Texas. Found a mentor, through Lyndon Johnson's Job Corps program, who encouraged the 15-year-old thug to box. Foreman would eventually win a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics. His big pay day came in 1999, when he bagged $138 million for selling naming rights to grill manufacturer Salton. He has since pitched brands like Doritos, KFC and Meineke, and has launched a line of environmentally safe cleaning products, a line of personal care products, a health shake, a prescription shoe for diabetics and a restaurant franchise.

3. Simon Cowell: Caustic judge earned $75 million last year, thanks to his involvement with American Idol, Britain's Got Talent, musical talent show The X Factor and SyCo records, his production company. The 50-year-old impresario dropped out of school at age 16 and landed a job in the mailroom at EMI. At 23 he left to start his own record label, Fanfare. Post-Idol, Cowell will shift his focus to a U.S. version of the The X Factor, where he'll serve both as a judge and executive producer.

4. Gisele Bundchen: When Bundchen was 14 years old a modeling scout discovered her in a Brazilian shopping mall. In 1996 she debuted at Fashion Week in New York City. She earned $25 million last year, thanks to contracts with Versace, Dior and other companies. She also has a line of sandals called Ipanema by Gisele.

5. Carl Lindner: This billionaire dropped out of high school to deliver milk for his family's dairy. In 1940 used a $1,200 loan to open an ice cream shop with his sister and two brothers. In 1959 he left the business and started investing in savings and loans, and eventually insurance concerns, which he assembled under American Financial Group. In 1984 Lindner bought Chiquita Brands International (formerly United Foods) and ran it until 2001. The family dairy, called United Dairy Farmers, now has 200 ice cream parlors and convenience stores. Lindner's current net worth $1.7 billion.

6. David Murdock: Left high school, was drafted into the Army in 1943 and moved to Detroit after WWII. In 1985 he took control of Dole Food and Hawaiian real estate company Castle & Cooke. Murdock took debt-laden Dole public in October 2009 (current market capitalization: $1 billion). Pre-IPO, the Dole chairman was worth $3.5 billion.

7. Richard Branson: The son of a barrister and a flight attendant dropped out of high school at age 16 to start an arts and culture magazine called Student. In 1970, at age 20, he founded a mail-order record retailer called Virgin. He later opened a record shop and recording studio, which became retail chain Virgin Records and record company Virgin Music. His Virgin Group empire now includes 200 companies in 30 countries, spanning airlines, music festivals, mobile companies and other businesses. Today Branson owns two private Caribbean islands, Necker and Mosquito, and has a net worth of $2.5 billion.

8. Jim Clark: This high school dropout bloomed into a Silicon Valley legend, founding the likes of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, Healtheon and Shutterfly. In recent years he started a real estate company in South Florida with Tom Jermoluk, another Shutterfly investor. Today Clark is worth nearly $900 million.