The first jobs of these 11 famous CEOs (that may surprise you)

It's easy to assume that today's multi-billion dollar business owners have always had comfortable lifestyles. On the contrary, advancing to such great heights doesn't usually come without a fair amount of hard work - even if that hard work means hauling newspapers to save for college or washing dishes to fund a startup.

Interestingly, the first few jobs of some of the most famous CEOs and thought leaders sound pretty similar to our earliest jobs - you might be surprised to see that most multibillionaire businessmen and women actually started out from very similar humble beginnings.

From Oprah Winfrey's time as a grocer to Warren Buffett making his first dollar on the back of his bike, this is what these famous CEOs and founders were up to before they had their big break.

Oprah Winfrey worked in a grocery store

Oprah Winfrey may have a glamorous lifestyle now - but her first job as a teenager was working at her local grocery store.

She didn't stay there long, however, as she won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant at the age of 17 and was eventually invited to do radio news part-time.

Jack Dorsey was a software engineer

Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey literally hacked into his first job as a software engineer.

According to VentureBeat, Dorsey "was really looking to get into the shipping industry," so he found a hole in the company's website, brought it to the attention of the CEO, and got his first job as a software engineer in 1991.

Travis Kalanick sold knives door-to-door

The founder and former CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, started out in the workplace as a door-to-door salesman as a teenager.

In the nineties he sold knives for Cutco - but only until he turned 18. By then he had already started his first company - an SAT prep course called the New Way Academy.

Steve Jobs developed video games for Atari

It should come as no surprise that Steve Jobs has always been passionate about technology and invention.

In fact, the late Apple founder was so keen to learn the ins and outs of modern technology that he dropped out of college and became a video game developer at Atari.

It didn't last long, however, as he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers a few years later, when he was just 21 years old.

Tim Cook delivered newspapers in his hometown

Current Apple CEO Tim Cook started his career a little more modestly - he delivered newspapers in his hometown of Alabama, worked at an Alabama paper mill and an aluminum mill in Virginia before finally getting into the tech world in the early 1980s.

Elon Musk wrote video game codes and wrote

Tesla founder Elon Musk didn't spend his time turning burgers or delivering newspapers like some of his contemporaries did as children, but wrote video game code when he was just 12 years old.

The tech prodigy has always been fascinated by technology, and his early obsession earned him $ 500 in 1983 to program a space video game.

Jeff Bezos worked as a warehouse manager

It might be hard to imagine Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos working as a camp leader - but that's where he started. The billionaire entrepreneur got his first job with his ex-girlfriend when they were in high school.

The "Dream Institute" was an educational summer camp for fourth, fifth and sixth graders, according to the Miami Herald. The camp is designed to provide campers with all kinds of technically contiguous and scientific discoveries, including black holes in space, nuclear war, and more.

Warren Buffett supplied the Omaha World Herald newspaper

Multi-entrepreneur and investor Warren Buffett has very humble beginnings when it comes to entering the world of work.

The billionaire businessman began delivering the Omaha World Heritage newspaper on his bike at the tender age of 13. In fact, according to biography.com, he even claimed his bike as a deduction on his first tax return.

Michael Dell was a dishwasher

According to biography.com, Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, was an avid stamp collector as a kid - and therefore had to take a job to fund his growing collection.

When Dell was just 12 he started washing dishes at a local Chinese restaurant and was so good he was later promoted to busboy!

Doug McMillon was a warehouse worker

Doug McMillon, Walmart's chief executive officer, actually got his first job at the very company he now runs - Walmart. McMillon began working at the Walmart warehouse in Arkansas and never left.

He credits his hard work for what helped him rise to such significant ranks. "If you don't care about the basics like arriving on time and striving to exceed your manager's expectations, your career won't change," he once told CNBC in a statement.

Terry Lundgren started peeling oysters

Terry Lundgren, the CEO of Macy's, originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but his grades weren't comparable to those of his colleagues, so he eventually switched to business administration.

This made no sense to his father, who eventually shot him down financially.

Lundgren then got a job at a local restaurant peeling oysters for college - and eventually became manager of the restaurant before graduating from retail.

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