How 6 Famous Billionaires Transformed Their Failure To Success

Updated on

The ability to transform failure to success is definitely not easy. Very few possess the brave heart to live their dreams even after failing several times. Invariably, the most popular personalities had once tasted the bitter fruit of failure in their lives. Failure is indeed the stepping stone to success to break the shell of the comfort zone. Initially, the dark horse, later well-known celebrities, the journey of each success story is unique. Every time work is done wrong, they explored different ways to get it right. The hard knocks and the failures sow a seed to the grand slam in the future.

The first popular name that received a misfortune in his past is Bill Gates. Prior to topping the list of the world’s richest person, Bill Gates faced a series of mishaps. As a clumsy teenager, Bill Gates hacked his school’s computer system, and as a co-founder of Traf-O-Data, he gained experience to commence his new business venture Microsoft. Bill Gates gave up Harvard and in downstream was accused of stealing Steve Job’s ideas. However, Bill Gates did not stop and firmly believed that big risks lead to big wins.

Get The Full Warren Buffett Series in PDF

Get the entire 10-part series on Warren Buffett in PDF. Save it to your desktop, read it on your tablet, or email to your colleagues

Q1 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc

The next in line is Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. His belief in thinking out of the box and discovering new ways made him what he is today. With disturbed childhood and divorced parents, it was tough for Jeff to concentrate on studies. He picked work at McDonalds’ to understand its machinery better. Despite being offered jobs from some big companies like Bell Labs and Intel, he invested in a failed startup. His interest made him work at a garage building furniture for some time followed by building an auction site which did not last long.

The successful television artist Oprah Winfrey too had her share of misfortunes. Her childhood was filled with abuse, and she got her pregnant at the age of 14. Sadly, the baby did not survive. Her job in radio station got her into hosting a low rated talk show which in no time became a hit. Turn your wounds into wisdom claimed this Emmy and Lifetime Achievement award winner and the First African-American billionaire.

Yet another person who went from rags to riches is Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, co-founder of Tesla.Inc, Neuralink, and SolarCity. The technology was a breakaway from his bullying friends at school and his family. He joined the Ph.D. Program at Stanford University which he quit in the next few days to follow his Impresario mind. He founded Zip2 with his brother that landed in trouble and was sold off soon after. Then, came the PayPal, which also got sold off after Musk was dismissed from the post of CEO.

Looking at Challenges as Opportunities, Jack Ma became a popular name in the list of celebrities. With no money in the pocket, the only path that could bring success was education, thought Jack. Hard luck hit him twice, once when he failed his entrance exam twice at the college, and second time Harvard rejected his application repeatedly. He had dozens of rejections awaiting him from big names such as KFC. That is when he worked hard to be a founder of the Yellow Pages in China. He gathered support, and now, with Alibaba, Jack is one of the richest men in China.

Born and raised in a weaver’s family in Scotland, Andrew Carnegie decided to work at the age of 13. He started at nearly 5 dollars per month in a textile factory. He advanced in his work life as a telegrapher and a railway station worker to gain knowledge about the railroad and other businesses. His focus on the steel industry within no time revolutionized steel production through his Carnegie Steel Industry. A striking change in life came when he decided to help others and turned into a philanthropist in the United States.

From failure to success - a visual infographic by Edubirdie

failure to success

Leave a Comment