Once a college dropout, this CEO went back to school at 52—but she still says the Gen Zers who will succeed are those who ‘forge their own path’

Being a successful college dropout is worn like a badge of honor for many in the business world. After all, some of the wealthiest leaders—Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison—never finished their degrees, and they’re proud of it.

Lauren Antonoff once wore that badge, too. After her apartment burned down as a student at University of California, Berkeley, and she missed finishing her diploma, she still managed to break into tech, spending nearly two decades at Microsoft and later serving as a senior executive at GoDaddy. After building a career without the credential she was supposed to have, Antonoff took pride in proving she didn’t need it.

But after 25 years in the industry, Antonoff became burdened by what she felt was “unfinished business.” So in 2022, during a rare career