Iconic Executives Without College Degrees

An advanced degree is certainly helpful in any business climate-no one disputes that. But degrees do not guarantee success and true entrepreneurs and leaders often have other special talents and virtues that empower them to achieve great success. I work with many executives who do NOT have their advanced degree and some have no college degree at all – and they share with me in confidence that they worry about the perception of that.

To be sure we are looking at the picture of success with eyes wide open, let’s take a look at just a very small list of executives (in no particular order) who did NOT obtain their college degree:

Ted Turner, Time Warner / AOL Philanthropist

Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Corporation

Anna Wintour, English Editor-In-Chief of American Vogue

Sheldon Adelson, CEO and Chairman of Las Vegas Sands

Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft Corp

Steve Jobs, The late Co-Founder of Apple

Matt Mullenweg, Founder of WordPress

Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle

Arash Ferdowsi, Co-Founder of Dropbox

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook

David Neeleman, Founder of JetBlue Airways

Susan Lyne, CEO of AOL’s Content Brands

John Mackay, Founder of Whole Foods

Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell

Mary Elizabeth Bradford is the Founder and Executive Director of CEOresumewriter.com and Maryelizabethbradford.com and a past executive recruiter. A thought leader in the career services industry for over 20 years, she holds 5 distinct advanced certifications for senior-level resume writing, online branding and executive-level job search coaching (CERM, CMRW, CARW, MCD, NCOPE). She has been seen and heard in major media including Forbes, Time, WSJ, Newsweek and NBC affiliate stations. She holds 2 CDI TORI awards and is a top tier judge for the elite CDI TORI awards for four consecutive years. Mary Elizabeth Bradford’s elite team of award-winning, certified, top executive resume writers, former top executive recruiters, and global HR executives help many of the world’s premier C-suite, board members and thought leaders secure the transitions and compensation packages they want. She works with clients all over the globe.

Search Blog Title

Latest Posts