The eight Ivy Leagues and other top universities graduate some of the world’s great entrepreneurial movers and shakers. Let’s take a look at some of the top entrepreneurs from around the Ivy League and other top schools.

Entrepreneurs from Around the Ivies and Other Top Universities

• Brown University’s Nancy Zimmerman (B.A. ‘85) is the co-founder of the hedge fund Bracebridge Capital. She is the wealthiest female hedge fund founder in the United States. At Brown, Zimmerman studied Economics and the Practice and Production of Art. At graduation, she received the Alfred H. Joslin Award for Service to the Brown Community. She currently serves as a fellow on the Corporation of Brown University.
• Columbia University’s Jared Hecht (B.S. ‘09) is the co-founder of both Fundera, a digital lending aggregator, and GroupMe, a group messaging app. While at Columbia, Hecht studied Political Science and served as the publisher and managing director of Inside New York, the university’s student-written guidebook, which he credits for his later entrepreneurial success: “I think it really set the precedent for everything that happened after Columbia.”
• Cornell University’s Niraj Shah (B.S.E. ‘95) is the co-founder, along with fellow Cornell alumnus Steve Connine (BS ‘95), of Wayfair, an online retailer. Both men credit an entrepreneurship course taught by Professor David BenDaniel that they took their senior year as what pushed them into entrepreneurship. They graduated with degrees in Engineering, and both recently made $5 million gifts to Cornell to support the construction of a new computer science building.
• Dartmouth College’s Naval Ravikant (B.S. ‘96) is the co-founder of AngelList, a software company. Ravikant initially worked as dishwasher in the college cafeteria to afford Dartmouth, but eventually began assisting a Computer Science professor. He thought he would go on to become a lawyer, but started working a computer support job for Dartmouth Alumni Magazine after he was fired from a pre-law internship. He graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Economics. 
• Harvard University’s Nathan Blecharczyk (B.S. ‘05) is the billionaire co-founder of the online homestay marketplace AirBnb. While pursuing his bachelor’s in Computer Science, Blecharczyk maintained a highly profitable software company that he started in high school, which provided services to spammers. In 2002, he left his company to focus on his studies, but continued to share his business expertise on the staff of The Crimson.
• Princeton University’s Jeff Bezos (B.S.E. ‘86) is the founder of the online marketplace Amazon.com and, currently, the second wealthiest person in the world. At Princeton, Bezos majored in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was a member of the Quadrangle Club, was the president of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi.
• Stanford University’s Brian Acton (B.S. ‘94) is the billionaire co-founder of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app. Even though he received a full scholarship to study Engineering at Penn, Acton transferred to Stanford after his freshman year, and soon graduated with a degree in Computer Science. At Stanford, Acton was a Residential Computing Consultant.
• University of Chicago’s Patrick O. Brown (B.S. ‘76, P.h.D. ‘80, M.D. ‘82) is the founder of Impossible Foods, a plant-based meat alternative food company. A pioneering scientist, Brown embodies the intellectual spirit of UChicago, where he received all three of his degrees, including his P.h.D. in Biochemistry completed under Professor Nicholas Cozzarelli.
• University of Pennsylvania’s Josh Harris (Wharton B.S. ‘86) is the billionaire co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and a managing partner of several sports teams across the NBA, NHL, and NFL. Harris transferred into Wharton his freshman year at Penn and graduated with a degree in Economics. He wrestled with the Penn Quakers during college, and managed a profitable lemonade stand business during his summer vacations.
• Yale University’s Anne Wojcicki (B.S. ‘96) is the co-founder of the personal genomics company 23andMe. During her time at Yale, Wojcicki played on the varsity women’s ice hockey team, worked in the lab of biologist Sidney Altman, and served as an aide in Jonathan Edwards College. She is quoted in The Yale Daily News as saying “the people that you meet at Yale, whether it’s a professor, your peers or your students, are truly extraordinary.”

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