Why Jeff Bezos warns against taking career advice from university dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg

Many members of Generation Z believe that a college degree is no longer worth the cost, often citing soaring student debt and rising unemployment rates among graduates as proof.

Yet one of the world’s richest men is urging young people to think twice before writing off higher education—warning that the success stories of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs are rare exceptions, not the rule.

Jeff Bezos was speaking at the Italian Tech Week 2025 in October, where he warned that while a handful of young people have made millions after dropping out, the vast majority will find the odds heavily stacked against them.

“It is possible to be 18, 19, 20 years old, drop out of college and be a great entrepreneur,” the Amazon founder said, as cited by Fortune magazine. “We have famous examples of that working—Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. But these people are the exception.”

Bezos, who himself graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, credited his formal education and early career for helping him build Amazon. Before founding the company in 1994, he worked on Wall Street at firms like Fitel, Bankers Trust, and D. E. Shaw & Co. That decade of experience, he said, provided a critical foundation that boosted Amazon’s chances of success.

“I started Amazon when I was 30, not when I was 20, and I think that that extra 10 years of experience actually improved the odds that Amazon would succeed,” Bezos said. “So that would always be my advice. I finished college, and I think it’s been helpful to me.”

Bezos encouraged young people to view college and early career jobs as an investment rather than an obstacle to entrepreneurial ambition. “The key,” he said, “is using those years straight out of college to join a best practices company, somewhere where you can learn a lot of basic fundamental things—how to hire really well, how to interview.”

According to the founder of the tech giant, spending time in structured environments helps young professionals absorb lessons that can later translate into business leadership. “There’s still lots of time to start a company after you have absorbed it, and it increases your odds, in my opinion,” he said.

His remarks come amid a cultural shift where many members of Generation Z—those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s—are turning away from traditional education in favour of self-employment, online content creation, or freelancing. Social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube have made entrepreneurship appear more accessible, with success stories of teen millionaires and viral business founders fueling a “dropout” narrative that university is no longer worth the cost.

However, the article points out that labour market data continues to tell a different story. Despite claims that degrees are losing relevance, employment trends across the United States show that college graduates still fare significantly better than their non-degreed peers. A national charity that operates over 650 job centres reported that more than two million Americans sought its employment services last year, and the majority of those struggling with long-term unemployment did not hold college degrees.

The charity’s CEO, Steve Preston—who previously served as the 14th US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development—warned that the situation may worsen as artificial intelligence reshapes entry-level job markets. “It’s much harder to find a job,” Preston said. “It’s really hitting young adults without college degrees.”

Research cited in the report also indicates that young men within Gen Z are particularly vulnerable, with roughly one in five currently unemployed and not actively seeking work. Analysts warn that without a degree or technical training, this demographic could be disproportionately affected by automation and the decline of low-skill roles.

By Nazrin Sadigova