INFOGRAPHIC: 7 OF THE WORLD‘S TOP TECH BILLIONAIRES AND WHERE DO THEY COME FROM

Where in the World Are Top Tech Billionaires From?
By KeriLynn Engel, Who Is Hosting This, 21 November 2014.

Picture a successful billionaire tech entrepreneur. What kind of person do you imagine?

Maybe you’re imagining someone who looks like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. A middle-aged man, probably brilliant, creative, and driven.

In most cases, you’d be spot-on. Successful entrepreneurs do seem to share a lot of the same key traits that led them to success. They’re passionate people who believe wholeheartedly in what they’re doing. They’re creative visionaries, able to see the big picture and invent solutions to a problem. They’re driven and hard-working, refusing to let the inevitable setbacks discourage them from pursuing their vision.

Even scientific research supports the archetype. The Kauffman Foundation found that over 90% of successful entrepreneurs were well-educated and came from stable middle- or upper-class families. Over two-thirds were married, and more than 60% had at least one child. Another study by Professor Ross Levine of the Haas Economic Analysis and Policy Group found that successful entrepreneurs tend to come from stable families, and evince high IQs and higher-than-average confidence and self-esteem.

Given the evidence, you might expect all successful entrepreneurs to be very similar in background. Most people are familiar with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, but their fame doesn’t mean they represent every tech entrepreneur. When you broaden the view to include successful founders who may not be as well known, the diversity is surprising.

The United States definitely isn’t the only country supplying the world with disruptive new technology. Many countries around the world are coming up with new advanced technology, from Japan, South Korea, and India, to Finland and Germany. When you take a look at the broader view, you’re bound to get a more diverse picture.

From the creator of eBay, to the co-founder of Google, some of these tech billionaires don’t match up to the typical mental picture of a tech entrepreneur most of us have. Below are some of the most successful tech entrepreneurs from around the world, a look at their diverse backgrounds, and all the different places their successes have taken them.

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