Recently, u/Ivl231889 posted "How did that person in your class become rich?" in r/AskReddit. Here's what people said:
1. "He was a big-time stoner in high school who I always thought was a lazy jerk. He went on to start one of America's most successful marijuana edible companies. They have classy billboard ads in multiple cities, and my mom bought their CBD gummies for awhile. Every year, he donates millions of dollars of his company's profits to bail funds for people of color who've been arrested for marijuana possession. He is more successful and has done more objective good for the world than I ever have or will. Turns out I was a bitter judgmental loser in high school!"
2. "A girl from my hometown won an island in a MrBeast video. It was worth millions. She’s in the process of selling it currently. Until that money comes through, she’s just living life like normal. I imagine that must be a great place to be in — knowing most of your problems are about to disappear, but not yet overly intoxicated by money."
3. "He became rich through trades. He took his student loan and bought a piece of very inexpensive land just outside of his city limits. Just by an absolute fluke, the city announced shortly after that it planned to expand city limits to include his vacant land...and suddenly, it skyrocketed in value."
"This was at a time before any real internet and before everyone had a cellphone, so there were all these property developers trying to figure out who owned this land so they could buy it. Eventually, his mom opened his mail and found a past due property tax notice and an offer for about 20 times what he paid for it.
He took the first offer he got (and regretted it) and went to a bank and directed them to invest entirely in dividend stocks, and for the dividends to be deposited directly into his bank account. He used that money to stay a student for life and basically never worked a day in his life. There was one point where it got close to him needing to get a job...but then one of the companies announced they were increasing their dividend.
I have rich friends, and then there's him...just living off of his wealth. He doesn't have a great life, but he also doesn't work."
4. "A guy that I grew up [with] hit [it] big with Crocs. I guess the guy sold insurance and was offered an opportunity to invest in Crocs. He went for it and got a few checks back in the $5–$10 million range."
5. "He scammed Medicare through his company for over $2 billion. He's currently awaiting trial."
6. "She started working for a little company called Microsoft in the mid-1980s. She retired at 40."
7. "She got pregnant by a guy whose family is worth $800 million."
8. "He started studying solar technology in '88 and now owns a solar installation company in Texas and one in California. He employs close to 200 people. I don't know how rich he is, but I'm really familiar with where he came from and what he overcame to do it all. The guy was constantly reading and tinkering with anything solar-related even when we were in high school."
9. "A lecturer of mine rode the IT wave at exactly the right time and had a damn fine head for business. When he was 30, he obsessively worked and started a business offering remote tech support which was a new idea at the time, signed on some super big clients who were enamored with the idea, and built a giant house from the proceeds that pissed everyone off. He sold the business and then died of a heart attack at 45 or so, though. So, yeah. There can be complications."
10. "People thought he was a loser skateboard kid — now he has a successful skateboard shop and sponsors events."
11. "This kid in my high school english class entered a robotics competition and got third place. He was pretty bummed out for a while since first prize was a scholarship to a pretty big university, and third place got a lousy 500 bitcoin. He kept the 500 bitcoin despite people telling him to cash it and get the $100 or whatever it was worth. Anyway, he cashed it at the peak of bitcoin and is now living pretty well with his $30 million."
12. "In middle school, this one kid's parents told him, 'We’re giving you $20K right now, and that’s all you’ll get from us.' He was told he could use it for college if he pleased, or a car when he was old enough to drive. Anyway, he started obsessively studying stocks and invested most of that money, and now he’s a millionaire."
13. "A high school friend of mine went to college, left after his first year, and then did a cooking course and found his passion. He is now one of the top chefs in the city and will probably get a Michelin star next year."
14. "A good friend of mine worked at an early Subway, and they helped him buy a franchise. He ended up with a dozen, then sold the group and retired."
15. "I have a friend who just started a job installing kitchen cabinets. He has obscene standards for the quality of his work which, evidently, is uncommon. Then, he started buying property in regional areas that needed fixing up and would do it himself. He's much more concerned with having good tenants than he is with the amount of rent they pay. It's worked well for him."
16. "He started buying and selling used cars, moved to higher-end cars and limos. From there, he started a limo rental company while still selling limos, and then sold the rental company. Now, he sells high-end limos, sprinter vans, and exotic cars."
And lastly:
17. "He wrote Hamilton."
Answers have been edited for length and/or clarity.