1. Andrew Carnegie was born in 1835 in Scotland and moved to the United States as a young child. His first real job in America was as a factory worker at the tender age of 13. His hard work paid off when he joined the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, where he would be promoted to the position of superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division. Carnegie made his fortune in the steel industry and after selling the Carnegie Steel Company in 1901, he devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy.
2. John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839 in Richford, New York. His father was a traveling salesman who spent a lot of time on the road and was frequently absent for extended periods. Rockefeller was always known as a respectful and hardworking boy and in 1855 at the age of sixteen he got his first job as an assistant bookkeeper with a small firm and despite earning only 50 cents a day, gave a percentage of his wage to the Baptist church to which he belonged. In 1859, Rockefeller went into business with a partner, Maurice B. Clark, and while the company was in constant profit, his real break came when he bought out the Clark Brothers' oil business in 1865 and went on to become one of America's best known oil magnates and philanthropists.
3. Ozzy Osborne was born in 1948 in Birmingham and he and his two brothers and three sisters lived in a small two bedroom house. Ozzy suffered from dyslexia and struggled in school before leaving at the age of 15 to work as a laborer and then take on a range of other low paid menial jobs. He started his first band in 1967 but it was not until 1969 that they became Black Sabbath and adopted the now infamous dark heavy style. Ozzy found huge success with the band and as a solo artist, selling millions of records before rejuvenating his career as the star of the reality television show, The Osbourne's.
4. Richard Branson was born in 1950 in London and though he came from a comfortable background, he did not perform well academically due to dyslexia. However, he achieved success in business at an early age with a magazine called Student, before first venturing into the record business. In 1972, he opened Virgin Records and as the brand strengthened over the years, he expanded into other areas and is now one of the richest people in the world with a vast fortune.
5. Oprah Winfrey was born into poverty in 1954 in Mississippi. She endured a very difficult childhood but overcame these problems to break into the entertainment industry, appearing on the local news at the age of 19. This led to her getting her own talk show, setting up her own production company and earning millions in the process. 

Garry Hudson writes about all things debt related, whether you need Debt Management Solution advice or Bankruptcy Advice then Garry will have come across these areas in his decade of experience in all things debt. Garry works for one of the largest debt companies in the UK Baines and Ernst