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Did you know that Considering that this makes a high-school dropout ineligible for 90% of jobs in the country, is there any reason to think that they’ll find success?

Actually, there is. Though I don’t recommend that anyone drops out of high school and I’m a big believer in school, there is hope if you’ve not been able to complete high school.

In the 21st Century, successful people like Tumblr founder David Karp have left high school and entered the business work and have found some serious success. But, being a millionaire wasn’t good enough for these 9 billionaires who shunned higher education.

John D. Rockefeller

Arguably the richest American of all-time, the would have an unimaginable ! It’s hard to believe that Rockefeller only attended high school and brief bookkeeping studies at a commercial college before seeking employment at the age of 16.

Related: These Are the World’s Top 10 Young Billionaires

Henry Ford

left the family farm when he was 16 to relocate to Detroit. He became apprentice in a machine shop and later chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company. Ford built his first car in 1896 and would go on to revolutionize the assembly line. His ! Not bad for someone who had no formal education in science.

Amancio Ortega

At around the age of 14, Amancio Ortega left school and began running errands for local shops. In 1975 he founded Zara, which would become an empire in the fashion world by expanding aggressively and controlling much of its own supply chain. Today, Ortega is the richest man in Spain with .

Kirk Kerkorian

Kirk Kerkorian dropped out of the eighth grade, became an amateur boxer, World War II fighter pilot and mega-resort tycoon. It all began when Kerkorian purchased a piece of land in Las Vegas in 1962 and opened the original MGM Grand seven years later. At the time of his passing, .

Related: What the 38th Wealthiest American Did When Harvard Rejected Him

Francois Pinault

The fifth richest individual in France, who has holdings like Gucci, Christie’s auctioneers, Samsonite and Puma, left his private school in 1947 because his classmates made fun of his poor background. Pinault worked in his father’s lumber mill and now is said to be with an art collection that contains more than 2,000 works.

David H. Murdock

David H. Murdock left school in the ninth grade and worked at a gas station until he was drafted into the Army in 1945. After returning from World War II, Murdock purchased his first business, a diner in Detroit. He flipped the diner several months later and made a $700 profit. In 1985, he acquired Hawaiian real estate outfit Castle & Cooke, which owned fruit company Dole. Dole became the world’s largest fruit and vegetable producer. Murdock is .

Richard Branson

One of the most recognizable billionaires in the world, Sir Richard Branson struggled with dyslexia and dropped out of school when he was 16. He soon founded his first business, a mail-order record retailer called Student Magazine. That company would become the Virgin Records stores and music label. During his career, Branson has overseen overseen approximately 500 companies and is .

Carl Lindner Jr.

During the Great Depression, 14 year-old Carl Lindner Jr. dropped out of school to deliver milk for his family’s dairy company. Lindner opened up an ice cream shop with his two brothers that became the United Dairy Farmers chain, which operates around 200 stores. In 1984, Lindner purchased Chiquita Brands International. In 1999, he became part owner and CEO of the Cincinnati Reds. At the time of his passing, Lindner was estimated to be worth $1.7 billion. The.

Joe Lewis

Joe Lewis, the sixth richest man in the U.K., left school at the age of 15 to run his father’s catering business, Tavistock Banqueting. Through his Tavistock Group, Lewis has interest in more than 200 companies, which include the London Premiership soccer team Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs), a stake in UK’s largest pub operator, Mitchell’s & Butlers plc, approximately 135 restaurants in the U.S. and four medical centers in Lake Nona, Florida, one the fastest growing communities in the U.S.

Today, . His art collection alone is said to worth over a billion dollars.

Related: 9 Billionaires Who Plan to Give Away Most of Their Money