20 "Resourceful" Figures in History Who Went from Rags to Riches

Born to parents who had been enslaved, Sarah Breedlove faced extreme poverty and grueling physical labor. Through relentless door-to-door sales and an innovative training program for her salespeople, she built a vast industrial empire. Her incredible work ethic ultimately made her the first self-made female millionaire in recorded U.S. history.

This legendary tycoon left school at a very young age to operate a simple ferry in New York Harbor. He worked tirelessly, far longer than his competitors, and gradually saved enough money to acquire his own fleet of steamships. His brilliant foresight is evident in the decision he later made to sell all his ships in order to invest heavily in the railroad industry, which was then booming.

It’s easy to forget that one of Russia’s most powerful rulers was originally just an obscure, penniless German princess. She was brought to the Russian court as part of a strategic marriage. But she quickly realized that her husband was completely unfit to rule the country; she then skillfully won the support of the army, the Church, and the local aristocracy.

This famous industrialist began his career as a penniless Scottish immigrant. Thanks to his sharp mind, he taught himself telegraphy. This allowed him to catch the attention of a powerful railroad executive, who became his mentor.

You wouldn’t expect a mere employee at a disreputable establishment to end up leading the largest pirate fleet in human history. After marrying a notorious pirate leader, she quickly asserted her authority upon his death. She established a strict code of laws that ensured discipline and unwavering loyalty among thousands of hardened outlaws.

Having grown up with a father who was a con artist and a drifter, this young man had to learn financial discipline at a very early age. He began his career as a simple accounting clerk. He seized a golden opportunity amid the chaos of the early days of the oil boom and focused primarily on refining rather than drilling.

Before creating the world’s greatest show, this master of entertainment ran a small country grocery store. He had an extraordinary intuition for what would capture the public’s imagination. That’s what led him to buy a dilapidated museum in New York.

This influential Byzantine ruler spent her youth working as a bit player and scandalous dancer in the theaters of Constantinople. Her incredible intelligence and sharp wit caught the attention of the future Emperor Justinian, who defied rigid social conventions to marry her. Once in power, she fulfilled her role as a true co-ruler.

As a child growing up on a modest farm in Michigan, this future billionaire hated farm work and preferred to tinker with pocket watches. He left the family farm to become an apprentice machinist. After several early business failures that would have crushed most people, he perfected the assembly line for automobiles.

This remarkable woman fled the hardships of life in Europe and arrived in America without knowing a single word of English. She started her business in a tiny basement with just five hundred dollars. Her strict philosophy—to sell everything at low prices—enabled her to build the largest furniture store in the country.

When his wealthy family lost everything during a regional war, this young man fled to Argentina with barely a hundred dollars in his pocket. He worked late into the night as a switchboard operator. He quickly doubled his money and used those initial profits to buy ocean-going cargo ships at rock-bottom prices during the Great Depression.

Born into a struggling Canadian farming family, Elizabeth Arden first trained as a nurse before realizing she hated the profession. She moved to New York and began experimenting with skincare creams in her kitchen. Thanks to her high-end products and clever marketing, she turned makeup into a respectable everyday luxury.

This renowned financier survived a terrifying wartime occupation by using false identification documents to conceal his origins from the authorities. He then arrived in London penniless. After settling on Wall Street, he mastered the complex world of international currency speculation and global hedge funds.

You might be surprised to learn that this legendary fashion icon spent her childhood in a strict and austere religious orphanage, where she learned to sew. She used her connections with wealthy suitors to finance her first small hat shop. Her timeless perfume and classic suits enabled her to build a multimillion-dollar empire.

This prolific inventor was expelled from school because he was too easily distracted, which forced his mother to homeschool him. He began earning a living at the age of twelve by selling newspapers and candy on passenger trains. His relentless experimentation earned him more than a thousand patents and enabled him to found several major companies that generated an immense fortune.

Although her family was well-off, this extraordinary woman had to manage her grandfather’s complex financial accounts from a very young age. Building on this early training, she multiplied her fortune while living a life of extreme frugality. While Wall Street succumbed to panic during major economic crashes, she calmly purchased undervalued real estate and granted high-interest loans to struggling cities.

When his father died after a serious illness, this determined teenager had to drop out of school to support his struggling family. He worked sixteen hours a day in a plastic factory where the heat was stifling. He eventually borrowed money to open his own plastic flower shop, which became an overnight commercial success.

This innovative entrepreneur spent decades working in direct sales. But she was repeatedly passed over for promotions in favor of men she had trained herself. Instead of retiring quietly, she took her savings—five thousand dollars—and launched her own cosmetics company in a tiny shop.

The son of a low-paid railroad worker, this fashion magnate left school at the age of fourteen to work as a sales clerk at a local shirt shop. Realizing that haute couture was unaffordable for the average person, he began sewing similar, affordable clothes in his own living room. He opened a small store called Zara, and the rest is history.

Born to a single teenage mother in a disadvantaged rural community, this media icon had an extremely difficult and traumatic childhood. She landed a job at a local radio station while she was still in high school. Her natural warmth and powerful voice immediately set her apart from traditional radio hosts.