Two Famous Harvard Dropouts

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It just occur to me that during the time I was at Harvard (from the spring of 1961 to my last paycheck in July of 2007), the university produced two world famous dropouts (i.e., they started at Harvard but did not finish their studies and graduate). These two persons, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, bear some strong resemblances:

1. They both became billionaires while still in their twenties and not married

2. They are both computer nerds

3. They were both disciplined by the University during their time in college for computer related “indiscretions”

4. They both made their money in information technology

Gates needs no introduction. Zuckerberg probably is less well known since I understand his social network product the FACEBOOK is blocked in China. Here are some interesting news about him:

a. He founded the company only in 2004

b. He refused an offer to buy his company for 1 billion dollars from Hewlett-Packard

c. Microsoft just invested 250 million dollars for 1% ownership of his company

d. He was TIME magazine man of the year for 2010

e. The un-authorized biographical movie “Social Network” was a 2010 hit

f. He recently donated 100 million dollars to improve the public school system of the city of Newark NJ.

g. He is one of signatories of the Giving Pledge philanthropy started by Buffet and Gates

h. There are 500 million members of Facebook

i. His live-in girl friend is a Chinese-American, Priscilla Chan, studying to be a medical doctor

j. His company, Facebook, recently received 1.5 billion investment from Goldman-Sachs, the investment banking giant.

If making money is your goal, then I wonder what lessons you can learn from them