It’s important to know and understand that most of the rich celebrities we see today actually came from poor homes. There is a saying that “it’s easier to climb a ladder with an empty stomach than with a filled one”. Well, to an extent, that saying might be true. These celebrities have worked extremely hard to move from nobody to somebody.
1. Jim Carrey
When he was a boy, Jim Carrey and his family lost their home and had to live in a van. He quit school at age 15 to help support the family. These days, Carrey does just fine as Hollywood’s funny man whose jokes have made him mind-bogglingly rich. Infamous roles in Dumb & Dummer, Ace Ventura, and In Living Color have sky rocketed his net worth to over $150 million.
2. Olamide
Olamide Adedeji popularly known as Olamide or Baddo is a Nigerian hip hop recording artist. He was born inside a ghetto and his childhood was filled with hardship, struggle and hunger. Out of passion he decided to pursue a career in music. When asked why music, he said: “I found out I was gifted in it so I had to explore it. It’s my life, my hustle, my world”. And today Olamide is now a global venture. He is very successful and famous and has been listed as one of the richest musicians in Nigeria.
3. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey is undoubtedly one of America’s richest women. However, things weren’t always as smooth for the author. The 67-year-old was born into a poor home in rural Mississippi. Being raised by a single mother, Oprah Winfrey admitted that she was molested at a young age. But today, she is worth around $2.5 billion.
4. Wizkid
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known by his stage name Wizkid, is definitely Nigeria’s finest and hottest entertainment export. Wizkid was born into a poor family background, although his parents were civil servants but they were still poor as they could not afford some basic needs at home.
Wizkid grew up in Ojuelegbe, a part of Surulere in Lagos State in the south western part of Nigeria, which also happens to be his hometown. He has shared stages with a lot of Nigeria’s finest artist, and has entered global relevance with collaboration with renowned artists like Drake, Akon and Chris Brown. Today regardless of what you think of him, the name Wizkid will forever resound in the annals of Nigerian music history.
5. Dolly Parton
Country music icon Dolly Parton grew up dirt poor. She was raised in a one-room cabin in the woods with dirt floors and little money. Her parents worked hard to stretch a dollar, she told Money. Regardless, of her $500 million and growing net worth, old habits die hard. Parton told Money about her lifestyle now versus as a destitute child: “If I am thinking about spending a lot of money on clothing or furniture, I think ‘I can’t spend so much money on one thing; my poor old daddy could have raised his family five years on that!’”
