Eleven celebrities that went from rags to riches

Celine Dion

Growing up, Celine Dion had a hard life. Before she was a Grammy award winning singer, Dion grew up as one of 14 children in her French-Canadian Family. Her parents both struggled to provide for the family when she was young. She’s come a long way since then. Dion is now a five time Grammy winner with an estimated net worth of $400 million. Not bad.

1

Jim Carrey

The lovable, amazing Jim Carrey grew up dirt poor. During his childhood, the whole family lived out of VW camper parked right outside the factory where his parents worked.Before getting his big break Carrey jumped around from low-paying job to low-paying job. He even struggled with homelessness for a time.

2

Leonardo DiCaprio

When Leonardo DiCaprio moved out to Hollywood to pursue his dreams, the city did not necessarily embrace him. Before his big break he fell in poverty with some shady characters and even criminals. It seems like it was worth it for Leo though, his net worth is estimated to be around $200 million.

3

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg grew up in tough South Boston. After he dropped out of school at age 14, teenage Wahlberg pursued a life of petty crime and drugs. He got a big wake up call after serving time for assault, and decided to turn his life around. By all accounts he’s been pretty successful at this with an estimated net worth of $165 million.

4

JK Rowling

Before becoming the international best selling author of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling was a struggling single mother. Life was tough for her living off of government welfare, but she stuck to it and even managed to find the time to write.The result? She’s estimated to have a net worth of $1 billion. JK Rowling is literally the definition of a rags to riches story.

5

Oprah Winfrey

With a current net worth estimated to be $2.7 billion, Oprah is in her own category of success. She grew up in poverty on a small farm in Mississippi living with her grandmother and single mother. Oprah was also sexually assaulted by a relative when she was 9 years old. Despite the hardships of her situation she persevered and went on to become the modern day media mogul and celebrity.

6

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Before he was the Governator and action movie superstar, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a poor immigrant from Austria. He begged and borrowed to get enough money to start his first business Pumping Bricks, which he used to finance his body building career. …and we all know how that turned out for him.

7

Jay-Z

The rapper-turned-diversified-entrepreneur began life in the Marcy Housing Project in Brooklyn. As a teen, Jay-Z got involved in crime, but turned it around to become one of the richest, most successful celebrities in the world.

8

Sean “Diddy” Combs

If you’re not directly familiar with Sean Combs, you definitely know his reputation. This man is a true music mogul, but he didn’t start out that way. He had a tough childhood growing up in the projects in Harlem. Combs’ father was killed in a drug related shooting. Instead of letting all that get him down, Combs persevered and now owns his own successful record label.

9

Halle Berry

Halle Berry was raised by a single mother in Cleveland, Ohio, and like many others on this list, had a hard life. Before getting her big break, she spent time in and out of homeless shelters in New York City.

10

Tom Cruise

The “Top Gun” star didn’t have an easy start in life as the son of an abusive father living in upstate New York. Nowadays Tom Cruise and his movies are household names. Not only that, but he has a net worth of around $270 million. 

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