<p>Either way, it’s fairly obvious that your chance of becoming a billionaire at non elite school is exponentially lower. People say as long as you work hard and do everything, you have a chance, even if you do not go to a top tier school…well, to tell you the truth EVERYONE has a chance, but the people that actually follow thorough on that chance ARE the people from Harvard, Stanford and so on.</p>
<p>Again, in a bad economy, an elite university degree is a great hedge because people are always willing to hire you and your job is secure. Unless you do something really bad (like murder somebody or steal funds from the company), your job is safe with a top notch company even if the economy falls in a major recession or depression because they elite university degree is the SHIELD that will ensure your job security.</p>
<p>“your job is safe with a top notch company even if the economy falls in a major recession or depression because they elite university degree is the SHIELD that will ensure your job security.”</p>
<p>Funny, my experience is that almost no job is ever safe, and that the best way to shield yourself from losing a job is to do an exemplary job at your job.</p>
<p>I think it would be interesting to see how many of the top billionaires never finished college at all. I really can’t believe that the school makes the billionaire-- when you start with someone super motivated, highly intelligent, incredibly focused and determined, they become a billionaire no matter who gets in their way. What do you think the top ivies screen for? And of course, connections don’t hurt, but if you’re determined to do something, lack of immediate connections is not going to get in your way. And if you’re not super determined? No amount of fabulous connections will make you a billionaire. I’m sure there are exceptions among the multi-millionaires-- friends of the super wealthy who were hired and taken along for the ride. But it probably doesn’t happen as often as you think.</p>
<p>I believe people who have what it takes to become self made billionaires are the same people the elite schools are looking for. The elite schools didn’t make them, they made themselves. The elite schools just recognized their potential.</p>
<p>Many already stated this is not a good indicator of school quality, but I enjoyed the fact USC being a top 10 in the Forbes’s list. As a later comer in the elite University arena, and known for the bad name during the past, USC did, and is doing some great things for its students. Being an international student here, I am truly amazed by the spirit and positive attitude this University has, and bestows on the students here. </p>
<p>Also, Alex may have done a wrong math in his list. USC has 11 undergrads and 2 grads as billionaires. Shouldn’t that be 13 in total? Or Did I miss something here?</p>
<p>It’s also important to realize that a lot of people who become billionaires had insane connections that had nothing to do with what college they attended. If anything, it’s no surprise that people with such great connections would attend the most elite universities since great connections usually leads to family wealth which leads to SAT tutoring and I think we can all fill in the rest.</p>
<p>QW, you are quite correct. I have gone through my list again and cleaned it up. My list does not vary greatly from the Forbes list, but it is more accurate.</p>
<p>UNDERGRADUATE:
Harvard University 20
University of Pennsylvania 20
Yale University 19
Princeton University 13
Stanford University 12
University of Texas-Austin 11
New York University 10
University of Southern California 11
Cornell University 9
University of California-Berkeley 9
University of California-Los Angeles 9
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 9
Columbia University 8
Dartmouth College 8
Duke University 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 8
Michigan State University 5
Northwestern University 5
Baylor University 4
Claremont McKenna College 4
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign 4
University of Virginia 4
Amherst College 3
Babson College 3
Boston College 3
Georgetown University 3
Lehigh University 3
Louisiana State University 3
Syracuse University 3
Tufts University 3
University of Chicago 3
University of Oklahoma 3
University of Toronto 3
University of Utah 3
Williams College 3</p>
<p>GRADUATE:
Harvard University 47
Stanford University 27
Columbia University 12
University of Chicago 10
University of Pennsylvania 9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6
New York University 6
Northwestern University 6
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 6
University of Virginia 4
University of California-Berkeley 3
Cornell University 2
Johns Hopkins University 2
University of California-Los Angeles 2
University of Southern California 2</p>
<p>TOTAL:
Harvard University 67
Stanford University 39
University of Pennsylvania 29
Columbia University 20
Yale University 19
New York University 17
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 15
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 14
Princeton University 14
University of Chicago 13
University of Southern California 13
University of California-Berkeley 12
Cornell University 11
Northwestern University 11
University of California-Los Angeles 11
University of Texas-Austin 11
Duke University 9
Dartmouth College 8
University of Virginia 8
Michigan State University 6
Baylor University 4
Claremont McKenna College 4
Johns Hopkins University 4
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign 4
University of Utah 4
Amherst College 3
Babson College 3
Boston College 3
Fordham University 3
Georgetown University 3
Lehigh University 3
Louisiana State University 3
Syracuse University 3
Tufts University 3
University of Oklahoma 3
University of Toronto 3
Williams College 3</p>
<p>TOTAL NET WORTH OF ABOVE ALUMS BY INSTITUTION:
Harvard University $277,500,000,000
Stanford University $197,000,000,000
Columbia University $124,500,000,000
University of Pennsylvania $112,000,000,000
Yale University $79,000,000,000
Massachusetts Institute of Technology $70,500,000,000
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor $57,000,000,000
University of Texas-Austin $53,000,000,000
University of Chicago $52,500,000,000
Princeton University $46,000,000,000
University of California-Berkeley $37,000,000,000
New York University $36,500,000,000
Northwestern University $28,500,000,000
University of Southern California $25,500,000,000
University of California-Los Angeles $25,000,000,000
Cornell University $21,500,000,000
University of Virginia $19,500,000,000
Johns Hopkins University $18,500,000,000
Dartmouth College $18,000,000,000
Duke University $17,500,000,000
Tufts University $15,500,000,000
Claremont McKenna University $15,000,000,000
Michigan State University $14,500,000,000
Syracuse University $12,000,000,000
University of Toronto $10,500,000,000
Fordham University $10,000,000,000
University of Utah $9,500,000,000
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign 8,500,000,000
<p>Sorry to go offtrack but I’d rather be a millionaire than a billionaire. A billionaire lifestyle is just so hectic and “out there” as in high-profile.</p>
<p>isn’t this sort of meaningless since these lists don’t account for size of institution? larger schools are likely to have more billionaires and almost by default, a greater net worth of alumni.</p>
<p>rd31. That is why it is really cool that Babson is on the list. Their undergraduate school has only 30,000 alumni since the foundation of the school, while some other schools on the list have 30,000 first year students each year.</p>