The success stories of many billionaires around the world inspire many people of our generation and have, on several occasions, ignited a desire in many to start their own business. However, many of these successful people began their career by working ordinary jobs. Let’s look at 5 such successful people, who started their career by working some very ordinary jobs.
First jobs of famous billionaires
1) Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and is often referred to as the “Oracle of Omaha.” However, this American business magnate started his career by selling Coca-Cola bottles, chewing gum and magazines door-to-door. At the age of 13, he became a newspaper delivery boy and made $ 175 a month, delivering TheWashington Post. He continued to look for other business ventures and accumulated savings of $ 9,800 by the time he finished college. Now, with a net worth of $ 82 billion, he is the fourth richest person in the world.
2) Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg, who founded the financial, software, data and media company Bloomberg L.P., worked as a parking lot attendant when he was young. Born to middle class parents, Bloomberg worked in a parking lot to pay his tuition fees in college and went on to graduate from Harvard Business School. Now a well known philanthropist, Michael Bloomberg is one of the richest people in America, with a net worth of $ 53.5 billion.
3) Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is a well known media mogul and entrepreneur, who worked as a grocery store clerk in Nashville to support herself. She then landed a job in radio at the age of 16 and worked her way to the top, eventually owning her own production company. Now, with a net worth of $ 2.6 billion, she is considered one of the most influential women in the world and is a source of inspiration to many.
4) Li Ka Shing
Li Ka Shing was the former chairperson of CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings and is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia. Coming from a poor family, he started his career as an apprentice at a watch strap factory when he was 13 years old and at the age of 19, became the general manager of the factory. He later started his own plastic manufacturing company and used the profits from the company to invest in real estate. Li slowly worked his way up the ladder of success and is now one of the richest people in Hong Kong, with a net worth of $ 27.1 billion.
5) Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American Shark Tank investor, co founder of Broadcast.com and owner of the American basketball team Dallas Mavericks. Cuban began working at the age of 12 as a door to door garbage bag salesman. After graduating college, he worked as a bartender and then as a salesman for a software company. He started his own company, Broadcast.com, after getting fired from his job and now has a net worth of $ 4.1 billion.
It is true, starting at the bottom does not guarantee success. However, if you find your passion and work hard towards it, nothing is impossible, as the aforementioned individuals proved.
MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.
MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.
As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.
This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service
Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.
The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.
This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.
Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.
Hypergro.ai, a Bengaluru-based marketing technology startup, has raised Rs 7 crore in seed funding led by Silverneedle Ventures, with participation from Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, FiiRE, and angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar, and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, the company aims to revolutionize digital marketing by addressing challenges like high Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and low Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
The startup leverages AI to create hyper-personalized video ads using user-generated content (UGC). The fresh capital will be used to enhance Hypergro.ai’s AI capabilities, expand operations, and build a specialized team focusing on data analysis, predictive algorithms, and automation.
Since its inception, Hypergro.ai has collaborated with over 70 brands, including several from Shark Tank India. The company’s innovative approach has led to its selection for Google’s Startups Accelerator: AI First (India) program in July 2024, providing access to critical training, mentorship, and state-of-the-art AI tools.
Hypergro.ai’s platform now supports a community of over 300,000 creators across India and has partnered with more than 100 brands, significantly enhancing its AI model’s accuracy and improving revenue generation for clients. As it continues to expand and refine its AI-powered marketing solutions, Hypergro.ai is set to transform the digital advertising landscape, offering businesses more effective and efficient customer acquisition and engagement strategies.