HN Explorer

Ask HN: Are there notable “self-made” who came from nothing?

6 points by milkoolong ↗ HN
The underdog success story always link back to a significant role model like mom, dad, uncle, friend of family. For example, mom was an educated school teacher (Daymond John from Shark Tank). Self-made traces back to a support system and growing up without worrying about abuse or food on the table. Are there people who actually made it out of extreme poverty (way below your country's income threshold of poverty) to millionaire without waiting until 60 for your 401k/IRA to "mature"? If so, who and how?

I'm curious. Half for reassurance and the other part of me am interested to find role models outside of gary v, gary tan, gary keller.

6 comments

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h2odragon
Knew a fellow who came from genuine poverty (one of 8 kids!) and became a millionaire+ without family help. His major score sprang from serving in the Army and getting connections that let him become a major force in the military surplus market. He worked hard and was rightly proud of his success but even he admitted that it wouldn't have happened without Uncle Sugar's need to throw away valuable things throughout the 1950s.
adastra22
Andrew Carnegie was born into poverty and became one of the richest people in the world in the late 19th / early 20th century.
GoldenMonkey
Oprah Winfrey overcame incredible childhood hardship and tragedy.

Born to a teenage single mother. Raised in poverty. Abused and molested, had a son at 14. Who died as an infant.

At one time, the world’s only black billionaire. Worth $2.5B today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

dswilkerson
Benjamin Franklin. Went from being a runaway boy to the only person to sign all four documents of the founding of the United States. He dropped out of second grade and taught himself math and reading/writing. He says in his autobiography how he taught himself to write: just rote copying of other people's writing.

His family was not wealthy, but he did have a solid upbringing in a stable family and knew a trade at the professional level by the age of 17, plus has apprenticed at several other trades. He says that his apprenticeship at many trades helped his ability to do science as he could build the experiments himself without asking for help.

dswilkerson
Joan of Arc. French peasant girl who had visions. Ended up leading armies into battle against the English to free her country. Burned at the stake by the English for the crime of wearing pants into battle (instead of a skirt). That's the British for you: kill you and make up some bullshit lie of why they did.
dswilkerson
Fredrick Douglas. Black slave in Maryland. Was taught the alphabet, but that's about all. Taught himself words by going up to white boys and saying "I know more words than you do." The other boy would respond "yea, how about this word and this word and this word?" Fredrick: "oh, wow, you are right."

Seems to have escaped to the North by writing his own papers. Ended up as an absolutely amazing writer. See his autobiography "The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, an American Slave." Amazingly well-written.