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Getting a college degree is a prerequisite for many jobs and highly recommended if you want to make it in many industries. But there are many people who have also managed to build successful careers without getting a diploma. We take a look at a few of them and try to analyze how they did it.

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If you are a Walmart employee who makes $12.67 an hour, it will take you about 785 years to earn the CEO’s $20.7 million salary, according to the Huffington Post. Furthermore, this estimate only assumes that you don’t take vacation days or pay taxes.

This mind-blowing calculation truly puts the CEO-to-worker pay ratio into perspective: Are CEOs overvalued?

Michael Duke, Walmart’s chief executive officer, received a 14 percent pay raise; he made $18.1 million in the previous year. Because of the new Dodd-Frank law implemented in 2010, shareholders of a company are now able to vote on a CEO’s proposed pay package. Economists call it the “say on pay” policy, according to the New York Times.

However, overpaid chief executives aren’t fazed:. Stockholders wind up approving the suggested salaries 97 percent of the time.

The problem here is that CEOs are often rewarded, but not reprimanded, for their poor performance on the job. Chief executive officers may break more of a sweat in boosting profit if they acknowledge their salary (or position) is in jeopardy.

JCPenney, for example, thought they struck gold when they hired the former CEO of Apple, Ron Johnson, for their company. They paid him the usual outlandish CEO salary expecting revenue revival under Johnson’s leadership. Unfortunately, Johnson drove JCPenney over a cliff and lost $500 million in 18 months.

This is not to say that all CEO’s are overrated. Steve Jobs, the deceased magnate of Apple, well-represented the value of his massive salary. He demonstrated his worth and significance to Apple when he yanked the company out of bankruptcy and molded it into one of the most profitable corporations ever.

CEO’s have long argued for the advantages of making millions a year. Most of them ensure us that such strong financial incentives for the chief executive officers will help drive the company to the top. But should their pay seriously be hundreds of times the salary of the average worker?

Some argue that CEOs shouldn’t be paid less, but they need to apply more effort into their work. Over the last three decades, the CEO’s salary increased 127 times faster than the average worker’s pay. But has the job increased that much in workload?

Do you think the salaries of chief executive officers are justified?

AP Photo/Andy Wong, File

This week Apple failed at trying to steal Blackberry’s shine. The day before Blackberry was scheduled to unveil the new Blackberry 10, Apple confirmed the rumors of a new iPad that will be released February 5. However, all everyone was talking about the following day was Blackberry’s new phones and the appointment of Alicia Keys as global creative director.

So let me break down what’s new about the “new” iPad… Nothing! OK, maybe a couple of things. You’ll get a higher resolution screen and 128GB of space. But is that enough to make you trash your old one and spend $799 to $929 on a new one? Probably not. And if you don’t currently have one, this tablet will now be the most expensive one on the market, and might be out of your budget.

I am having a case of deja vu. I remember a company that released a really cool cell phone that was very successful and everyone went out and bought it. Then the same company turned around and released another version of the same phone with very minimal changes eleven months later that turned out to be a flop. Oh yeah… that was Apple with the release of the iPhone 4S and the subsequent release of the iPhone 5.

Earlier this month The Huffington Post reported that Apple cut its order of iPhone 5 components due to lower-than-expected demand and that Apple’s first quarter orders were about half of what the company expected.

So once again we have another Apple product being released with very few changes, but this time only months after the last version, the iPad Mini. According to CBS News, analysts are beginning to question if Apple still possesses the “cool” factor and the capacity to create new innovative products as opposed to just making slight changes to its existing line of gadgets.

iPhone appears to be losing its edge. Naysayers have always questioned how strong the company would be outside of the leadership of Steve Jobs. However, I still had so much confidence in the company that I recently decided to joined #teamiphone. But lately, Apple has left myself and many others underwhelmed. And the release of another rendition of the same old iPad does not seem reminiscent of the Jobs era.

Can’t say how I feel 100 percent about Ashton Kutcher these days, especially after the whole ugly split between him and Demi Moore and the fact that “Two And A Half Men” is just NOT funny, but I can say that I’m starting to get VERY excited about his starring role in this Steve Jobs biopic. And it will be refreshing to see since I don’t think anyone has watched Kutcher play a serious role since…maybe Butterfly Effect!? Why? To get people excited and the ball rolling on promotion, stills from the movie just dropped with Kutcher dressed like Jobs circa the early ’80s and I must say, these two men look eerily similar.

The photos were put out to also alert people that the movie, jOBS, will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this January, closing out the very popular annual event. According to the Guardian UK, the movie will cover about three decades of the entrepreneur and tech king’s life, and it definitely sounds captivating, just check out the movie description that was put on the Sundance press release. “The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently.” And if that’s not enough for you, get excited because the movie also stars Dermot Mulroney,  Matthew Modine and more. Don’t know who those people are? It’s okay, I’m not too sure either, but that’s what they made Google for! Anyway, now that you see the stills, are you excited for the biopic? Do you think Kutcher and Jobs look very similar or is this a miss?

Although their lives can sometimes seem “perfect” and un-relatable from the outside, the lives of celebrities are probably more normal than you think. Take a look at these 8 celebs who were adopted, some even rising from terrible pasts to create incredibly prosperous futures…

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"John" Jandali, Steve Jobs's biological father

So I was perusing The Wall Street Journal today and came across a story on Steve Jobs that was a very rare feature; it was not on his legacy as a tech genius, his beginnings or how his company will hold up in the wake of his death. This time around, it was about Jobs’s alleged biological father, a man by the name of Abdulfattah “John” Jandali. Jandali was born in Syria and now, at the age of 80, resides in Reno, Nev., and is the general manager of a casino called Boomtown. If you didn’t know before, the Jobs was given up for adoption, and later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. Why? Well, Jandali was allegedly in a relationship with Jobs’s biological mother, Joanne Schieble, back while studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her father didn’t approve of their relationship, and an already pregnant and stressed out Schieble went to California for a while to “get away.” While there, she gave birth to Jobs and gave him up for adoption.

Jandali says he found out in 2005 that Jobs was his biological son, but only during this year he says, did he start reaching out to Jobs when he found out that his health was failing. He says the most he got back from Jobs was a “thanks” from birthday greetings and get well messages sent via the Internet. His e-mails seem to be the only connection–if that’s what you want to call it–he has to Jobs. In an interview with The Sun in August after Jobs resigned from his post at Apple, Jandali said the following:

“If I could live my life again I would do things entirely differently. And even more so in recent years when I have heard that my son is gravely ill. It makes me feel like time is running out and that I am totally helpless.”

Now, when I read stories like this, I definitely feel somewhat sad for the parent, but of course, I always feel worse for the child. When you really want to have a meeting or a relationship with the children you never got to know or turned your back on, why go to the tabloids first? Scenarios like this remind me of the countless other celebrities who’ve had their parent–folks who seemed to have no interest in them for years–go to the public before going to them about reconnecting. It makes the circumstances look very sketch. Are you reaching out so late because you really care? Or because you want to profit in some way from a relationship with your child in the future?

Jandali did have another child with Schieble: the author, Mona Simpson. After Jobs was given up for adoption, Schieble returned to the University of Wisconsin, and after her father passed, she married Jandali and gave birth to Simpson (who takes the surname of her stepfather). The couple would later divorce. However, Simpson remains estranged to her father, and his attempts to reach out to her, he says, have been unsuccessful. She did, however, write a book in 1993 called The Lost Father. It was a fiction novel about a woman looking for the father she had no knowledge of. Janali believes the book is based on him, and in response to it, he says the following: “She’s entitled to that. It’s the price to pay for not being there for your child when you’re a father. Even though I don’t see her, I love her dearly.” Jandali says he has no plans nor does he want to try and take any credit for his children’s success (his words: “I can’t take credit for my children’s success.”), he just wishes he could have connected with him before it was too late, even if it was just through e-mail:

“I don’t know why I emailed,” Mr. Jandali said. “I guess because I felt bad when I heard about the health situation. He had his life and I had my life, and we were not in contact. If I talked to him, I don’t know what I would have said to him.”

To read more on Jandali, head over to The Wall Street Journal.

(Black Enterprise) — Anyone who reads this blog with any frequency knows that I am no tech-geek. To the contrary, I have dragged myself, with great reluctance and way too much whining, into the digital age. It took me months to actually use the cell phone I was given as a gift, to adopt email as a daily routine, become a Facebook fan, and tweet—not just think—my thoughts.  My orientation to technology is perhaps best illustrated by this: My laptop, iPod, and headphones are all hand-me-downs from my children! They have to have the newest/latest/greatest while their castoffs are just fine for me. So, I was surprised by how deeply the passing of Steve Jobs has impacted me. Honestly, I’m right there with the millions tweeting #iSad.

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We know Steve Jobs was the man when it came to the personal computer. But did you know he had a few tips and pointers to share when it came to love? I know! We were surprised too. Click here to check out YourTango’s list of love lessons from Steve Jobs.

(Businessweek) — Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.  Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. He died peacefully, according to a statement from family members who said they were present.  ”Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” Apple’s board said in a statement. “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve”  Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January — his third since his health problems began — and officially resigned in August. He took another leave of absence in January — his third since his health problems began — before resigning as CEO six weeks ago. Jobs became Apple’s chairman and handed the CEO job over to his hand-picked successor, Tim Cook.

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Steve Jobs, the former Apple CEO, co-founder and creator of the personal computer, iPod and iPad, iPhone, iMac and iTunes has passed away today. He was 56. Jobs, who had been battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer, succumbed to the disease after years of diminishing health. In August, after coming to the decision that he couldn’t fulfill his duties, Jobs stepped down as CEO of his influential company. After helping to found Apple Computers in 1976 with Steve Wozniak, the college dropout was a millionaire by the time many of us are still paying off college loans, and he went on to shape the way we look at and use technology. From how you do your work, to how you listen to music, and even how you buy your music, Jobs revolutionized everything about the tech experience. And even if you tried to root for other companies, you probably owned something from Apple. Let’s just be honest. Outside of his iconic and profitable company, Jobs leaves behind his wife Laurene, and four children. What a loss.