This is probably one of the hottest months we have experienced and my electricity bill is rising rapidly with the temperature. In fact, I seem to have had a lot of expenses lately, especially paying for services of non-college workers.
The salary of my relative’s caretaker, for example, has jumped to 14,000 baht per month, with free food and accommodation. For someone to come in and fix things around my house, I pay 500 baht for just an hour’s work.
Somehow I feel that college-educated workers are probably the new poor, especially new graduates, who are getting paid only slightly above non-college workers for doing office jobs.
I wonder whether education and earnings are really positively related. Looking at the list of the world’s richest people, this may not be the case. Many of the world’s billionaires do not have college degrees and the reason they made it to the top depends largely on something else.
To put things into perspective, let’s look at some statistics. Despite the weak global recovery, the number of billionaires worldwide in 2014 has climbed to a record 1,645 with an aggregate net worth of US$6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion a year ago. There are 268 first-time billionaires, including 42 women, the most ever.
Wealth is also expanding to new places in the world, with billionaires emerging in Algeria, Lithuania and Tanzania. The United States continues to be the world leader in wealth creation by far, with 492 billionaires, followed by China with 152 and Russia with 111.
The five richest people are Bill Gates (US), Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico), Warren Buffett (US), Amancio Ortega (Spain) and Ingvar Kamprad (Sweden), respectively. Interestingly, most of them do not have college degrees. Here are some of their stories.
Bill Gates, with estimated wealth of $78.5 billion, has reclaimed the title of world’s richest person from Carlos Slim Helu, who ranked No.1 for the past four years. Gates’ road to riches started when he saw the potential in personal computers before anyone else fully grasped the commercial value of the idea. He dropped out of Harvard to follow his vision and built the biggest software company in the world, Microsoft. Last year, Microsoft shares rose tremendously, as did Gates’ fortune. He is famous for saying: "If you are born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it’s your mistake."
Amancio Ortega was born into a poor family. Few people know his name but millions know the famous brand that he stands behind – Zara. He is a high-school dropout who began working for a shirtmaker at the age of 13. He worked hard until he eventually founded Zara. Ortega continues to be a workaholic despite having a lot of money. He is now Europe’s richest man and the owner of Inditex Group, the world’s largest clothing retailer.
Ingvar Kamprad grew up on a farm in Sweden and has no college education. He started Ikea with a little money his father gave him when he was teenager. Ikea is now well known around the world for its unique furniture and home products, and Kamprad is well known for his distinct ideas. While most CEOs seem to care about proving that their brand is the best in the world, Kamprad seems to reject the idea of "best" for Ikea. He has said: "Ikea is not completely perfect. It irritates me to death to hear it said that Ikea is the best company in the world. We are going the right way to becoming it, for sure, but we are not there yet."
Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) is widely considered the world’s greatest value investor. Although he attended college, he himself does not think highly of higher education. He thinks that college is not for everyone. In fact, none of his three children graduated from college and they still have successful careers. He once said: "The best education you can get is investing in yourself. But this doesn’t always mean college or university. I have two degrees but I don’t have them on my wall; in fact, I don’t even know where they are."
Li Ka-shing, the richest man in Asia and 20th wealthiest in the world, was a fatherless teenager whose family was so poor that he was forced to abandon school and work 16 hours a day at a plastics factory. Today he is one of the world’s richest business leaders and most generous philanthropists. He is quoted as saying: "It doesn’t matter how strong or capable you are; if you don’t have a big heart, you will not succeed."
These stories make me think that perhaps a college education is not necessary for everyone. So if you are not one of those lucky 50% in Thailand who have a chance to go to college, or you’re disappointed with your recent entrance examination result, do not feel discouraged. I really think the opportunities are always there.
After all, what makes you rich is the attitude that you have and how you build your own success story upon it. Real wealth does not come with a price tag and is something you choose with your own gratitude.
Dr Tientip Subhanij holds a PhD in economics from the University of Cambridge, and currently has a career in banking as well as academia. She can be reached at tien201@yahoo.com