"Regular" People Who Knew Celebs And The Super Rich In School Are Sharing What They Were Like, And Whew, I'm Shocked
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about their high school classmates who went on to become millionaires, and they shared some juicy stories.
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Here are some of the most fascinating ones:
1."One of my best friends became a millionaire. In high school and university, we spent countless hours hanging out and listening to Tupac in his Ford Taurus. Now he owns a multimillion-dollar international business and is rich enough that he paid for about 30 of his friends to go to the Maldives for a birthday party."
"I worked for the company briefly at the start, but because of visa issues and just not being passionate about the industry, I didn't stick with it."
2."I went to high school just outside of Seattle and graduated in '85. A gal who graduated a year ahead of me in '84 was one of the original employees of Microsoft. Needless to say, she retired in her 30s because she had original stock from them!"
—55, Washington
3."I went to high school with two, actually. One is still the bass player in a band that was very popular in the late 2000s, and the other went on to play professional football for the Falcons for a while. I knew the bass player, and he was always such a goofy nerd type; he just made everyone laugh and was an all-around good dude. The football player (whom I also knew in middle school) had the biggest ego EVER. He knew he was hot shit and made everyone aware of it — that kind of guy, typical jock."
"Once he learned he was on his way to getting a scholarship and that playing professional ball was something achievable, he became insufferable. We were at least polite to each other, shared some notes, a laugh in class from time to time, but then that quickly turned into calling me a 'disgusting punk bitch' in front of his buddies. I smirked a little when I learned he got injured and was out for the season one year."
4."I went to a wealthy public high school in Orange County, California. When I was a sophomore, EDM artist Steve Aoki was a freshman. He chronicled his early years in the documentary I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. I was there, in the same PE class with him, when the racist incident he talked about in the film happened. Thing is, I was a nerdy kid with social anxiety, so there was no way I could stand up for (with) him. I was just thankful it wasn't happening to me."
"He was quiet, mostly a loner, like you'd expect from a Japanese kid in a mostly white, wealthy school in the early '90s. He did the skater thing for a while, played on the football team for a while, and dyed his hair blonde. None of us knew his dad had founded Benihana. Someone started a rumor about it, but Wikipedia was almost 10 years away at that point. I wish I'd had the maturity and strength of character to invite him into our friend group."
—47, California
5."I worked with a former classmate who became a millionaire by the time we were in our mid-20s. He was very frugal, took lunch in a dog food bag, used tape on his work boots, and hated wasting money. I mean, at construction jobs, he would take leftover wood and steel and sell them on the side. He still managed to buy a beautiful home and married a lovely woman. They had a child together, and he thought the daughter was ashamed of his work clothes, etc."
"He explained to her, does she like their home, her new clothes, having food? He then let her know it was all due to his lifestyle of being frugal. Last I recall, he was worth upward of 7 million, all because he remained himself!"
—48, Texas
6."I went to university with the guy who founded Crumbl. He was the kind of person who was very phony and only spoke with you if it benefited him — like, trying to get you to vote for him for student council. I didn’t particularly like him as a person, but his cookie company is pretty great, so I’ll give him that!"
7."A guy from my high school was one of the first people to become extremely successful in real estate from using social media. Dude is 28 years old selling multimillion-dollar Dallas homes because he was smart enough to tweet pictures of modern interiors captioned 'Vibes,' and it took off. He was always nice in high school, but definitely a 'grind' type."
8."When I was in high school with this individual, there was a very sharp social distinction among people in rural Illinois. In the high school, approximately half came from farms. These were the 'haves.' This person came from an extremely poor family. His father worked as a field hand and supported a large family. Generally speaking, those from the nonfarming families didn't participate in the high school social life. I’m not sure any of us paid any real attention to this guy. He did play on the basketball team, but other than that, he wasn't well known. After high school, he was the first member of his family to go to college — let alone go on to graduate school. After graduate school, he took a position teaching at a major research university and begin to invest in the market."
"He also developed a computer-centric product that later had fairly significant value. He progressed up the academic chain to university president and continued active investment. I suppose he is about my age (82) and is a decamillionaire (someone who has at least $10 million in investments earning value). It wouldn't be unkind to say that my high school class wasn't a high-achieving group. That makes the accomplishments of this individual all the more astonishing."
—82, Illinois
9."I went to high school with a now very famous lead singer for a '90s band. He was the only Latine student in a predominantly white school. Not shy by any means, but always a little distant and private. The school was constantly on him for dress code violations and stuff, and he skipped a lot of classes."
"Now that I look back on it, his lyrics make sense. He still fights the good fight, and his songs show no sign of going off into obscurity."
10."I went to school with Jonathan Van Ness. I had Algebra II with him in high school. He was always the nicest person. We never hung out, but he always had a smile and an encouraging word for every person. Plus, he was an awesome cheerleader!"
—36, Illinois
11."We have several huge 'influencers' from my small hometown in Idaho! A few claim to be millionaires. They were all pretty cocky, smart, well off, and outgoing, but also generally kind people. None were the type that you thought, Man, they’re really going places in life! But they are totally rocking social media and making big bucks, even while living in our little ol' town."
—35, Utah
12."Went through school with a girl who was very intelligent, very quiet, and uptight. She got bullied for never having the latest clothes and gadgets. She just came in, studied, and went home. She was pretty quiet during our 20s, but things changed once we reached our 30s. She's now a famous food personality and is constantly hopping from country to country around the world for work. She's a godmother to my kids and a great example of how there is no deadline on becoming successful."
—39, United Kingdom
13."She's now a millionaire therapist, and she owns and flips houses, too. But she lives in California, so she has to work like a dog just to keep her head above water."
"I bet someday she'll give up and move back to the Midwest."
14."I don't know if she's a millionaire, but I went to school with Kat Barrell from Wynonna Earp. We had several classes together (including drama), and I remember when she wrote, directed, and starred in the play that is referenced on her Wiki. We were barely acquaintances, but she seemed nice. She had always said that she wanted to take a year off and go to Europe before getting into acting, and it looks as though she did just that."
15."I imagine they’re millionaires — the most popular girl in my high school was also the most popular in our elementary and middle school. She married a professional football player. I rarely post anything on social media, but in the past, she’d always be one of the first to like and comment on my Instagram pics."
"There’s a reason she was so popular; she’s a very sociable and friendly person. I wish her and her family all the best because her kindness wasn’t an act. She was popular for the right reasons."
16."I was friends with someone who went on to play pro football. Everybody loved him and thought he was funny because he would say jokes like, 'Your breath smells like...' (insert the most random object). He wasn't the most studious and tried copying my homework multiple times in a creative writing class. I helped him get ideas instead. He is now a multimillionaire from playing football."
—Anonymous, South Carolina
17."I went to school with Ruby Rose. They weren't a straight A student and were always getting into physical fights with other girls."
—35, Australia
18."This girl was considered to be lazy in school, but she ended up graduating and went on to invest, and now she’s a millionaire. Sweetest woman on the planet now. A yoga mom, at that."
—36, Illinois
19."I went to high school with Ninja’s wife, Jessica Blevins, and we also went to the same dance studio. She was friendly enough but very into herself. She (and her mom, funny enough) were orange from fake tanning, she died her hair platinum blonde, and she always dressed to impress the boys. She seems to have toned that down a bit, though, and seems really happy!"
—29, Wisconsin
20."I grew up with tons of kids whose parents were already millionaires (mine weren't), and those kids inherited very well. Sadly, many (if not most) remained supremely entitled — and entitled, as in, 'Why don't homeless people just get jobs?'"
21."I went to high school with a guy who had a show called The Buried Life and dated Audrina Patridge. I can't say I knew him well, but he always seemed like a decent dude. He played sports and wasn't one of the problematic popular jocks. Just did his thing and had fun."
And finally...
22."His family were already millionaires when we were at school. His dad owned some big firms in the area, and of course, now management has passed to my old schoolmate. He was a really lovely, down-to-earth guy at school. He got bullied by the popular kids because they didn’t realize who his family was. When they realized and tried befriending him, he told them to get lost. He was part of my friend group; we were all the ones who got bullied for not being 'cool' enough or for getting good grades, and four of us were in the school orchestra together. His wealth was never a factor for us — he was just in our gang."
"His family used to go on vacation to Israel several times a year. One year, he brought us all back friendship bracelets and hand-painted bead necklaces. I still have mine over 25 years later. I bumped into him about 10 years ago, and he was just the same as ever. His parents still live in the mansion, and he lives in just a normal home with his wife and kids."
Have you gone to school with someone who became a millionaire (and/or a celeb)? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
