# Who is the most famous college dropout of all time?

> Harvard left early, NYU half finished, a Reed semester cut short: none of them needed the diploma. Pick the dropout whose story everyone knows.

*By YPB Team · Published September 28, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-most-famous-college-dropout-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Bill Gates** — score 1000/1000
   Left Harvard in 1975 to start Microsoft and got an honorary degree 32 years later.
2. **Kanye West** — score 670/1000
   Left Chicago State University to pursue music and named his debut album The College Dropout.
3. **Steve Jobs** — score 604/1000
   Left Reed College after one semester, kept sitting in on calligraphy classes, then co-founded Apple.
4. **Tiger Woods** — score 558/1000
   Left Stanford after two years to turn professional in golf.
5. **Michael Dell** — score 447/1000
   Started selling PCs from his University of Texas dorm room and left at 19 to found Dell.
6. **Ellen DeGeneres** — score 447/1000
   Spent one semester at the University of New Orleans before leaving for stand-up comedy.
7. **Larry Ellison** — score 446/1000
   Dropped out of two universities before co-founding Oracle.
8. **Lady Gaga** — score 446/1000
   Left NYU's Tisch School of the Arts at 19 to focus on her music career.
9. **Matt Damon** — score 446/1000
   Left Harvard a few credits short of a degree while writing Good Will Hunting.
10. **Frank Lloyd Wright** — score 446/1000
   Architect who left the University of Wisconsin without a degree.
11. **Tom Hanks** — score 298/1000
   Left California State University, Sacramento, for an acting internship that led to Hollywood.
12. **Ralph Lauren** — score 298/1000
   Studied business at Baruch College for two years, then left to sell ties.
13. **Mark Zuckerberg** — score 298/1000
   Left Harvard in his second year to run Facebook full time.
14. **Harrison Ford** — score 0/1000
   Failed to graduate from Ripon College and became a carpenter before Star Wars.
15. **Jack Dorsey** — score 0/1000
   Left New York University shortly before graduating and later co-founded Twitter and Square.
16. **Mick Jagger** — score 0/1000
   Left the London School of Economics when the Rolling Stones took off.
17. **Brad Pitt** — score 0/1000
   Left the University of Missouri two weeks before graduation and drove to Los Angeles.

Tags: celebrities, business, steve jobs, college, dropouts