In general, people tend to associate a successful life with higher education, because they think you can’t succeed in life if you don’t go to college. However, even though this stereotype is wrong, many people still guide their life principles according to this ‘rule’. In addition, all you have to do to become successful is to have a good business idea, to believe in it and to work hard to make things happen – not to mention that a little luck doesn’t hurt.

Of course, education is important, but do you really need it to be successful? For stars like Gabrielle Union and John Legend, getting a degree was essential, but for some super-successful celebrities working hard and focusing on some interesting business ideas were more important. For example, if you can have an estimated net worth of $400 million like Beyonce and work hard every day to build such a fortune just like her, then you definitely don’t need a college degree.

However, when it comes to college, it’s important to understand that a school doesn’t reflect a person’s intelligence. Going to college doesn’t make someone look more intelligent or not. It helps you specialize in a specific field. In other words, it’s no secret that our main aim is to find what we like to do for the rest of our lives (maybe), to become the best in that domain and then to make money as easily as possible for leading a good life.

So, these celebrities show you that you can be rich even without a college degree, but working hard and thinking smart is actually the key to success whatever you choose to do. Read on to find out more info!

Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba is an American actress and businesswoman who started her career at the age of 13. She gained more fame at the age of 19, as the lead actress of the TV series Dark Angel for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. It didn’t take long for her to become a Hollywood actress, starring in a lot of famous movies, such as Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Good Luck Chuck (2007), The Eye (2008), Valentine’s Day (2010), Little Fockers (2010) and so on.

In 2011, our beautiful actress co-founded The Honest Company, a consumer goods company. Alba is not only successful but is also considered one of the most beautiful women in the world by magazines like Men’s Health, Vanity Fair and FHM. According to Forbes, her estimated net worth in 2016 is an astounding $340 million.

Asked about the secret of her success she said that “the secret is surrounding yourself with people who are incredibly smart, staying focused on the mission and making sure — regardless the size of your company — is that you have alignment,” Alba told Vanity Fair. “Those are all very important things in building a business. It’s helped our company.”

Alba graduated from Claremont High School at the age of 16 and she subsequently attended the Atlantic Theater Company. So, as I said at the beginning of this article and Alba confirms, believing in your business, surrounding yourself only with positive people and working hard to make your dreams come true are the secret ingredients to a successful life.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. She performed in various competitions that involved dancing and singing since she was a child. Our famous singer is considered one of the most influential and successful women in the world. She’s one of the world’s best selling recording artists, having sold 118 million records worldwide. The singer is the most nominated woman at the Grammy Awards and has the second-most wins for a woman with a total of 24 (bluegrass-country musician Alison Krauss is first with 27).

However, what many people don’t know about her is that she doesn’t have a college degree. Her mother was a hairdresser and salon owner and her dad a Xerox sales manager. Beyoncé attended St. Mary’s Montessori School in Houston. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later Alief Elsik High School, but she decided to focus more on being a member of Destiny’s Child. “I don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself,” Beyonce said.

Jay-Z

Jay-Z is an American rapper, songwriter, businessman and record producer. As you already know, he’s Beyonce’s husband and they were listed as the most powerful couple by Time magazine. They are also ranked by Forbes 2009 as the Hollywood’s top earning couple.

After his father abandoned the family, Jay-Z and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter. Our rapper attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed, then he attended nearby George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, followed by a stint at Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, though he didn’t graduate. Nevertheless, interviews with him show that he had a wild adolescence in which he sold crack cocaine and was shot three times during that period.

That being said, just like his wife, he never went to college. After working hard to release his debut album in 1996, “Reasonable Doubt”, his career gradually began ascension and the rest is history.

Britney Spears

Britney Spears is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. She is still considered the ‘Princes of Pop’. Britney’s first two albums …Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!… I Did It Again (2000), were global successes and became two of the best-selling albums of all time, making her the best-selling teenage artist of all time. Our famous singer has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best selling music artists.

She attended the Parklane Academy, which she eventually left to pursue music. According to the mass media, in the United States, Britney is the fourth best selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era and the best selling female album artist of the 2000s. According to Forbes, Britney is the highest paid female musician of 2002 and 2012.

Rihanna

Rihanna is a Barbadian singer, actress and businesswoman who gained fame after signing with Def Jam in 2005 and releasing her first two albums Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl like Me (2006). The chart-topping single “Umbrella” earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award. She has collaborated with famous artists, such as Drake, Eminem, Shakira and Calvin Harris.

According to the mass media, Rihanna is one f the best selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 250 million records worldwide. Rihanna’s accolades include nine Grammy Awards, 13 American Music Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and six Guinness World Records.

Our beautiful and talented singer is also the founder of the nonprofit organization called Clara Lionel Foundation, cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and fashion house Fenty under LVMH.

She grew up in a three-bedroom bungalow along with her parents and siblings and sold clothes in a stall on the street. Her parents divorced when she was 14 years old because her father physically abused her mother. Rihanna attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere School, but left it at the age of 16 to pursue a musical career instead.

Whoopi Goldberg

Caryn Elaine Johnson known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg is an American actor, comedian, actor and TV personality who has received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award.

Because of her problems with dyslexia, she decided to drop out of Washington Irving High School in New York City.

Katy Perry

Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter, and TV judge. She used to sing in church when she was young, and it didn’t take long until she started a career in gospel music as a teenager. In 2001, she signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut album called Katy Hudson, but it was commercially unsuccessful. However, she didn’t give up, so in 2007 she signed with Capitol Records. In 2008, she gained fame with her second album called One of the Boys.

Katy Perry has received numerous awards, including four Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a Juno Award. According to Forbes, she’s one of the highest earning women in music from 2011 to 2019 and her estimated net worth is $125 million.

She grew up in a poor family, sometimes using food stamps and eating food from the food bank. She attended religious schools and camps, such as Paradise Valley Christian School in Arizona and Santa Barbara Christian School in California during her elementary years.

Prince Harry

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is a member of the British royal family. He’s the youngest son of Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and also the sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

The prince was educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School, and Eton College. After attending Eton College, he took a one-year break to work on a cattle station in Australia. However, in 2005, the prince enrolled in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he was promoted to the lieutenant level. Harry recently said that he and his wife, Meghan Markle, want to “step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent.”

Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank is an American actress and film producer who starred in The Next Karate Kid, the eighth season of Beverly Hills, 90210, Boys Don’t Cry, and Million Dollar Baby. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics’ Choice Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2005, she was considered one of the most influential people in the world.

Our beautiful and talented actress attended Happy Valley Elementary School, Fairhaven Middle School, and then Sehome High School in Bellingham until she was 16. During a 2010 interview, the actress said that she’s not proud to say that she is a school dropout.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. In 2019, his films have earned $7.2 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest paid actors in the world. He began his career in the 1980s, appearing in TV commercials. And, as you well know, success never comes overnight, but only with hard work and perseverance, DiCaprio gained fame after starring in two movies, namely, Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Gangs of New York (2002) (after a few critically lauded but commercially unsuccessful ones).

DiCaprio’s accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globe Award for The Revenant as well as two other Golden Globes for The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street. He’s also the founder of Appian Way Productions and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (a non-profit organization that promotes environmental awareness). In 2016, Time magazine named DiCaprio one of the most influential people in the world.

Leonardo attended Seeds Elementary School, and then went to John Marshall High School. He publicly said that he hated public school and asked her mother to support him at auditions instead because he wanted to improve their financial situation. After this period, he dropped out of high school, and eventually earned his GED.

Demi Moore

Demi Moore is an American actress and film producer who gained fame as a member of the Brat Pack. She starred in About Last Night… (1986), Ghost (1990) – which earned her a Golden Globe nomination, A Few Good Men (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993), Disclosure (1994) and so on.

In 1996, our beautiful actress became the highest paid actress in film history because she accepted $12.5 million to play in Striptease.

Moore did not have a happy childhood. Her parents divorced when she was born, and at the age of 16, she left school to pursue her modeling career in Europe after getting signed to an agency called Elite. In 2019, the actress publicly stated that at the age of 15 she was raped by an old man. She also said that he paid her mother $500 to get access to her and rape her, and her mother agreed.

Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child star on the Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club (1993 – 1995). He also starred in Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995), Goosebumps (1996), The Slaughter Rule (2002), and The United States of Leland (2003). However, Gosling gained more recognition in 2004 when he played in the romantic drama The Notebook. The actor was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor when he starred in  Half Nelson (2006).

Gosling attended Gladstone Public School, Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School and Lester B. Pearson High School. He chose to drop out of Lester High School when he was 17 years old to pursue acting. Unfortunately, just like many other kids out there, Gosling was bullied during elementary school.