What do Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates, Dell Computers founder Michael Dell, vacuum cleaner giant David Oreck, Beanie Baby king Ty Warner and the late, great CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite - once named "The Most Trusted Man in America" - all have in common? None of them have a master's degree.
In fact, numerous corporate CEOs, journalists and other successful businessmen don't have MBAs or masters in any field of study. Better yet - Dell, Gates, Oreck, Warner and Cronkite don't even have bachelor's degrees.
That's right. None of them have a graduate or undergraduate diploma. Both Walter Cronkite and Michael Dell attended the University of Texas at Austin, but neither finished. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. David Oreck never went to college; and Ty Warner spent only a year at Kalamazoo College in Michigan.
Besides them, billionaire Dennis Albaugh - who made
his fortune from pesticides - has only an associate's degree from an Iowa community college, Vulcan
chairman and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen dropped out of Washington State College, 
Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson has no college degree, show business and broadcasting mogul Barry Diller - who throughout his career was chairman of Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox - and who is the media executive responsible for the creation of the Fox Television Network - had enough of higher education after spending only three weeks at U.C.L.A; and the list goes on and on. 
But not having a degree didn't stop many magnates from being a "big name on campus." One example is the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. 
Another corporate guru, whose name is stamped on millions of Americans' automobiles, not only didn't go to college, but Henry Ford never completed high school. At 16, Ford left home to apprentice as a machinist. He later began the Ford Motor Company - and in addition to manufacturing cars - Ford created assembly line production, which revolutionized the automaking industry. 
Obviously though, just because these people and others have made it big without a college degree doesn't mean everyone can. Then again, a college education doesn't guarantee a career with power and wealth. That being said, the next time you hear a teenager with an entrepreneurial mind saying it's not necessary for him or her to go to college because they've got an "idea" - you may want to listen. It's quite possible your son or daughter could someday become one of the richest persons in the world. If you have any doubts - just ask retired attorney William Gates. He's Bill's Dad.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
Copyright 2012 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
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