Many of the richest people in the world started their careers fresh out of school. But for others, their millionaire or billionaire status didn’t come until much later in life.

From some of the globe's best-known actors to a former president of the United States, read on to discover the people who hit the jackpot after the age of 39.

All dollar values in US dollars

Just shy of his 39th birthday, the late Stan Lee rose to fame with the creation of his comic book The Fantastic Four. Following this, he went on to create the legendary Marvel Universe, which included iconic characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men.

He was estimated to be worth around $50 million at the time of his death in November 2018, the equivalent of $63 million (£50m) in today's money.

Vera Wang started out as a successful figure skater and journalist, becoming Vogue's youngest editor in the early 1970s. Her career as a fashion designer only began when she was 40.

Now worth $500 million (£395m), according to the most recent data from Forbes, Wang has designed bridalwear for clients including Kim Kardashian, Chelsea Clinton, Ivanka Trump, and Ariana Grande. 

With no prior experience in retail, Donald Fisher was 40 years old when he and his wife Doris opened the first Gap store in San Francisco (Doris was 38). The couple’s business was an enormous success and quickly became immensely popular.

Donald died in 2009 but Doris, who is 92, and her family are worth $8.9 billion (£7bn), according to Forbes data from 2020.

Martha Stewart might be a long-term fixture on our TV screens, but it wasn’t until the age of 40 that she got her big break. Her first step into the world of the fabulously wealthy began with her book Entertaining (1982).

Today, she's estimated to be worth a fabulous $400 million (£316m).

Gary Heavin first became a millionaire aged 25 but lost it all and filed for bankruptcy at 30. In 1992, when he was 40, he launched the first Curves Fitness Center and the franchise went on to become the fastest-growing of the 1990s.

Heavin re-made his fortune and then some. Today, he's rumoured to be worth around $2 billion (£1.6bn). 

When English actor Alan Rickman was in his mid-20s, he left his job at a successful graphic design business to pursue acting. However, he spent years working in theatre and didn’t land his first big hit until he was offered the role of Hans Gruber in Die Hard at the age of 42.

He was estimated to be worth $16 million when he died in 2016, the equivalent of $21 million (£17m) today.

Simon Cowell may have an estimated net worth of $600 million (£475m), but his career didn't get off to such a great start. His first job was in the mail room of EMI Music Publishing, courtesy of his father Eric. Frustrated that he hadn't been offered a promotion, he left the company only to return to EMI later.

In 2001, when Cowell was 42, he became a judge on the reality TV show Pop Idol, and the millions really started to come his way.

Despite being on the Hollywood scene for years, Samuel L. Jackson only hit the jackpot when he landed a role in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever at the age of 43.

The award-winning role rocketed the actor to fame and fortune, and today he's rumoured to have a net worth of $250 million (£198m). 

While in office, former US president Barack Obama received a salary of $400,000. But it wasn't just his presidency that led to his super-rich status. Aged 43, Obama re-published his first book Dreams From My Father, capitalising on his journey into politics. The book landed him his first million and he's since released three more titles. These include A Promised Land, which set a first-day sales record by selling almost 890,000 copies in November 2020.

Michelle and Barack Obama also sealed a record-breaking $65 million joint book deal back in 2017. With an estimated joint net worth of $70 million (£55m), it's safe to say the couple is doing well despite starting their writing careers later in life. 

Sam Walton, the founder of retail giant Walmart, enjoyed a successful retail management career in his 20s and 30s. But it wasn’t until the age of 44, when Walton founded the first Walmart store, that he started on the path to astronomical success.

Walton died in 1992, and thanks to his legacy, his family is now the richest in America with a total net worth of $267 billion (£211bn), according to Forbes.​

It wasn’t until Henry Ford turned 45 that his entrepreneurship began. In 1908, Ford created the revolutionary Model T car, considered to be the first affordable automobile ever made.

The iconic car transported Ford into multibillion-dollar territory and he left his family with a fortune that would be worth around $200 billion (£158bn) in today's money.

Jack Weil was the founder of Rockmount Ranch Wear, one of the most popular cowboy-wear brands in America. Weil started his business when he was 45 but certainly made up for lost time.

Believed to be the oldest CEO in the country, the entrepreneur ran his company until he died at the grand old age of 107 in 2008. 

Legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield was worth an estimated $10 million when he died in 2004, the equivalent of $17m (£13m) in 2024 money. But he didn't always earn big bucks.

The US comedian landed his first major gig aged 46, when he made a breakout appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967.

From the Dyson hoover to the Dyson Airwrap, British inventor James Dyson is behind some of the hottest products of the last 30 years. However, he suffered a series of setbacks while attempting to get his flagship product to market. Forced to set up his own manufacturing company, Dyson Ltd, as no other manufacturer would produce his dual cyclone vacuum cleaner, Dyson was 46 before he opened his first UK factory.

The Dyson Dual Cyclone became the fastest-selling vacuum cleaner in the country and the rest is history. The inventor and his family claimed the fifth spot on this year's Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of over £20 billion ($25bn).

Founder of PeopleSoft, the company that landed him on the Forbes rich list, David Duffield was 47 when he became a successful entrepreneur.

Duffield went on to sell the application software company to Oracle for $10.7 billion in 2005, the equivalent of $17 billion (£13bn) today. In the same year, he co-founded the HR and finance software firm Workday. Today,  Forbes pegs his wealth at an incredible $12 billion (£9bn).

Before Susan Boyle auditioned for the UK TV show Britain's Got Talent, she described her life as "mundane". But when she released her first album in November 2009, after winning the show, it became the UK’s best-selling debut album of all time.

Boyle’s most high-profile gig to date was providing the musical accompaniment to the traditional release of doves at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony. She’s currently estimated to have a fortune of around $40 million (£32m).

Formerly in advertising and media, Julia Child launched her career as a celebrity chef in 1961, aged 49, when she wrote her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.

When she died in 2004, Child was estimated to be worth $38 million, the equivalent of $63 million (£50m) in today's money. By then, she had written 19 cookbooks and hosted 13 different TV shows.

Arguably one of the most famous contributors to the science of evolution, Charles Darwin was just 21 when he went on his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle. However, his work as a naturalist didn’t land him his fortune until he was 50 when he published On the Origin of Species.

When he died in 1922, Darwin was estimated to be worth £146,911, which is equivalent to around £7 million ($9m) in today's money.

Taikichiro Mori had his first taste of wealth when he became a real estate investor at the age of 51. In 1959, he founded the Mori Building Company, which is still owned by his descendants today. 

The business made him the richest man in the world by 1992, when his net worth reached $13 billion, according to Forbes. That's the equivalent of $29 billion (£23bn) in today's money.

A former milkshake machine salesman, Ray Kroc was 52 when he began working for McDonald's as a franchising agent in 1954. By 1961, he'd amassed enough money to buy out the owners and soon built the company into the world's biggest fast food chain.

The sale certainly paid off and Kroc was thought to be worth around $600 million at the time of his death in 1984, the equivalent of $1.8 billion (£1.4bn) today. He's pictured here with his wife Joan in 1982.

Arianna Huffington enjoyed a successful career as a political commentator and writer in her younger years, but it wasn't until she co-founded her eponymous media site, The Huffington Post, at the age of 54 that she became a household name.

In 2011 the HuffPost was sold to AOL for $315 million ($440m/£348m today), with Huffington herself acting as editor-in-chief. She stepped away from the outlet in 2016 to focus on other projects, and online estimates now peg her net worth at around $100 million (£79m). 

American blues musician Steven Gene Wold, known as Seasick Steve, doesn’t necessarily look like your average millionaire. However, by the time he was 70, he was earning an estimated fortune of $3 million (£2.4m) a year.

Although music had always been a big part of his life, the singer didn’t find stellar success until he featured on the UK's annual New Year’s Eve TV show Jools’ Annual Hootenanny in 2006, after which he shot to fame. He was 55 years old at the time.

Better known as Colonel Sanders, the man behind KFC – the world’s favourite fried chicken chain – didn’t find success until he began to franchise his burgeoning chicken business at the age of 66. Nine years later in 1964, he hit the jackpot when he sold the business for $2 million ($20m/£16m in 2024 money).

He was estimated to be worth $3.5 million at the time of his death in 1980, the equivalent of $13 million (£10m) today.

Now meet the youngest billionaires in 24 countries around the world

Updated by Alice Cattley