Top 15 Universities That Produce The Most U.S. Billion Dollar Startup Founders, 2017

Taking into account the number of founders of billion-dollar startups a school has produced, a new ranking uncovers — which universities produce the greatest number of U.S. billion dollar startup founders. These universities have produced the founders of some of the most prominent startups, including PayPal, Cloudera, GoPro, Ola Cab, Dropox, Tesla, and SpaceX.

Topping the list of universities that produce such talented entrepreneurs is Stanford University with 51 individuals who went on to establish startups that become worth billions. Next to Stanford University is Harvard which was able to produce 37 entrepreneurs. The others include the University of California with 18; Indian Institute of Technology (India) – 12; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of Pennsylvania with 9 each; UK’s University of Oxford – 8; and Israel’s Tel Aviv University – 7.

Meanwhile, Cornell University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Waterloo each produced 6 individuals. INSEAD, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (or WHU Vallendar), University of Michigan, and the Brigham Young University each produced 5.

Here are the top 15 universities that have produced the most founders of U.S. billion dollar startups:

1. Stanford University (US)
   Unicorn founders: 51

2.  Harvard University (US)
   Unicorn founders: 37

3. University of California (US)
   Unicorn founders: 18

4. Indian Institute of Technology (India)
   Unicorn founders: 12

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (US)
   Unicorn founders: 9

6. University of Pennsylvania (US)
   Unicorn founders: 9

7. University of Oxford (UK)
   Unicorn founders: 8

8. Tel Aviv University (Israel)
   Unicorn founders: 7

9. Cornell University (US)
   Unicorn founders: 6

10. University of Southern California (US)
    Unicorn founders: 6

11. University of Waterloo (Canada)
    Unicorn founders: 6

12. INSEAD business school (France)
    Unicorn founders: 5

13. WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (or WHU Vallendar) (Germany)
    Unicorn founders: 5

14. University of Michigan (US)
    Unicorn founders: 5

15. Brigham Young University (US)
    Unicorn founders: 5