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24 people who were born poor but went on to make billions

From very little to very rich
Kenny Troutt: now worth $1.4 billion (£1.09bn)
Kenny Troutt: then
Kenny Troutt: then
David Murdock: now worth $2 billion (£1.56bn)
David Murdock: then
David Murdock: then
John Paul DeJoria: now worth $2.5 billion (£1.95bn)
John Paul DeJoria: now
John Paul DeJoria: now
Mohed Altrad: now worth $2.5 billion (£1.95bn)
Mohed Altrad: then
Mohed Altrad: then
Howard Schultz: now worth $2.7 billion (£2.1bn)
Howard Schultz: then
Howard Schultz: then
Oprah Winfrey: now worth $2.9 billion (£2.27bn)
Oprah Winfrey: then
Oprah Winfrey: then
Zhang Xin: now worth $3.6 billion (£2.8bn)
Zhang Xin: then
Zhang Xin: then
Ken Langone: now worth $3.6 billion (£2.8bn)
Ken Langone: then
Ken Langone: then
Do Won Chang: now worth $3 billion (£2.34bn)
Do Won Chang: then
Do Won Chang: then
Stephen Bisciotti: now worth $4.2 billion (£3.3bn)
Stephen Bisciotti: then
Stephen Bisciotti: then
Frank Lowy: now worth $5.8 billion (£4.6bn)
Frank Lowy: then
Frank Lowy: then
Ralph Lauren: now worth $6.2 billion (£4.9bn)
Ralph Lauren: then
Ralph Lauren: then
Jan Koum: now worth $9 billion (£7.02bn)
Jan Koum: then
Jan Koum: then
Roman Abramovich: now worth $11.3 billion (£8.81bn)
Roman Abramovich: then
Roman Abramovich: then
Harold Hamm: now worth $14.1 billion (£11.1bn)
Harold Hamm: then
Harold Hamm: then
Thomas Peterffy: now worth $20.3 billion (£15.9bn)
Thomas Peterffy: then
Thomas Peterffy: then
Leonardo Del Vecchio: now worth $23.1 billion (£18.02bn)
Leonardo Del Vecchio: then
Leonardo Del Vecchio: then
Francois Pinault: now worth $30.7 billion (£23.95bn)
Francois Pinault: then
Francois Pinault: then
Li Ka-Shing: now worth $33.1 billion (£25.82bn)
Li Ka-Shing: then
Li Ka-Shing: then
Sheldon Adelson: now worth $38.5 billion (£30.2bn)
Sheldon Adelson: then
Sheldon Adelson: then
Larry Ellison: now worth $58.5 billion (£45.9bn)
Larry Ellison: then
Larry Ellison: then
Amancio Ortega: now worth $70 billion (£55bn)
Amancio Ortega: then
Amancio Ortega: then
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From very little to very rich

Many of the world’s richest people came from humble backgrounds to become billionaires, with childhood poverty, war and other issues driving them on to succeed. Using the Forbes Billionaires List 2018 as a guide, and starting from the least rich to the richest, here are some of the wealthiest people on the plant who survived a challenging upbringing and went on to build huge billion-dollar empires.
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Harriet Noble

07 September 2018

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