You're excused if the word "billionaire" causes you to picture an old man slowly stroking a cat and sipping whiskey in the darkness of his garish living room.
But the truth is, you don't have to be a bitter cynic to make money in America. For some, all it takes to join the billionaire club is a fun idea, some luck and a whole lot of hard work. Don't believe us? Just take a look at these success stories:
1
Sara Blakely Created Cool Undergarments
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Sara Blakely had never worked in fashion or taken a business class when she founded Spanx. But she did have $5,000 in savings and a good idea. That was enough for Blakely to turn the slimming undergarment company into a $500 million dollar-per-year machine. Along the way, Blakely's net worth reached $1 billion and she became Forbes' youngest female billionaire.
2
Jim Koch Made High-Quality Beers
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Jim Koch's passion for quality craft beer is all he needed to help turn the company into America's second-largest brewery (along with an old family recipe, of course). Shares of Boston Beer, the name behind the famous Samuel Adams brand, have doubled in the last year, making Koch, the founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Co., the first craft beer billionaire.
3
J.K. Rowling Wrote A Book
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J.K. Rowling was a single mother on welfare when she wrote "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the first book of the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series. Rowling received 12 rejections before Bloomsbury finally agreed to buy the manuscript for about $4,000. The rest is history. By 2011, Rowling was worth approximately $1 billion.
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4
Hamdi Ulukaya Made An Impulse Purchase
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When Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya left Turkey for the U.S. in 1994, he had no intention of getting into the yogurt business. But following his father's advice, Ululaya took out a loan in 2005 to buy an old Kraft Foods manufacturing plant, and in 2007 he began selling his yogurt locally. Today, Chobani is the number one selling yogurt brand in the U.S., which has made Ulukaya worth an estimated $1.1 billion.
5
Dietrich Mateschitz Created An Energy Drink
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One day while sitting in a hotel bar in Hong Kong, Dietrich Mateschitz came up with the idea to sell an energy-boosting drink similar to a popular one being sold in Asia. Despite an initial flop, Dietrich persevered -- and thanks to aggressive advertising and a killer tagline, Red Bull now sells approximately 4 billion cans per year. Dietrich, Forbes estimates, is worth $7.1 billion.
6
Michael & Marian Ilitch Started A Pizza Shop
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Michael and Marian Ilitch got their start with one small pizza shop in 1959. The couple soon after poured their entire life savings into the restaurant. It was a good bet. That one little pizza shop became Little Caesars Pizza, the third largest pizza chain in the U.S. They are now worth a combined $2.7 billion.
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7
Amancio Ortega Made Affordable, Chic Clothes
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Spanish native Amancio Ortega was raised poor and never received any higher education. But one day, while working as a store manager, Ortega realized that very few people could actually afford the expensive clothing he was selling. So he began hand-stitching similar designs out of cheaper fabric. He started his first factory at the age of 27, opened the first Zara in 1975 and today is the fourth richest person in the world, with a net worth of $55.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
8
John Paul DeJoria Cared About Hair
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John Paul DeJoria was homeless not once but twice before he co-founded the multi-million dollar hair care company John Paul Mitchell Systems. In fact, DeJoria was living out of his car when he and business partner Paul Mitchell launched the company with only $700. Today DeJoria is worth more than $4 billion.
9
Oprah Winfrey Wanted To Be On TV
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Believe it or not, Oprah Winfrey was demoted early on in her career while she was working as a co-anchor for Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1977. But she never lost sight of her dream to be on television. Today, Oprah is the world's most powerful celebrity and is worth about $2.8 billion, according to Forbes.
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