For billionaire Elon Musk, attending college seems to hold little value as a diploma does not determine success but rather depends more on practical skills and abilities learned in real life.
With a total net worth of $200 billion as of February 2021 and consistently ranked among the richest people in the world in recent times, Elon Musk has become a hot topic for the media and students looking to start their own wealth. However, surprisingly, this billionaire does not care about degrees or attending college.
“I think college is basically just for fun… not for learning,” the Tesla founder replied without hesitation during a conference in 2020 when asked what universities should do to provide students with more opportunities.
According to billionaire Elon Musk, young people do not need to attend college to gain basic knowledge that is available for free in today’s developed information technology era. He believes that college is nothing more than a burden with a pile of tedious homework that is rarely applicable to future jobs.
Musk believes that the greatest value of student life is having the time to socialize and build relationships with peers before entering the workforce and starting a career. It is these relationships that are the most valuable assets supporting those who wish to start their own business later.
“What’s important is that you have a deep understanding of AI and the ability to effectively apply artificial neural networks. You don’t need a college degree, and I don’t care if you haven’t graduated from high school, as long as you have the ability,” Musk said during a seminar on artificial intelligence (AI).
In fact, CEO Elon Musk has stated that Tesla’s recruitment process does not have any requirements related to candidates needing a college degree, as that would be unreasonable. Ironically, most of the positions that the company recruits are in technology and engineering, which do require a certain level of education.
Musk’s disdain for college is not new, as in 2014, he expressed admiration for Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s Steve Jobs, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, all successful individuals who dropped out of college to start their own companies.
“Attending college is not proof of superior ability. In fact, you can drop out and still do something worthwhile. Ideally, you drop out and do something. For example, looking at Bill Gates, he is extremely intelligent but still dropped out. Steve Jobs was exceptionally smart and also dropped out. Larry Ellison, a smart person, also dropped out. Clearly, college is not necessary. Did the great writer Shakespeare attend college? Probably not.”
Despite criticizing college degrees, Musk did spend two years studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned degrees in physics and economics. This billionaire left his Ph.D. program at Stanford University to start his first startup, Zip2.
Perhaps one of the main reasons Elon Musk is so disillusioned with college is due to a student debt of $100,000 after graduation. Therefore, just two days after enrolling in the Ph.D. program at Stanford, he dropped out to establish Zip2, which he later sold to Compaq in 1999 for $22 million.