Jeff Bezos tells Gen Z entrepreneurs to gain work experience before launching new companies

But Jeff Bezos, founder of the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, said Zuckerberg and Gates are “the exception” to the idea that all big tech companies were founded by college dropouts, and that a degree doesn’t matter much these days.

While it’s “possible” to be 18, 19 or 20 and drop out of college to become a great entrepreneur, Bezos said these tech leaders are an exception.

“I always advise young people: Go work for a company that has best practices somewhere where you can learn a lot of basic fundamental things [like] “How to hire well, how to interview, etc. There are a lot of things you will learn at a great company that will help you, and then there is still time to start a company after you get it,” Bezos said during an interview at Italian Tech Week last fall.

Working in a company, rather than trying to start one right away, “increases your odds of success,” he added.

Bezos, who is now the world’s third-richest person with a net worth of $268 billion, founded Amazon when he was 30 after about a decade of business experience. On the other hand, Gates and Zuckerberg were only 19 years old when they launched Microsoft and Facebook, respectively. However, Zuckerberg is the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $231 billion, and Gates is the 16th richest person with a net worth of $118 billion.

But Bezos says that “an additional 10 years of experience actually improved Amazon’s odds of success.” And it worked: Today, the online retailer has a market cap of a whopping $2.64 trillion.

Not only did Bezos have work experience, he also finished college. He graduated summa cum laude—the highest honor—from Princeton in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

He was also elected to honor the Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi sororities, and also served as president of the Princeton chapter of Space Exploration and Development Students. This academic focus later paid off in 2000 with Bezos’ aerospace technology company Blue Origin, which he described as his “most important work.” Blue Origin is a private company, so its value has never been disclosed, but Bezos said he believes it will eventually be larger than Amazon.

“This will always be my advice: I finished school and enjoyed university,” Bezos said. “I think it was helpful for me.”

However, younger generations still question the value of a college degree. As the cost of college continues to grow and the jobs available to recent graduates shrink, many are beginning to question the true return on investment of earning a degree. Even Ford CEO Jim Farley said during a recent company conference last week that going to college “should be a discussion.”

“Nothing in the history of Western civilization has become more expensive or more quickly,” added Mike Rowe, a longtime career advocate. “Not energy, not food, not real estate, not even health care, [nothing has been inflated more] of the cost of a four-year degree.”

A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on October 6, 2025.

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