If you’re thinking about going to college to become an engineer, you could be on your way to being quite wealthy.
Some of the world’s richest people began their careers as engineers. Engineers are critical to the advancement of any society.
Their contributions to new technologies and advancements make our lives easier and more fun.
The richest engineers in the world today are listed here to give you an idea of who has made a fortune through their engineering careers.
1. Jeff Bezos: Estimated Net worth $207.7B
Jeff Bezos studied computer science and electrical engineering at Princeton University. He went into banking after graduation, but by 1994, he was ready for a change.
He spent some time on Wall Street working for numerous companies before deciding to start his own.
Furthermore, He founded Fitel, a telecommunications firm, and Amazon, Inc. Mr. Bezos worked as a technical engineer for D.E. Shaw & Co. for a while. As of 2021, he is the world’s richest Engineer.
In addition, Amazon’s stock price skyrocketed in 2020, owing to increased demand for online purchasing as people were forced to stay at home due to lockdowns.
Bezos stood down as CEO of Amazon on July 5, 2021, and transitioned to his new post as executive chair.
2. Bernard Arnault: Estimated Net worth $190B
Mr. Arnault’s business ventures rarely include engineering, yet the multibillionaire holds an engineering degree from France’s École Polytechnique.
However, Mr. Arnault is a businessman by trade, despite being an engineer by definition.
Bernard Arnault, a French businessman, is the CEO of LVMH, the international luxury goods firm that owns Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessey.
He’s also a passionate art collector, with Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Henry Moore in his collection. he shares with his family, making him the 2nd richest Engineer on the list.
Arnault oversees 70 brands, including Dom Perignon, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Sephora, and Tag Heuer, as well as approximately 3,900 retail shops, making him one of the world’s ultimate tastemakers.
He has been the CEO of LVMH since 1989 when the company set a new sales record of $40 billion.
3. Elon Musk: Estimated Net worth $160.4B
Elon Musk is the world’s third-richest Engineer. He received his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in engineering. Mr. Musk is a serials businessman.
Furthermore, When Elon Reeve Musk sold his firm, Zip2, to Compaq in his late twenties, he became a multimillionaire.
For his 7% stake in the sale, he received $22 million.
He is now striving to transform transportation on Earth and in space (through Tesla) (through SpaceX).
Mr. Musk owns almost 20% of Tesla, and SpaceX is valued at over $46 billion. He is also a co-founder of Neuralink (a neurotechnology firm that creates implantable brain-machine interfaces).
The Boring Company (a startup that provides infrastructure and tunnel building services), and OpenAI (an artificial intelligence company) (a company that aims to promote and develop friendly artificial intelligence in a way that benefits the whole of humanity).
4. Mark Zuckerberg: Estimated Net worth $132.3B
Mark Zuckerberg founded the Facebook Corporation. He is now the youngest individual to amass this much wealth at the age of 34.
He co-founded Facebook with Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and two other Harvard University classmates from their dorm rooms.
Zuckerberg went to college to pursue his dream of becoming an engineer. However, He didn’t finish his education.
He dropped out of college in his second year, although he does have a background in engineering.
After dropping out of college in his second year of engineering, he received an honorary degree from Harvard in 2017.
He became a billionaire in 2008, and his fortune has more than a hundredfold since then.
5. Bill Gate: Estimated Net worth $131B
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is still one of the most powerful figures in the technology industry.
Even though he did not complete his studies at Harvard University, his outstanding contributions to the field of computer sciences earned him an honorary degree.
In addition, He owns farms in the United States and has invested in scores of enterprises, including Canadian National Railway and AutoNation.
6. Larry Page: Estimated Net worth $114.8B
Larry Page studied computer engineering at the University of Michigan. And one of the richest engineers in the world.
While pursuing a PhD at Stanford University, he co-founded Google with Sergey Brin in his college dorm room. He is also the CEO of Alphabet Inc., its parent company.
The duo has gone on to make billions for themselves while also making significant contributions to the globe.
In addition, Google’s groundbreaking efforts include delivering the internet to remote areas of the world and developing self-driving cars.
The fantastic company founded by the pair has an unofficial motto: “Don’t be evil.” They have done no ill in light of their contributions to humanity and their service to Internet users.
7. Larry Ellison: Estimated Net worth $112.7B
In 1977, Ellison co-founded Oracle, a software behemoth, to capitalize on the increasing market for customer relationship management databases.
He stepped down as CEO in 2014, but he continues to serve as chairman and chief technology officer.
Like the other names on this list, Ellison never finished his undergraduate degree and instead began his career designing databases for the CIA before founding Oracle.
8. Sergey Brin: Estimated Net worth $111.1B
Sergey Brin and his family relocated to the United States from the former Soviet Union when he was six years old.
He decided to study Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Maryland.
Furthermore, He met his business partner and fellow billionaire, Larry Page, while at Stanford University.
The two of them altered the way the internet operates with a web search engine.
Brin is primarily credited with inventing data mining techniques, which were later applied to Google’s development.
9. Mukesh Ambani: Estimated Net worth $77.4B
Mukesh Ambani has been India’s richest person for the past twelve years. And also the richest Engineer in India.
Mr. Ambani got a BE in Chemical Engineering from India’s Institute of Chemical Technology, and his company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Global Fortune 500 company that refines chemicals.
Additionally, he is the company’s largest shareholder, owning 44.7 percent of all shares. This affluent man’s degree in Chemical Engineering may be responsible for part, if not all, of his success.
Moreover, His father, Dhirubhai Ambani, launched the corporation in the early 1960s. Mukesh had to abandon his MBA program halfway through after graduating from an Indian institute with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
He and his family have been living in ‘Antilla,’ the world’s most expensive residence, which costs about $2 billion, since 2014.
10. Carlos Slim Helu: Estimated Net worth $72.5B
Carlos Slim is a philanthropist, businessman, and investor from Mexico. From 2010 until 2013, he was the wealthiest person on the planet until Bill Gates surpassed him.
Through his investment firm Grupo Carso, he is currently Chairman and CEO of Telmex, America Movil, and Samsung Mexico.
In addition, He also owns 17 percent of The New York Times and has investments in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining, and real estate industries.
Slim’s enormous, varied art collection is housed in the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, designed by his son-in-law Fernando Romero.
11. Michael Bloomberg: Estimated Net worth $59B
Michael Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of New York City and an American politician and businessman. Bloomberg L.P., a financial data and media company was created by him.
He began his Wall Street career as a securities broker at Solomon Brothers after graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1964.
However, it took him over ten years to start his own business, which he called Innovative Market Systems at first but altered as the business grew.
In the 1980s, his company introduced the Bloomberg Terminal, which had grown to 325,000 annual subscribers globally by 2015.
12. Charles Koch: Estimated Net worth $45.4B
Charles Koch is David Koch’s older brother and is currently the CEO of Koch Industries. Despite being born into an affluent household, he struggled immensely in his early years.
In an interview, Charles explained how his father pushed him to work as hard as possible as if he were the poorest person on the planet.
He has a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Furthermore, Charles Koch obtained two M.Sc. degrees from MIT, one in Chemical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering.
He founded Koch Industries, a chemical and oil-refining corporation, with his brother, where he currently serves as CEO.
In addition, Pipelines, chemicals, Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels, and Stainmaster carpets all generate hundreds of billions in revenue for this company.
In 1940, his father Fred Koch started Rock Island Oil & Refining Company, which devised a better way of refining heavy oil into gasoline.
13. David Koch: Estimated Net worth $45.4B
David Koch is a business mogul from the United States who is presently the vice president of Koch Industries, one of the world’s ten largest private firms.
And also one of the richest engineers in the world today. He was named one of the most generous American philanthropists by a magazine in 2008.
Furthermore, He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
With an estimated net worth of $47.7 billion, he became the wealthiest New York City resident in 2013.
14. Sir Leonard Blavatnik: Estimated Net worth $32.2B
Len Blavatnik was born in Ukraine and raised north of Moscow. He moved to the United States for school in 1978 and studied computer science at Columbia University.
In 2013, he gained a fortune by selling his investment in TNK-BP, a Russian oil business, for $7 billion. In 2011, he paid $3.3 billion for Warner Music.
His investing firm, Access Industries, owns shares in Lyon sell Base, Rocket Internet, and Tory Burch, among other companies.
In addition, He is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom.
From Trump’s inaugural committee to Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, the Blavatniks have donated to both major parties in the United States.
15. Viadimir Lisin: Estimated Net worth $29.2B
Lisin is the chairman of Russia’s largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel, and one of the richest engineers in the world.
In 2020, the publicly traded firm generated $9.2 billion in sales and produced 15.7 million metric tons of crude steel.
He also owns Freight One, Russia’s most extensive freight train operator, UCL Port, a port infrastructure operator, and VBTH, a shipping firm.
However, after nearly a decade of working there, Lisin became the company’s sole owner in 2000.
He also owns smallholdings in Volga Shipping and Federal Grid (UES).
16. Leonid Mikhelson: Estimated Net worth $26.9B
Leonid Mikhelson is the founder and chairman of Novatek, a natural gas company.
However, Mikkelson began his career as a foreman for a construction business building a pipeline in Russia’s Tyumen region.
His father ran the largest pipeline construction trust in the former Soviet Union.
Leonid Mikhelson earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Samara Institute of Civil Engineering in 1977.
17. Vagit Alekperova.: Estimated Net worth $25.5B
Alekperov is the chairman of Lukoil, a publicly traded oil company that produces around 2% of the world’s oil.
The Moscow-based firm employs over 100,000 employees and generated $72.2 billion in revenue in 2020.
Alekperov has amassed a fortune of almost $5 billion in dividends. In addition, he is a co-owner of the Spartak Moscow soccer team.
18. Gennardy Timchenko: Estimated Net worth $24.1B
Timchenko began his engineering career after graduating from university in 1976, working at a facility near St. Petersburg.
His ability as an excellent engineer, along with a bit of luck, propelled him to a senior engineer position with the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Furthermore, He joined a Finnish corporation in 1991 as the first deputy and eventually became the CEO.
He created Gunvor, a successful commodity trading firm based in Cyprus, in 2007.
Timchenko later founded the Volga Group, a private investment firm.
His company owns significant shares in several of Russia’s most prestigious companies, including Novatek, Sibur, and Petromir.
The world’s richest engineers come from a variety of sectors and backgrounds. If you were to look for the highest-paying jobs or the most lucrative industries, engineering would undoubtedly be near the top of the list.
