No Millennial Millionaires Here!
Most people who become millionaires have to wait several decades to achieve this goal. Unless you're born into wealth, becoming a millionaire could mean starting the next Amazon, Microsoft, or Apple. For these millionaires, it took decades of hard work, shrewd investments, and the right mindset. Let's explore how they made their fortunes later in life.
Vera Wang Was 40 When She Made Her Fortune
We all know Vera Wang as the fashion designer extraordinaire who works for Vogue. But before she made her millions designing bridalwear for people like Kim Kardashian, Hillary Clinton, and Ariana Grande, she was a journalist and amateur figure skater. Her current net worth? $650 million.
Christopher Peterson, Wikimedia Commons
Donald Fisher Didn't Mind The Gap
Donald and Doris Fisher founded Gap, the iconic clothing brand that is now the largest specialty retailer in the United States. Starting as a store that sold Levi's jeans in all sizes and types, Gap Inc grew to become an American icon. Founded by two individuals in their 40s, it is now valued at $1.5 billion.
Patrick McMullan, Getty Images
Martha Stewart Cooked Up A Millionaire Storm By The Time She Was 40
Martha Stewart has long been a staple on American daytime TV, particularly in the home and hospitality sector. A staple in the interior decorating and renovating sectors of daytime television, Stewart's media empire was ubiquitous in the 1980s and 1990s, but it all began with her book, Entertaining, published in 1982. Today, she's worth a staggering $400 million.
Simon Cowell Started In The Mail Room Of EMI, Then Became A Talent Show Judge
In his 20s, Simon Cowell got a job in the mailroom of EMI Music Publishing, courtesy of his father, who worked for the record label. Slowly learning the ropes for more than a decade, Cowell took the job of a judge on a British talent show called Pop Idol (2001). The rest is history and Cowell made his first million pounds at the age of 42. Now he's worth $600 million.
lison Martin of SimonCowellOnline.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Alan Rickman's Millions Came As An Actor, But That Wasn't His First Job
Alan Rickman (may he rest in peace) had a stable, successful career as a graphic designer in England in his early 20s. He left it to pursue acting and never looked back. Acting in theater roles for much of that decade of his life, his first breakthrough was Die Hard (1988) and then, of course, the infamous Harry Potter film series. Rickman passed away in 2016, but had a net worth of $16 million.
David Shankbone derivative work: Suzelfe (talk), Wikimedia Commons
Samuel L Jackson Had Jungle Fever
Despite being an actor since his 20s, Samuel L Jackson didn't really achieve great success until Jungle Fever (1981), directed by Spike Lee. But it was really Pulp Fiction (1994) that catapulted Jackson to fame and fortune. Despite starting late, he's accrued a net worth of $250 million.
Dick Thomas Johnson, Wikimedia Commons
Sam Walton Wasn't Always An Entrepreneur
Sam Walton, one of the founders of Wal-Mart and member of one of the richest families in the US, he founded Walmart at the age of 44 as a discount store in 1962. Known as Wal-Mart Discount City, based in Rogers, Arkansas, Walton's entrepreneurship survived his passing in 1992, creating a family fortune of $267 billion.
Photo credit: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Wikimedia Commons
Henry Ford Was 40 When He Founded Ford Motor Company
The engineer and automobile designer was 40 when he founded the Ford Motor Company, but it took five years for the Ford Model T to be released. This car revolutionized transportation in the United States and made Ford a millionaire. Today, the Ford family fortune is worth around $200 billion, all thanks to Henry.
Ford Motor Company. Photographic Department, Wikimedia Commons
Jack Weil Was The United States' Oldest CEO At 107
He might have been 107 when he passed away in 2008, but he was still the CEO of Rockmount Ranch Wear, one of the most popular brands of cowboy apparel in the country. That company started when Jack was 45, beginning in 1946. Neither Weil's company's net worth, nor his personal net worth are publicly available, but we guess that he was definitely a millionaire.
Jack Weil, 106-year-old CEO, The Denver Post
Rodney Dangerfield Made Us Laugh Till We Cried, But Only Later In Life
The comedian had been performing small shows here and there across the US for many years, but it wasn't until he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967 that he made his mark on American comedy properly. Dangerfield's fortune was an approximate $10 million when he passed away in 2004.
Press photo, photographer unknown, Wikimedia Commons
James Dyson Hoovered Up The Millions In His Mid-40s
James Dyson is the man behind the Dyson hoover, one of Britain's most famous cleaning appliances. It all started with the dual cyclone vacuum cleaner, created by two rotating cyclones that were revolutionary in the late 1970s. He began the Dyson company at the age of 46 and is today worth around $27 billion.
Eva Rinaldi, Wikimedia Commons
David Duffield's Human Resource Management Software Made Him A Millionaire
If you rely on human resource management systems to help you with your company's HR, chances are you have David Duffield to thank for it. Beginning the software company known as PeopleSoft in 1987, David Duffield would find great success and eventually sell the company to Oracle in 2005 for $10.7 billion.
Duffield Award Ceremony 2018, Cornell Engineering
Susan Boyle Dreamed A Dream That Made Her An Overnight Sensation
Nobody had heard of Susan Boyle before 2009. Then, she walked on stage and sang "I Dreamed A Dream" on Britain's Got Talent. Her performance made her an overnight sensation and success, and fame and fortune soon followed. Boyle's current net worth is $40 million, but she was 48 when she won BGT and signed a million-dollar record deal.
Julia Child Cooked Her Way To Millionaire Status Just Before She Was 50
Beginning her career in media and advertising, Child's career as a chef didn't launch until 1961 at the age of 49. She wrote her first cookbook that year: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 18 cookbooks and 13 TV shows would follow and Child's accrued a $38 million net worth before her passing in 2004.
Lynn Gilbert, Wikimedia Commons
Charles Darwin's Evolutionary Theory Made Him A Quiet Millionaire
Charles Darwin may have been one of the world's quietest millionaires. He was 21 when he climbed aboard the HMS Beagle for his infamous voyage as a naturalist. He'd spend 29 years in the field before writing The Origin of Species at the age of 50. In 1922, he died with a fortune of around $9 million in today's money.
John Collier, Wikimedia Commons
Taikichiro Mori Builds His Wealth At 51
Taikichiro Mori was a Japanese real estate magnate since 1959, when he quit his job as an economics professor to enter the real estate business. By 1992, he was the richest man in the world, with a net worth of $13 billion. One year later, Mori passed away from heart failure at 88.
Ray Kroc Was The McDonald's Star Franchisee
Often said to be the man who took McDonald's to new heights, Ray Kroc had been working as a milkshake machine salesman before becoming a McDonald's franchisee in 1954. Seven years later, he was able to buy out the owners of the company and build the brand into a fast food powerhouse. His net worth was reported to be around $600 million at the time of his passing in 1984.
Sigfried Rödig, Wikimedia Commons
Ariana Huffington's Post-50 Millionaire News Empire
Ariana Huffington was 54 years old when she founded The Huffington Post, a media website dedicated to the latest news and politics, back in 2005. Six years later, Huffington sold her website and print paper to AOL for $315 million.
JD Lasica from Pleasanton, CA, US, Wikimedia Commons
An American Blues Musician Becomes A Millionaire From A UK Performance
Steven Gene Wold may not be a name you're familiar outside of the blues music scene, but he's one of America's most famous current blues musicians... in the UK. He'd been a musician for years when he got his big moment on British TV show Jools Hollands' Annual Hootenanny in 2006. Propelling him to musical fame, he's worth an estimated $3 million at 70.
User:JimHxn, Wikimedia Commons
Colonel Sanders' (Very) Late In Life Millionaire Chicken Business
Of course, perhaps the most famous of America's late-blooming billionaires is Colonel Sanders, or "Harland Sanders," who became a millionaire at the age of 73. He found success by selling his burgeoning fried chicken to franchisees at the age of 66. In 1964, he sold the business for $2 million and (hopefully) retired well.
Estelle Getty Becomes The Golden Girl At 65
Starring in all 177 episodes of The Golden Girls, Estelle Getty was 65 when she won the Primetime Emmy Award for her role as Sophia Petrillo. Getty netted millions thanks to The Golden Girls, and her current net worth is around $8 million.
Ernestine Shepherd Is The World's Oldest Competitive Female Bodybuilder
Unless you're into the world of bodybuilding, you may have no idea who Ernestine Shepherd is. This trailblazing heroine entered her first bodybuilding competition in 2007 at the age of 71, having started working out in 1992. She would win multiple competitions and earn herself a net worth of over $2 million.
The Washington Post, Getty ImagesWho's Your Favorite Old Millionaire?
Which one of these is your favorite millionaire who came to money later in life? How do you plan to make your first million? Let us know in the comments below. Hopefully you'll do it before these folks!
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