FX.co ★ Eight billionaires who started with nothing

Howard Schultz — $1.5 billion

Howard Schultz spent his childhood in a block of state-subsidized housing estates for poor families, and it was almost impossible to get out of there because of poverty. The boy's pride was constantly tested, as his father was forced to lose self-esteem with each new job, on the last of which he broke his leg putting his family in a very difficult position.

And then Howard decided to succeed at all costs. He went to work, and years later he created a big company that brought a steady income, Starbucks.

Mohed Altrad — $1.8 billion

Born in a Bedouin family, Mohed Altrad was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandmother. After leaving school, the boy went to France, where he not only perfectly learned a foreign language but also completely rethought his own identity turning into a modern European. He understood that this was his only chance to start a new life, and the Altrad used it. Today, Mohed Altrada holds a doctorate in computer science. He worked in leading French companies. He is the owner of the Altrad Group international construction holding.

Ken Langone — $2.1 billion

Ken's father was a plumber, and his mother was a kitchen worker. There wasn't enough money for education at the school of Langone at Bucknell University, so Ken had to accept any random job, and his parents mortgaged their house. At the end of the 60s, together with Ross Perot, he brought the American company Electronic Data Systems (EDS) to the exchange, and only two years later became a partner of Bernard Marcus at Home Depot, the world's largest trading network for the sale of tools for repair and building materials.

Oprah Winfrey — $3.2 billion

The miserable childhood of Oprah Winfrey, in poverty, violence, and a shelter for difficult teenagers, did not affect her desire to succeed in life. Thanks to the father, who supported her in a difficult life situation, she got through this. Oprah entered the university and soon became a popular African-American television journalist. Now she has her own OWN channel.

Shahid Khan — $8.4 billion

Shahid Khan, a native of Pakistan, used to wash dishes for $1.2 an hour while attending classes at the University of Illinois. Having finished his studies, he began working at Flex-N-Gate, where he tried to offer new production technologies but without success. Therefore, taking a loan, he founded his own company producing bumpers, Bumper Works, which after a while acquired Flex-N-Gate. So Shahid Khan became the owner of one of the largest private companies in the US, and later he bought two football clubs: Jacksonville Jaguars (from NFL) and Fulham (from the Premier League).

Roman Abramovich — $9.1 billion

Another future tycoon was born in Russia and was brought up in the family of his uncle. Becoming a student of the Moscow Institute of Road Transport, Abramovich immediately showed his brilliant organizational skills and started an active entrepreneurial activity. He did not receive higher education, but he acquired his own manufacturing enterprise for the production of polymer toys, the co-op "Uyut". Later, when he got close to the family of President Boris Yeltsin, Abramovich changed the sphere of activity to oil business and bought shares of Sibneft.

Lakshmi Mittal — $19.3 billion

Another person from the slums, the "steel" tycoon, Lakshmi Mittal, lived in absolute poverty. Such a life has hardened a young Indian and made him very practical. Having risen in austerity and tight control over expenses, Mittal and his friend were able to redeem an abandoned, almost collapsed steel rolling plant. Then he became the CEO and chairman at ArcelorMittal. Today Mittal operates the world's largest steel company and is a multimillionaire.

François Pinault — $28.7 billion

Francois Pinault was born in French Brittany in the family of a wood merchant, so they could barely make ends meet. Having hardly graduated from school, the future trading tycoon did not want to hear anything about education. After several years of casual earnings, Pinault went to Algeria. He returned from there with money, and soon, not without the help of a beginning officer, Jacques Chirac, founded his company, Pinault Group, and began trading wood. Now Pinault is the face of the fashionable conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR).