16 Ordinary Jobs Once Held By Now-Great Businessmen

We all have to start out somewhere, even the multi-billionaires. Check out some of the jobs these bright businessmen had when they were just starting out. It might just be the inspiration you need to keep going! 

Elon Musk (Tesla)

Elon Musk seems to have his hands in everything at the moment; from his car company Tesla to his space program Space X, but he was always had a knack for designing, even at a young age. Musk would design and sell his own video games to make a living growing up, which seemed to lead him down the right path since he is, you know..a billionaire.

James Cameron (Film Director)

James Cameron was paying his bills as a truck driver in his early days. After watching the original “Star Wars” in theaters, Cameron decided he wanted to go in to the movie business and quit driving. So basically, we should be thanking George Lucas for inspiring Cameron (thanks George).

David Murdock (Dole Food Company)

The owner of the Dole Food Company (the banana people) dropped out of high school when he was in the ninth grade and started working as a gas station attendant. It’s pretty safe to say that David Murdock is the only former gas station attendant to go on and form a multi-billion dollar company.

Jan Koum (WhatsApp)

Jan Koum is living proof of the American dream. After immigrating from the Ukraine, Koum would sweep floors at a local grocery to help pay the bills. He dropped out of college and went on to create “WhatsApp,” the phone messaging service that doesn’t use SMS.

Steve Jobs (Apple)

The man who created pretty much all the devices we use today was hired on as a summer intern for Hewlett-Packard. Jobs ended up meeting Steve Wozniak while he was there, leading the two men to create the Macintosh personal computer.

Phil Knight (Nike)

Upset that his father, publisher of “The Oregon Journal,” denied him a job with the company, Phil Knight went on to work as an assistant at the rival newspaper the “Oregonian.” When it came down to having a job or not, Knight must have said “Just Do It.”

Jeff Bezos (Amazon)

Before founding Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos started his working career like most teenagers do, by working at McDonalds. Bezos recalls fondly on his time spent salting fries and flipping burgers, stating that his later success was all derived from what he learned there.

Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg L.P.)

The billionaire ex-Mayor of New York City got his start while he was attending college at Johns Hopkins. Bloomberg was a parking attendant as an undergrad, before eventually starting his own financial software company and accumulating a net worth of over $30 billion.

Steve Ballmer (Microsoft)

The former Microsoft CEO and resurrector of the L.A. Clippers, Steve Ballmer, got his start as an assistant production manager for Duncan Hines’. Cleary, Ballmer didn’t let his career be determined by this job, going on to graduate manga cum laude from Harvard.

Bill Gates (Microsoft)

While the majority of 15-year-olds are more concerned about learning how to drive and going on dates, Bill Gates was focused on making money. At the tender age of 15, Gates worked as a computer programmer for an aerospace company, where he was in charge of debugging the energy-grid control software.

Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks)

Before Mark Cuban owned the Dallas Mavericks or was crushing small-business owners’ dreams on “Shark Tank,” he started out as a door-to-door salesman. Cuban wasn’t selling insurance or magazines though, he was actually pitching garbage bags to his neighbors.

Kevin Plank (Under Armour)

Kevin Plank, founder of the popular athletic brand Under Armour, first started making his money when he was 12. Plank would mow lawns in his neighborhood for some extra cash on the side. Bet he wishes he had some Under Armour to wear during those hot summer days!

Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)

Growing up, Warren Buffett delivered newspapers for the “Omaha World-Herald.” Delivery-boy was your typical starting job for kids who want to earn a little extra money during those times, but Buffett took it a step further by buying the entire company once he got a little older.

Richard Branson (Virgin Records)

Richard Branson started his empire by breeding and selling birds to his classmates, then he would sell Christmas trees during the winter months. Branson was doing all this by the time he was 11, while most of us were only concerned with getting our homework done at that age.

George Lucas (Film Director)

The “Star Wars” creator was actually involved with filmmaking his whole life. Lucas taught Navy cadets about documentary filmmaking while he was earning his degree at USC. He was teaching filmmaking while he was still in school!