These are Canada's billionaires in 2024 and some of them made their fortunes without a degree
Ever wonder if you need a university degree to become a billionaire?
Chip Wilson. Right: Mark Scheinberg.
Canada's billionaires in 2024 have been revealed and some of the country's wealthiest people don't have university degrees.
Forbes released its annual World's Billionaires List on April 2, including several Canadians who have amassed incredible fortunes.
Forbes says 2024 was a "banner year for the mega wealthy" with 2,781 billionaires worldwide. The billionaires featured on the list are also "richer than ever" with a combined wealth of approximately $14.2 trillion.
The new billionaires ranking has 67 Canadians on it.
Forbes says in 2024 the richest people in Canada include David Thomson and family, Changpeng Zhao, David Cheriton and Jim Pattison.
While some of Canada's richest people graduated with a degree, some don't have a post-secondary education. Forbes has a profile on each billionaire who made the list, although not every person has their education listed.
Here are some Canadian billionaires who made the Forbes 2024 World's Billionaires List and what degrees, if any, they have.
David Thomson and family
David Thomson, and his family, control a media and publishing empire founded by his grandfather Roy Thomson. They also hold a stake in Bell Media and own the Toronto-based Globe and Mail newspaper.
They are estimated to have a net worth of $67.8 billion.
While he's 22 on the Forbes list, Thomson is the richest Canadian on it.
The 66-year-old Canadian billionaire has a master of arts degree from the University of Cambridge, according to Forbes.
David Cheriton
David Cheriton, also known as "Professor Billionaire," is a professor emeritus at Stanford University with a net worth of $12.6 billion.
According to Forbes, he made his fortune thanks to a $100,000 investment when Google was just getting started.
He later co-founded three companies: Arista Networks, Granite Systems and Kealia.
Cheriton has a bachelor of arts/science degree from the University of British Columbia, and a doctorate and master of science, both from the University of Waterloo.
Joseph Tsai
Joseph Tsai, a co-founder of Alibaba Group, has a net worth of $8.5 billion.
He holds two degrees from Yale University, an undergrad degree in economics and East Asian studies as well as a law degree, according to Forbes.
Anthony von Mandl
Anthony von Mandl began his career in the Canadian wine business as an importer at the age of 22.
He then created the ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages White Claw Hard Seltzer and Mike's Hard Lemonade.
He currently has a net worth of $7.7 billion.
Von Mandl holds a bachelor of arts/science degree from the University of British Columbia.
Chip Wilson
Dennis "Chip" Wilson is the founder and former CEO of Lululemon, which he started with one Vancouver store in 2000.
Wilson no longer has a management role at Lululemon, but he's still the company's biggest individual shareholder with an 8 percent stake, Forbes says.
Wilson, his wife and five sons currently run a company called Hold It All, which invests in real estate, private equity and apparel.
The 67-year-old Canadian, worth $6.8 billion, has a bachelor of arts/science degree from the University of Calgary.
Mark Scheinberg
Born in Israel, Mark Scheinberg moved to Toronto as a teen, according to Forbes.
At 28 years old, Scheinberg cofounded PokerStars in 2001 with his father. PokerStars became the world's biggest online poker company.
The 50-year-old Canadian billionaire is worth $5.6 billion.
He dropped out of Ontario's Fanshawe College without a degree.
Garrett Camp
Garrett Camp, 45, cofounded the ride-hailing company Uber in 2009.
Forbes says that before Uber, Camp created StumbleUpon, a web discovery tool he sold to eBay in 2007 for $75 million.
Camp earned a master of science degree from the University of Calgary and is 597 on the Forbes Billionaires List with $5.1 billion.
Daryl Katz
Daryl Katz has a net worth of $5 billion thanks to his work in the pharmacy business.
He also owns the NHL team, the Edmonton Oilers.
Katz has a bachelor of arts and science and a doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Alberta.
Emanuele (Lino) Saputo and family
Emanuele (Lino) Saputo chaired his family's dairy company until he retired in 2017.
Saputo and his family also have a stake in Major League Soccer's Montreal Impact.
The 87-year-old Canadian has a net worth of $4.3 billion.
He has a high school diploma.
Barry Zekelman
At just 19 years old, Barry Zekelman took over his family's steel business and grew it into one of North America's largest steel pipe and tube makers, as per the Forbes report.
Zekelman has a net worth of $3.4 billion.
He dropped out of York University without earning a degree.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.