UK’s The Tab have just released the UK University Rich List which outlines how many billionaires graduated from certain schools in the UK. Take a look at the universities that rank, and the calibre of their billionaire alumni in the Top 5 countdown below:
To have just one billionaire as an alumni is impressive, but the University of Bradford starts our list with two. The first is Mo Ibrahim, founder of African telecom Celtel which he sold for $3.4 billion in 2005. These days he is known for his extensive philanthropy work within Africa, primarily through The Mo Ibrahim foundation. The other Bradford billionaire alumni is Melih AbdulhayoÄŸlu, the founder of cybersecurity company Comodo.
The University of Bradford itself is located in West Yorkshire, and was founded in 1966. Both of our billionaires studied bachelor of science degrees majoring in electrical-engineering fields, which is one of the major focuses of the university. Bradford is also famous for its highly regarded life sciences courses which draws the bulk of the university student body.
Crimson Students are 3x more likely to gain admission to the University of Bradford.
To find out your chances of gaining admission try our UK University Admissions Calculator.
Stepping it up a notch with three billionaires is Imperial College London. The wealthy alumni include Indian-Irish Pallonji Mistry, who is the single highest stakeholder in India's largest conglomerate Tata, as well as hedge fund manager Alan Howard and chairman of Turkish conglomerate Bülent Eczacıbaşı. Their combined wealth is about $18.1 billion USD, of which Mistry contributes $15.5 billion and is overall the richest individual on our list.
At Imperial you can study business, science, medicine and engineering - the university known for its innovation and entrepreneurship. For those interested in living the London life, Imperial offers the opportunity to live and study in beautiful Kensington, surrounded by London landmarks such as the Royal Albert Hall, National Art Gallery and Kensington Palace.
Crimson Students are 3x more likely to gain admission to the Imperial College London.
To find out your chances of gaining admission try our UK University Admissions Calculator.
The success of chemical company Ineos is responsible for the riches of half of the billionaires on our list, with Cambridge graduates John Reece and Andrew Currie both being minority shareholders in the Fortune 500 company. The other two billionaires, Mark Coombs and David Harding, were investment bankers who founded their own firms and remain large stakeholders.
Our billionaires studied a variety of different courses in their days at Cambridge, including economics, law, and natural sciences. Grateful for their time at the university and the opportunities a Cambridge education afforded them they have all been generous contributors as alumni. In fact, David Harding’s recent £100 million pound donation was the the biggest single donation to a British University in history - the funds dedicated to scholarships for less fortunate students.
Crimson Students are 2-4x more likely to gain admission to the University of Cambridge.
To find out your chances of gaining admission try our UK University Admissions Calculator.
Equalling their traditional rival Cambridge, Oxford also boasts four alumni as billionaires. The wealthiest is Alfred Oetker, the great-grandson of August Oetker and subsequent stakeholder in the food, beverage and hotel company Dr. Oetker.
Another is Peter Unger, who made his riches by founding Auto-Teile-Unger - a large automotive repair service in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The final two are Jasminder Singh, founder and owner of Edwardian Hotels, and Alex Beard, the oil trader and director for Glencore
Of the universities featured on our list, Oxford, ranked 4th on QS World University Rankings, and has been widely regarded as the top university in the UK (with Cambridge a very close second). As such, in many ways, it should not be a surprise that so many successful billionaires have been educated by this great institution.
Crimson Students are 2-4x more likely to gain admission to the University of Oxford.
To find out your chances of gaining admission try our UK University Admissions Calculator.
LSE is currently the UK's top university in regard to billionaire ‘output’ with some of the world’s richest people as alumni. Included is the manager of Europe’s third largest hedge fund and Britain’s richest hedge fund manager, Michael Platt.
Two of the graduates, Sebastian Kulczyk and Spiros Latsis are the sons of business tycoons and play a large role in their family’s business empires. Also included is the founder of EasyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, and his sister Clelia Haji-Ioannou.
All five combine for a combined wealth of over $15 billion USD. While not quite rich enough to make our list, the university was likewise attended by Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger for a period of time.
Pursuant to the university's name and focus; all of these people studied economics as part of their degrees, and many of them made their billions through business.
The university offers 43 bachelor programs, 18 of which includes some form of studies in economics, however they also offer programs in other areas of social sciences, arts, business and law. It is also located in Westminster, the iconic political and cultural center of London.
Crimson Students are 3x more likely to gain admission to the London School of Economics.
To find out your chances of gaining admission try our UK University Admissions Calculator.