Universities where billionaires are made

By Dian Vujovich

Once upon a time, a very very long time ago, when televisions had yet to make it into every home and John Beresford Tipton was the millionaire on the show named The Millionaire, a millionaire bucks was about as big a money dream as most folks could conjure up.

Of course, that show began in 1955 when billions weren’t talked about,   going to college wasn’t required for anyone who wanted to secure a good job,  the minimum wage was 75 cents an hour and the average Joe earned about 5000 bucks  a year. Making a million then would have taken some real moxie and a  whole lotta  luck.

That luck part is still a component necessary for oh-so many things one hopes to accomplish/acquire in life—including wealth. Decide to add networking to  good fortune, i.e. luck, and getting to billionaire-land might not be as far-fetched a goal as one  thinks.

To help insure that luck part of the equation gets a bit of a leg up, if you’re looking for a college  where more than one alum has made a billion, look no further than to Harvard.

According to a Wealth-X study of universities located in the U.S. and around the globe, it is that prestigious New England university that has spawned the most billionaires— 52 of them, according to their survey. That’s nearly twice the number at  the second ranked school—the University of Pennsylvania where 28 alumni claim billionaire status.

The three other universities in the top five list include Stanford University with 27 billionaire alum; New York University at  17 and Columbia, 15.

Sure it will probably cost a few hundred-thousand bucks for a four-year education at any of those top billionaire-ranked universities. But, if you play your cards right, mix and mingle with the appropriate crowd, make solid friendships and stay in touch with them, your financial future could almost be guaranteed. Almost.

While I’m not sure which is more important—luck or networking—clearly both are as important as getting a fine education is for someone with 10-figure  dreams.

In a Yahoo Finance piece published today,”Billionaire U: Why Harvard Mints Mega-Rich Alums”, David Friedman, president of Wealth-X said this about networking at  Harvard: “Harvard has this entrenched, powerful network that extends across so many sectors and is incredibly pro-active about connecting its alumni. You get a great education, but you also get access.”

Back to that The Millionaire’s  fake $1 million-dollar TV check giveaway mentioned in the first graph, it would be equivalent to about $8.5 million today.

To read the list of 10 Universities from the Wealth-X survey of billionaire alumni visit: http://tinyurl.com/avtnfd2.