Entrepreneurial edge
A MASTER’S in business administration (MBA) not only elevates professional knowledge but also equips postgraduates with the right skill sets to apply this knowledge in the workplace. MBA holders have exhibited these benefits to lead organisations to greater heights.
Postgraduate tells the story of three well-known entrepreneurs with an MBA, who exemplify how the qualification can help mould leaders, thinkers and creators.
Elon Musk
Despite being outspoken about how hiring policies should not put MBA holders on a pedestal, Musk himself has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
He is best known for starting space exploration company SpaceX and premium electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, but before that, Musk had a hand in forming Zip2 and PayPal.
His entrepreneurial career is set to skyrocket in line with his futuristic plans to colonise and terraform Mars, create a high-speed transportation system, and build an electric VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) supersonic jet aircraft.
Today, Musk has a net worth of US$12.7bil (RM56.7bil).
Phil Knight
The name of the man may not ring a bell but the brand he built sure will. Knight co-founded internationally renowned Nike Inc with his track coach from the University of Oregon, which he attended prior to doing his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
His career choices ranged from being a journalist to accountant and professor. After serving in the army for a few years, Knight returned to university for his MBA, where he began exploring his love for sports as an entrepreneur.
Knight’s net worth is US$24.7bil (RM110.3bil), which ranked him in the top 30 of Forbes’ 500 Richest People in the World last year. Back at Stanford, Knight is known as one of the university’s most generous donors.
Michael Bloomberg
Before he was the mayor of New York City, Bloomberg was a household name in finance media. He is the founder and owner of Bloomberg L.P., which he formed in 1981 and headed for the next 20 years.
Bloomberg attended Harvard Business School for his MBA studies, after which he embarked on a Wall Street career.
Today, Bloomberg L.P. is known for the widely applied financial data system Bloomberg Terminal as well as a host of other ancillary products such as Bloomberg News.
Based on the latest findings presented at the World Economic Forum, Bloomberg is among the eight richest men in the world with a net worth of US$43.3bil (RM193.4bil).