Henry Ford dropped out of school at the age of 15. He walked from his family’s farm in Dearborn, Michigan, to Detroit, and found work in a machine shop. He would eventually revolutionise the world with his mass-produced Model T car, which at $500 made the automobile affordable for the average citizen.
But in his early years, he lost his financial backers. His investors were impatient to put a car on the market, but Ford refused, insisting “always on improving whatever model he was working on, saying that it was not yet ready for customers.”
By the time he got around to forming the Ford Motor Company, it was “with a mere $28,000…put up by ordinary citizens” — “the wealthiest men in Detroit” had given up on him.
But the customers rewarded him. He sold almost 17 million Model Ts, and became one of the richest men in the world.
Reference: The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 19, 2002, “Henry Ford,” pp. 407-409; The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 4, 2002, “Henry Ford,” p. 876
Image of Togo Islands postage stamp (2013) of Henry Ford, courtesy: http://togo.post-stamps.com