10个最伟大的白手起家的成功故事

They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. These inspiring figures had less than a lemon to start out with – and are now known for their sheer tenacity as they climbed to the top. We brings you the top 10 rags-to-riches success stories of all time.

俗话说如果生活只给你柠檬，就拿来做柠檬水。这些激励人心的名人们创业之初可是连一个柠檬都没有，然而现在都因为他们的不屈不挠而广为人知，因为他们爬到了事业的顶端。下面就带给你10个历史上白手起家的成功故事。

1. Henry Ford

1. 亨利-福特

Henry Ford was a farm boy who went on to revolutionize transportation industry in America. Ford was very interested in mechanics from a young age, when he dismantled and reassembled a pocket watch at the age of 15 his father had given him. A self-taught watch repairman who graduated to being an apprentice machinist, Ford started his personal experiments on gasoline engines which was the beginning of his vast Ford empire. And his net worth, as per Forbes in 2008, is a cool $188.1 billion.

亨利-福特原来是个农场男孩，后来却让美国的交通工业发生了革命性的变化。福特从小就对机械非常感兴趣，15岁那年他就拆掉了父亲给他的一块怀表，然后又把它组装起来。这个自学成才的修表师毕业后做了一名见习机械师，开始在汽油机上进行他的个人实验，这也是他巨大的福特帝国的开始。根据《福布斯》杂志在2008年公布的数据，他的资产净值达到了1881亿美元。

2. Walt Disney

2. 沃特-迪斯尼

Our childhood would have been dreary without this genius of a man. Walt Disney was also another boy brought up in a farm – and used to draw pictures for his neighbors for money. He used to be the cartoonist for the school newspaper, Disney went through the jobless phase where no one hired him, and his brother had to help him out with his job search. He went from rags to riches by starting out with advertisements and going on to animating his own cartoons.

如果没有这个天才，我们的童年会沉闷不少。沃特-迪斯尼也是一个在农场长大的男孩，他曾经给邻居们画画来赚钱，也给校报当过漫画师。迪斯尼曾经一度失业，没有人雇佣他，他的哥哥不得不帮助他找工作。他创业之初从事广告业，后来开始给自己的卡通形象拍摄动画片。

3. Ralph Lauren

3. 拉夫-劳伦

Born in a strict Jewish family with a house painter for a father, Ralph Lauren grew up with big dreams. He used to sell ties to his classmates to earn some cash, and he mentioned in his yearbook that he wanted to be a millionaire. His interest in ties went on help his put his foot through the door of bigger achievements in the fashion world. When he was signed on to design the clothes for ‘The Great Gatsby’ in 1974, he was catapulted into the fame which he commands today.

拉夫-劳伦出生在一个严格的犹太家庭，父亲是一名房屋油漆工。他从小就有着远大的梦想。他曾经把领带卖给自己的同学来挣钱，而且他在自己的年鉴中提到他想成为一名百万富翁。他对领带的兴趣帮助他进入了时尚圈并且取得了更大的成就。当他签约为1974年的电影《了不起的盖茨比》设计服装时，便开启了他今日所取得的名声的第一步。

4. Steve Jobs

4. 史蒂夫-乔布斯

This Apple founder is now a household name. Jobs was given away for adoption by his biological parents and he became interested in electronics after his foster dad showed him the joys of technical tinkering in their garage. He had to drop out of college, because his education was costing his foster parents a lot. He used to return Coke bottles for money and live on free meals at the Hare Krishna temple. A hippie who used to trip on LSD, Jobs went from a technician in Atari, Inc. to becoming the CEO of Apple Inc.

这位苹果公司的创始人现在已经家喻户晓。乔布斯被他的亲生父母交给他人领养，当他的养父在车库里向他展示了技术熔补的乐趣后，他开始对电子器件产生了兴趣。由于高昂的学费给他的养父母造成了巨大的负担，乔布斯不得不从大学退学。他曾经回收可乐瓶换钱，靠克利什那庙里的免费食物生活。乔布斯，这个曾经服用迷幻药的嬉皮士，从阿塔利公司的技术员开始，慢慢成为了苹果公司的CEO。

5. Richard Branson

5. 理查德-布兰森

Branson went from being a dyslexic kid who performed badly in school to a British business magnate with a net worth of 4.6 billion. There was a time when Richard Branson started his record business from the crypt of a church – and now he is the fourth richest citizen of the UK. This entrepreneur is an example of how one can be eccentric and yet rake in the moolah. He had his finger in many pies – record label, airways and telecom.

布兰森从一个在学校表现糟糕，而且有诵读困难症的孩子，成为了净资产46亿美元的英国商业巨头。理查德-布兰森在一所教堂的地窖里开始了他的唱片生意，现在他在英国富豪榜上排名第四。这位企业家是一个例子，告诉人们在金钱面前人可以古怪而又专注。他涉足了许多领域——唱片业，航空业和电信业。

6. John Paul DeJoria

6. 约翰-保罗-德约里尔

Born to Italian and Greek immigrant parents, this billionaire had to sell newspapers when he was nine to support his family. He has lived in a foster home, been part of a street gang and jumped through a number of jobs. With a loan of $700, he began what is now known the world over as the Paul Mitchell line of hair products. He went on to own 70% of The Patron Spirits Company, the world’s ultra-premium tequila brand. If this is not a rags-to-riches story, we do not know what is.

约翰出生在来自意大利和希腊的移民家庭，在成为亿万富翁之前，九岁的时候，他不得不靠卖报纸来补贴家用。他住在收养家庭里，曾经是个街头小混混，换过许多工作。用700美元的贷款，他开始经营今天享誉全球的保罗-米切尔美发产品。之后他获得了培恩烈酒公司70%的份额，该公司是世界顶级的龙舌兰酒品牌。如果这都不算白手起家致富的话，我们都不知道还有什么可以算了。