Top 10 Real Life Rags to Riches Stories

13th November 2014

The best pound for pound fighter the world has ever seen. Discover a riveting documentary that truly packs a punch as MANNY comes to Blu-ray and DVD on 17^th November, from Universal Pictures (UK). Narrated by Liam Neeson, and directed by Academy Award® winner Leon Gast (When We Were Kings) and Ryan Moore, MANNY is an inspirational tale of a man who overcame insurmountable odds to become one of the most beloved and respected athletes of all time. To celebrate the home entertainment release, we take a look at other true rags to riches stories.

Steve Jobs

Given away for adoption by his biological parents, Jobs became interested in electronics after his foster dad showed him the delights of technical tinkering in their garage. He had to drop out of college, because his education was costing his foster parents a lot, and used to return Coke bottles for money and live on free meals at the Hare Krishna temple. Jobs went from a technician in Atari, Inc. to becoming the CEO of Apple Inc. which is now a household name.

Oprah Winfrey

Born to a housemaid and a coalminer, Oprah definitely did not grow up in the lap of luxury. After a childhood in poverty, where she wore dresses made out of potato sacks, she broke into the media industry and secured a job as a news-reader in a local radio station. After getting her foot in the door there was no stopping her; she soon secured her first role as a talk-show host and the rest is history.

J.K. Rowling

Rowling battled depression and poverty to become one of the most loved British authors in the world for her hugely popular Harry Potter series. Highly imaginative as a child, she drew from her surroundings and the people in her life as inspirations for the books which have now become one of the biggest movie franchises. From her humble beginnings, she has gone on to become one of the most powerful women in the United Kingdom.

Richard Branson

Branson went from being a dyslexic child who performed poorly in school to a British business magnate with a net worth of 4.6 billion. With interests spanning record labels, airways, and telecoms, this entrepreneur proves that learning difficulties are no barriers to success.

Pelé

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, more famously known as Pelé, grew up in poverty in Sao Paulo, and practised with an improvised ball of newspaper as he could not afford a proper football. At 15, he signed with Santos FC and went on to become one of the greatest footballers of the century, winning three World Cups with Brazil, and scoring 1281 goals in 1363 games. Since retirement Pele has become a global ambassador for sport and is a well known advocate for overcoming poverty.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford grew up on a farm and went on to revolutionize the transportation industry in America. A self-taught watch repairman who eventually secured a role as an apprentice machinist, Ford started his personal experiments on gasoline engines and quickly began to grow the vast Ford empire.

Walt Disney

Our childhoods would have been so dull without this genius of a man – Walt Disney. Disney was brought up on a farm, and used to draw pictures for his neighbours for money. After being unemployed for a period, Walt started to work in advertising before he started animating his own cartoons.

John D. Rockefeller

One of six children born in Richford, New York, Rockefeller’s Mum struggled to raise them and though they moved a number of times, he was able to finish school and get his first job as a bookkeeper. He decided to build an oil refinery with his friend Maurice B. Clark in 1859, which he eventually took sole control of, renaming it Rockefeller& Andrews. He also founded the Standard Oil Company, which led him to becoming the world’s first billionaire and the richest person in history.

Manny Pacquiao

In the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao first entered the ring as a sixteen year old weighing 98 pounds with the goal of earning money to feed his family. Now, almost twenty years later, when he fights, 100 million people come to a complete standstill to watch. Faced with manoeuvring an unscrupulous sport and political duties, while still maintaining a personal life, Manny was able to become the first and only eight-division world champion winning ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes.

MANNY ON BLU-RAY AND DVD FROM 17^thNOVEMBER

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