Hate your Job? Read about the first jobs of world’s most successful people

July 17, 2018

2857

All of us have started our working lives somewhere. Some of us would have worked at a warehouse, as a factory worker, making burgers, or in a call centre resolving queries, before we graduated to becoming entrepreneurs or full time career professionals.

Blue collar work does build character. Not surprisingly, the world’s most successful people in technology, arts, and entertainment all started with a humble blue collar job, before deciding on a career that will make them successful.

Did you know that Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Noted Author Stephen King and Motivational Speaker Tony Robbins worked as a janitor before they found their calling in entrepreneurship?

Or did you know that one of the world’s richest men, Warren Buffet worked as a paper boy? Or that former US President Barack Obama worked as a ice cream scooper at Baskin Robbins in his first job?

First Jobs, an interactive platform that lists the world’s most successful people in music, business and film, highlighting their surprisingly humble jobs they had before making it big.

Here is a list of successful people and what their first jobs were:

Jeff Bezos – CEO and Founder of Amazon ($130BN net worth)

First Job: McDonalds employee
- Salary at time of job (approx. 1980): $6,000 per year
- Salary in 2017: Approx. $1.7M
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: $35.6BN
Fact: With Bezos’ 2017 increase in net worth, he could afford to give $109 to every single person living in the USA

2. Warren Buffett – CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ($88BN net worth)

First Job: Paper boy
- Salary at time of job (1944): $364 per year
- Salary in 2017: $100,000 per year
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: $12.2BN

3. Mark Zuckerberg – CEO and Founder of Facebook ($66BN net worth)

First Job: Software engineer
- Salary at time of job: $0 – Zuckerberg turned down a $1M offer for his first software platform.
- Salary in 2017: $1 – Draws a minimal salary
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: $24.8BN

4. Larry Ellison – Founder and former CEO of Oracle ($62BN net worth)

First Job: Programmer
- Salary at time of job (approx. 1984): $15,000 p/a
- Salary in 2017: $41.2M (including stock)
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: $11.6BN

5. Michael Dell – CEO and Founder of Dell ($23BN net worth)

First Job: Dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant
- Salary at time of job (approx. 1977): $5,000 per year
- Salary in 2017: $3.25M
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: Approx. $3BN

6. Elon Musk – CEO and Founder of Tesla, SpaceX and others ($20BN net worth)

First Job: Janitor of a boiler room at a lumber mill
- Salary at time of job (approx. 1988): $17,500 per year
- Salary in 2017: $150M
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: Approx. $8BN

7. Evan Spiegel – Founder of Snap Inc. ($2BN net worth)

First Job: Red Bull Promoter
- Salary at time of job: $15,000 per year (average RB intern)
- Salary in 2017: $504M (including stock)
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: Approx 1BN

8. Marissa Mayer – CEO of Yahoo ($500M net worth)

First Job: Grocery store clerk
- Salary at time of job (approx. 1990): $8,500 per year
- Salary in 2017: Approx. $250M (including stock)
- Net Worth Increase in 2017: Approx. $110M

9. Lloyd Blankfein – CEO of Goldman Sachs ($1BN net worth)