Reed Hastings, Tiger Woods: The mega-rich and mega-famous graduates from Stanford

“A passion for knowledge combined with initiative and some luck can take you very far,” said Sohini Ramachandran, a student of mathematical and computational sciences at Stanford University, back in 2000.

It’s a good formula to success and something you’ll often see in billionaires.

Starting a business or building a start-up isn’t the easiest. Even with relentless effort, success is not often guaranteed. For those who succeed, it’s fair to say that luck plays a significant role too.

However, as Ramachandran mentioned, the passion for knowledge is also key to taking you far in life. There is a place many go, seeking knowledge and a chance to break into their chosen industry, and it’s none other than Stanford University.

Ranked sixth among the best universities in the world by QS World Ranking, its prestige attracts aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators, ready to make their mark on the world. 

Many graduates from Stanford’s programmes have gone on to achieve success, becoming some of the richest, most influential, and most famous graduates from Stanford.

 

Stanford University: A producer of billionaires

Stanford is second in producing the most billionaires since its beginnings. The university has produced 30 billionaires, beating its Ivy League siblings: Harvard University, which has produced 28; Yale University, 19; Cornell University, 13; and Princeton University, 12.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are among the few billionaires who graduated from Stanford. They first met while pursuing their master’s degrees in computer science and later founded Alphabet Inc. and Google together. Forbes ranks them sixth and seventh wealthiest men in the world, respectively.

Phil Knight is another billionaire who brought us our beloved Nike sneakers and sportswear. Knight graduated from Stanford University with an MBA and co-founded the multinational sportswear and equipment corporation. It is one of the few non-tech companies founded by a Stanford graduate.

Other American billionaires from Stanford:

• Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix
• Evan Spiegel, co-founder of Snapchat
• Bobby Murphy, co-founder of Snapchat
• Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal
• Tiger Woods, golf athlete

So, what’s the similarity between all the billionaires besides graduating from Stanford University? The answer is simple: Silicon Valley.

 

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Silicon Valley, a haven for technophiles and entrepreneurs 

If you mentioned “Silicon Valley” during a tech convention, you’d probably find tech-loving individuals flocking to you like seagulls going for your chips.

It’s a dream destination for those looking to dip their toes into the technological industry or become start-up founders. 

Before Silicon Valley earned its name in 1971, it was known as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” a name inspired by the region’s myriad orchards and acres of ripening fruit. By the 1950s, manufacturers and innovators of the silicon chip moved into the area.

In 1951, Stanford, located at the heart of Silicon Valley, established the world’s first university research park, Stanford Research Park. The research park is home to the R&D branches of pioneering companies such as HP, Tesla, Varian Associates, Lockheed, and more.

In addition to being a haven for companies, start-up founders, and tech lovers, Silicon Valley has made its mark on the economy.

California remains the fifth-largest economy in the world for the seventh consecutive year in 2024, beating the UK and India by a margin, according to the Governor of California, — a success that Stanford has a clear part of.

Stanford’s top 50 undergraduate programmes have created over 1,400 founders, 1,200 companies, and US$47.8 billion in capital, placing it number one in the charts and beating the University of California, Berkeley, MIT, and Harvard University.

Birds of a feather flock together: Stanford edition

Stanford’s success has made its mark not only locally in the US but internationally as well.

Stanley Tang, billionaire co-founder of DoorDash, has always been fascinated by technology since childhood. While his LinkedIn page does not adequately reflect his accomplishments, his career is undeniably out of this world.  

His move to California is unsurprising, especially since he attended Stanford University to receive a Bachelor’s in Computer Science. Stanford’s location is perfect for computer science majors and holds the number one spot for the best computer science schools in the US.

Attending Stanford allowed Tang to receive a world-class education and be among those with the same mindset.

 

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Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer Mike Krieger co-founded Instagram two years after graduating from Stanford with a BS and MS in symbolic systems. He co-founded the billion-dollar platform alongside fellow graduate Kevin Systrom.

Being in Silicon Valley and attending one of the most prestigious universities in the world, Mike Krieger had access to a network of innovative thinkers like Systrom. This undeniably played a crucial role in shaping his career and supporting the development of Instagram.

Plus, he was in one of the world’s best universities for studying computer science and information systems by the QS World University Rankings.

So, it’s no secret that Stanford’s high standards of education, facilities, and culture are attracting students worldwide, along with its legacy of producing numerous successful entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

Many of the school’s international alumni have benefited from its programmes and gone on to become billionaires. Here are some of its international alumni who have made a mark on the world.

Famous graduates from Stanford who are foreign and rich that you should know about

Pichai Sundararajan

Pichai Sundararajan, or Sundar Pichai, is an Indian-born American billionaire and the CEO of Google and its holding company, Alphabet Inc.

Before becoming the CEO of Google and Aplhabet Inc., his career started as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and then as a Google search toolbar manager, where he eventually worked his way up to the highest position possible. 

After earning his degree in metallurgy at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Sundararajan was awarded a scholarship to Stanford University for an MS in Material Science and Engineering.

Jensen Huang

As of July 17, 2024, Taiwanese-born Jensen Huang is the 13th wealthiest man in the world, with a net worth of US$110.7 billion. He is also one of the richest and most famous graduates from Stanford.

Huang’s wealth is self-made. In 1993, he co-founded a semiconductor company, Nvidia, and later served as its CEO and president. The company became a staple in computer gaming chips, data centres, robots, and self-driving cars.

He graduated from Stanford University with an MS in Engineering in 1992.

Jawed Karim

German-Indian Jawed Karim is known as the first person to create a YouTube profile and upload the platform’s first video, “Me at the Zoo”. In fact, he is the co-founder of YouTube itself.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, he worked as one of PayPal’s earliest engineers. Later, he partnered with two of his PayPal colleagues and founded YouTube. A few years after YouTube, he co-formed YVentures and invested in Airbnb before its ever-growing success. 

Karim graduated from Stanford University in 2008 with an MS in Computer Science.

Jerry Yang

Taiwanese Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang was the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo! Inc., and he is now a billionaire with a net worth of US$2.6 billion.

Yang is also a founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures, which invests in data-driven startups such as Wattpad, Wish, Zoom, and Lyft.

Yang holds a BS and MS degree in electrical engineering from Stanford. However, while getting his PhD in the same field, he dropped out to start Yahoo! Inc. In 2021, he was elected chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and served his two-year term.

Dasha Navalnaya

Although not a billionaire like other famous Stanford graduates, Dasha Navalnaya is the daughter of the late political activist Alexey Navalny. 

She has been actively speaking about the Russian government’s corruption and political persecution, which have been featured in The New York Times and TIME. The 22-year-old also spoke on a TED Talk about her father and the lessons she has learned from him.

Navalynaya recently graduated from Stanford in June 2024 with a Bachelor’s in Psychology with a pathway in Society, Culture, and Mind and a minor in Political Science.

Akshata Murty

Akshata Murty is an Indian heiress, businesswoman, and fashion designer. She is also the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, the founder of the Indian multinational IT company Infosys. She was Britain’s “First Lady” — wife to former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Murty worked at Deloitte and Unilever. She later started her own fashion company, Akshata Designs. Over the years, her investment in multiple tech companies led her to her millionaire title.

She received an MBA from Stanford University in 2006.

Rishi Sunak

Alongside his wife, Akshata Murty, Rishi Sunak is among the most famous graduates from Stanford. Sunak served as Prime Minister of the UK from 2022 to 2024; however, he later resigned after losing an election.

Before becoming Prime Minister, he started his career in hedge funds at Goldman Sachs and then The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI). He left TCI and was elected a Member of the Parliament of Richmond (Yorks) and later Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury.

Sunak completed his MBA at Stanford University in 2006. He and Murty met at Stanford while completing their master’s degrees.

Sergey Brin

Russian-born Sergey Mikhailovich Brin is best known for co-founding Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. As of July 17, 2024, Brin is the seventh wealthiest man in the world with a net worth of US$145.3 billion, making him the second richest (after Larry Page) and one of the most famous graduates from Stanford.

While at Stanford, Brin started a search engine called PageRank alongside Page to create a universal digital library to calculate the relevance of a web page to a user’s query, which led to the creation of Google. In addition to PageRank, Brin’s resume mentions that he has released two academic publications. 

Brin received an MS and PhD in computer science from Stanford University in 1995 and 1997, respectively.

 

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Stephanie Syjuco

While not a billionaire, Stephanie Syjuco has made a mark in the art industry. She is a Filipino-born conceptual artist and educator.

“I’m interested in how objects reflect cultural moments, and I’m trying to figure out…why we value what we value,” says Syjuco. Her work is often based on her curiosity about what it means to be an “authentic Filipino”, politics, and activism.

Syjuco received her Master’s in Fine Arts from Stanford in 2005.

Andy Bechtolsheim

Billionaire Andreas (Andy) von Bechtolsheim is the co-founder and Chief Architect of Arista Networks, with a net worth of US$21 billion. 

Before Arista Networks, he was the co-founder and Chief System Architect at Sun Microsystems and Granite Systems. He was also an early-stage investor in Google, VMware, and many others.

Bechtolisheim attended Stanford University from 1977 until 1982 as a PhD student in computer science and electrical engineering.