So, the world’s youngest female billionaire dropped out of uni at 19 years old to develop an idea that went on to change the face of bloodtesting. When I was 19, I’d figured out how to neck Jagerbombs without the glass hitting my teeth (tongue it, guys).
When Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford University, where she studied chemical engineering, her tutor figured it was the right thing to do – she truly believed that her tuition fees could go towards something that could revolutionise healthcare. Soon after that, she created Theranos and, just over ten years later, she’s now the youngest female billionaire on the planet, having recently overtaken Lynsi Snyder, the founder of In-N-Out, a fast food burger chain.
Elizabeth, now barely 30, has opted for a more health-based route to success. Thanks to a fear of needles, and the importance of blood tests in order to detect the early stages of illness, she wanted to create a form of blood testing that would mean people wouldn’t be so afraid. In America, over half of people don’t get blood tests done because of such a fear, even when their doctors have told them to, so something clearly had to be done. With Elizabeth’s method, you get a quick prick (no, you, grow up) that can be done in a pharmacy, is over in nanoseconds and is totally painless. Oh, and it’s incredibly cheap to get done which, considering the US doesn’t have the NHS, is a big plus.
She joins the legions of billionaires who dropped out of uni in order to go on to change the world – Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg both dropped out of Harvard to follow their pursuits, and Steve Jobs also left Reed College to start Apple – which says a lot about uni. Not that it’s pointless, obviously, but that it’s motivation and drive that really make the difference. And a good idea. Theranos, for example, aims to detect signs of disease or illness in the early stages, and is worth $9billion.
Want to get on the Forbes Rich List and check off ‘become a billionaire’ on your bucket list? Get thinking. Or, y’know, toast a Jagerbomb to Elizabeth Holmes and get back to whatever you were doing.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.