More than 1.3 million students drop out of high school every year in the US, making them ineligible for 90% of jobs in America, according to DoSomething.org.
But while it's by no means considered the path to success — Tumblr founder David Karp dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and told Forbes he doesn't recommend it to others since he missed out on so much — some people made the most of their time outside the hallowed halls of high school.
Here is the special breed of super successful people that overcame their "high-school dropout" status and turned the world on its head.
Vivian Giang contributed to an earlier version of this article.
SEE ALSO: The unglamorous summer jobs 21 successful people had before they made it big
DON'T MISS: 27 highly successful people share the best career advice for new grads
Richard Branson dropped out at 15
The Virgin Group founder is an international powerhouse currently worth about $4.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Branson founded his first business, Student magazine, after dropping out of high school at 15 and has spoken out against the university system on his blog.
Nearly 50 years after dropping out, he has overseen approximately 500 companies, with his brand currently on somewhere between 200 and 300 of them.
David Karp dropped out at 15
At the age of 15, Karp dropped out of an elite Bronx High School of Science and developed Tumblr, the blog-hosting and social network company, in 2007 in the "back bedroom of his mother's modest Manhattan apartment."
He sold the blog-hosting company to Yahoo for $1.1 billion in 2013, when his net worth reportedly exceeded $200 million, and he remains as the company's CEO.
Nicole Kidman dropped out at 17
The actress was attending North Sydney Girls' High School when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. According to Wonderwall.com, she left school at the age of 17 to support the family as a massage therapist.
Kidman returned to her studies once her mother recovered, attending the Victorian College of the Arts and the Australian Theatre for Young People.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider