When Ken Langone, American businessman and co-founder of Home Depot, was in high school his principal advised his parents not to waste their money sending the “unpromising” student to college. Thankfully, they disagreed, and so his father and mother – Italian immigrants who worked as a plumber and cafeteria worker respectively – mortgaged their house to send him to school.

Once there, Langone worked as a caddy, butcher, and ditch digger to stay afloat, before joining a financial services company on Wall Street. He made an early investment in Home Depot in 1978, and the rest is history. Today, he’s worth $8.7 billion (£6.8bn).

Liking this? Click on the Follow button above for more great stories from loveMONEY

19 billionaires who grew up in poverty before making their fortunes