Three of my friends hit it big despite their average to low education backgrounds

I have several very wealthy friends, each with different backgrounds and career paths:

One only made it to the eighth grade before dropping out to take over his family business. This friend is very good at business, having learned primarily through experience passed down from his predecessors. They now own assets worth hundreds of billions of dong (VND1 billion = US$39,700).

Another friend graduated college with an average degree. This person also pursued a career in business. To date, their assets are also worth no less than hundreds of billions of dong, and that is only from what I have seen. They lead a comfortable life and send their children to study abroad as early as high school.

My third friend only studied up to the ninth grade and then went abroad to work as a foreign worker. Upon returning to Vietnam, this friend also went into business. Seizing many opportunities, their assets are now on par with the other friends mentioned, owning two large companies in their province.

Meanwhile, many of my colleagues, who are managers with numerous higher education degrees, are still making VND50-100 million per month. I do not know if society considers them talented or not, but I am certain that aside from working for their companies, they do not know how to make money in any other way.

I have often heard them giving investment advice on where to invest idle money, but it never leads to any financial breakthrough. They may be book-smart, but their practical knowledge is very different from my “less educated” friends mentioned above.

This shows that while education is necessary, it does not guarantee wealth and success. Academic degrees can guarantee a stable future, but to rise to the ranks of the ultra-rich (having over US$30 million in net worth) in Vietnam, people need much more than that.

Do you think higher education is necessary to amass wealth?

Reader LT

*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.