Just 12% of the world’s richest people studied business and 9% arts.
While only 4% of people on the list studied maths and science at university, the result means that more than a quarter of the world’s richest had a grounding in so-called STEM subjects, which includes science, technology, engineering and maths.
It’s a good result, but not as good as for those who didn’t complete tertiary education at all.
Almost a third of people on the rich list do not have degrees including Bill Gates, the richest person in the world with a fortune of around $79 billion who dropped out of Harvard. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, another who left Harvard without a degree, is the youngest person in Forbes’ top 100 with a $33.4 billion net worth.
But before quitting, consider this. The average wealth of those on the list with an engineering background is higher than other categories. The engineering graduates had an average wealth of $25.8 billion, compared to a net worth of $24 billion for billionaires without a degree and $22.5 billion.
