It is amazing to see what entrepreneurs have come out of UBC, and perhaps the epitome of entrepreneurs would be Brian Wong, one of the world’s youngest entrepreneurs to become a millionaire.
As a wildly successful entrepreneur, I believe Brian arrived at his current situation in life with a multi-million dollar company in his hands by focusing on what he believed was the most important in life. He did so by recognizing the futility of grade school and chose to enter UBC at the age of fourteen. His average was 77% by the time he graduated. Though he says himself that he could have done better, he realized that the effort involved in boosting his average was better used elsewhere – by developing his entrepreneurial skills so he could quickly be done with university and enter the real world as soon as possible.
This capability for learning, coupled with his recognition of optimization, led Brian to recreate the world of advertising, incorporating tangible rewards with game achievements. The bottom line? Grades aren’t everything.
http://ubyssey.ca/news/brian-wong-university-student-at-14-graduated-at-18-millionaire-at-20/
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Brian_Wong.jpg/582px-Brian_Wong.jpg
One reply on “RE: Brian Wong: University student at 14, graduated at 18, millionaire at 20”
Of my friends that did become millionaires before 20 (as in over $1 million in the bank as well as business value), the biggest regret they said was telling the world in an interview that they are millionaires.
Brian isn’t exactly a millionaire in the bank when the article was written on April 11 2012. He took investor money which valued the future potential of the company at around $20million (i think it is now valued at 60 millikn). This means that he would have to substantially increase the value of the company so that the investors can cash out to a bigger company and Brian can sell his shares. I do not think his current liquid assets would total close to $1 million. His salary is listed at $75000 a year which after taxes and long expenses isn’t very much in Silicon valley. I think a paper millionaire might be more accurate.