Here Is How Old These Famous Tech Founders Were When They Launched Their Companies

For tech founders like Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk, it took them several attempts to build their first companies, turning them into billionaires and industry visionaries.

Although we often heard stories about tech CEOs dropping out of college, not all of them gained success at a young age. While some earned their first millions when they were in their 20s, some didn’t become successful until they hit their 30s.

Here is how old famous tech founders were when they started their companies:

Elon Musk – Tesla Founder – Age 24

Year: 1995

Musk and Kimbal, his brother, founded Zip2 which originally was Global Link Information Network. The company specialized in offering newspapers like Chicago Tribune and New York Times with online city guides. Four years later, computer company Compaq acquired the company.

After that, Musk went on helping found several companies which include X.com (that was later merged with PayPal.) and firms where he becomes CEO: SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company.

Michael Dell – Dell Founder – Age 21

Year: 1984

From his dorm room at the University of Texas in Austin as a freshman year, Michael Dell built Dell Technologies. At first, what he did was revamping computers to make some money. That later turned into a full-time job with which he succeeded in convincing his parents to let him quit college.

Mark Zuckerberg- Facebook Founder – Age 19

Year: 2004

Facebook was first launched as “Thefacebook” by Zuckerberg from his dorm room as a sophomore studying at Harvard University. Later that year, he dropped out to dedicate his time to building the social network.

Pierre Omidyar – eBay Founder- Age 23

Year: 1991

After receiving his degree from Tufts University for a few years, Omidyar and his friends co-founded Ink Development, a pen-based computing firm. Later, the company was rebranded as eShop, an internet shopping software firm which was acquired by Microsoft for $50 million in 1996. In 1995, before they finalized the sale, Omidyar started eBay.

Bill Gates- Microsoft Cofounder – Age 16

Year: 1972

Back when he was a highschooler, Gates and Paul Allen, one of his friends, launched Traf-O-Data. The company specialized in automating the analyzing process of traffic flow data for Washington roads.

Even after the pair graduated from high school, the firm continued its operation. In 1975, both of them dropped out of college to launch Microsoft. Due to being a “flawed business model,” Traf-O-Data eventually failed. The two then focused on developing Microsoft.

Jerry Yang – Yahoo Cofounder – Age 25

Year: 1994

When Yang was a Ph.D. candidate majoring in electrical engineering at Stanford University, he met Davis Filo, his co-founder in a class they attended together. Yahoo became the two's side project to manage their online favorite links. In January 1994, an online directory called “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Wed” was launched in a campus trailer. That year, the site received its first 1 million hits.

Jack Dorsey – Twitter Cofounder – Age 23

Year: 1999

Dorsey dropped out of college two times. The first time when he was a student at the University of Missouri-Rolla where he hacked Dispatch Management Services’ website and discovered a security flaw. He was immediately hired by Gregg Kidd, the company’s founder who also convinced him to relocate to New York.

While he was there, Dorsey enrolled in New York University but dropped out when he moved to San Francisco with Kidd. The two launched dNet, a software company which offered online buyers same-day delivery service. They received funding form Band of Angels but the company did not do well. Six years later, Dorsey started Twitter.

Evan Spiegel – Snapchat Founder – Age 22

Year: 2011

In April 2011, Spiegel first talked about his Snapchat idea at his product design class when he was a student at Stanford. But his classmates thought it was a terrible idea for pictures shared with friends to disappear forever.

A few months later, Spiegel and his two cofounders Reggie Brown and Bobby Murphy launched Snapchat together right from Spiegel’s Dad’s house in Los Angeles. “Picaboo” was the app’s original name. Spiegel dropped out of college when he only had a few credits needed for graduation to focus on Snapchat. In 2018, he returned to finish his degree.

Jack Ma – Alibaba Cofounder – Age 29

Year: 1994

Ma quit his English teaching job at a local university to launch Haibo Translation Agency. In 1995, when visiting the US, Ma encountered an internet-connected computer for the first time.

His first search on the Internet was “beer,” but what came as a surprise to him was that no results of Chinese beers turned up. It was then that he made a decision to set up an internet firm for China which was Alibaba.com.

Larry Page & Sergey Brin – Google Cofounders – Age 25

Year: 1998

The two first met in 1998, when Brin took Page for a tour around Stan University. At that time, Brin was a graduate majoring in computer science at Stanford while Page was thinking about attending the school. At first, it was reported that their first impression of the other was not so great. But when Page started studying there as a Ph.D. student, the two were classmates.

They started working on a research project called “BackRub” which cataloged every online link together. The two quit Stanford shortly after that. In 1998, the founded Google from the garage of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki in Menlo Park, California.

Steve Jobs – Apple Cofounder – Age 21

Year: 1976

Jobs first met his Apple cofounder Apple Wozniak in 1971 through a mutual friend before they became friends at college. They often worked on small tech projects and attended Homebrew Computer Club’s meetings together. It was at these meetings that the two’s interest in computers was ignited. Their hobby was later transformed into Apple.

The two worked everything from the garage at the house of Jobs’ parents. People living around the area often saw Jobs wearing his cutoff jeans barefooted holding meetings at the garage.

David Karp – Tumblr Founder – Age 19

Year: 2006

Karp dropped out of high school when he was 14 and he didn’t attend any college either. But that did not discourage him from joining the tech field and becoming UrbanBaby’s chief technology officer which was later acquired by CNET in 2006.

He earned “several thousand dollars” through the acquisition and used that money to start Davidville with which he used to develop other Internet firms including Tumblr.

Jeff Bezos – Amazon Founder- Age 30

Year: 1994

Bezos left his position at D.E.Shaw to start Amazon.com which initially was an online bookseller. At that time, he, along with his wife, drove across the country to set up Amazon in Seattle. The entire car ride was spent to "tapping out a business plan on his computer along the way" as well as “calling prospective investors on a cell phone.”