Figma CEO Dylan Field Net Worth Hits $5 Billion After 333 Stock Surge

Dylan Field, CEO of design software company Figma, has seen his net worth soar to $5 billion following the company’s highly successful initial public offering (IPO) [1]. The stock surged by 333% in its first days of trading, pushing Figma’s market valuation past $70 billion. For Field, the outcome is not only a significant financial windfall but also a personal vindication of his decision to drop out of Brown University, an Ivy League institution, to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions [1].

Field’s journey began in the early 2010s, when he left Brown with limited academic commitments behind him. With prior work experience at companies like LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Flipboard, he applied for and was accepted into the Thiel Fellowship—a program founded by billionaire Peter Thiel that supports young innovators over traditional education. The program awarded him $100,000 (later increased to $200,000) to pursue his own projects outside the classroom [1]. At the time, his parents expressed concerns about the risks of leaving university, with his mother fearing that Field might eventually rely on a degree for security [1].

Field, however, was confident in his decision. He had previously struggled with the rigid structure of traditional schooling, even considering dropping out of high school. His experience with the Thiel Fellowship mirrored the path of Mark Zuckerberg, who left Harvard in 2004 to fully commit to Facebook [1]. In 2012, the same year Facebook went public, Field co-founded Figma and has since built a multi-billion-dollar company.

Figma’s IPO comes at a pivotal moment for startups after a period of subdued activity in the public market. For Field and others like him, the surge in stock price and valuation underscores the growing trend among a new generation of entrepreneurs to bypass college in favor of hands-on experience in the tech sector [1].

Field is part of a long line of billionaire entrepreneurs who made their mark without completing college. Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, is now worth $272 billion, while Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Block, left university to build his first major company and is now worth $4.7 billion. Sam Altman, who dropped out of Stanford to co-found OpenAI, has a net worth of $2 billion [1]. Similarly, Larry Ellison and Bill Gates—founders of Oracle and Microsoft respectively—left their university studies before achieving global tech dominance.

While higher education remains a path to success for many, particularly in leadership roles at major tech firms, a growing number of Gen Z individuals are questioning the value of traditional college degrees. A recent survey by Indeed found that over a third of recent graduates believe their degrees were a “waste of money” [1]. With the rising cost of education and the challenge of securing jobs in desired fields, some are choosing to follow alternative routes—like Field—into the entrepreneurial world.

Source: [1] [title] Billionaire Figma CEO Dylan Field, College Dropout Like Mark Zuckerberg, (url https://fortune.com/2025/08/05/billionaire-figma-ceo-dylan-field-college-drop-out-ivy-league-like-mark-zuckerberg-larry-ellison-and-bill-gates/)