Accountants are boring? The world of accountancy has a somewhat undeserved reputation of being rather dull and boring. Not so when you look at some of the creative and artistic types that intended to join the profession and studied hard to do so, before following a more glamorous path!
1. Mick Jagger – Rolling Stones Front Man
It is widely, and accurately reported, that Mick Jagger studied accounting and finance at the London School of Economics on a scholarship. It was at that same time, that he also happened to re-kindle his close friendship with childhood friend Keith Richards and another guitarist, Brian Jones.
So, while Jagger was busy getting on with his accountancy course, he was also being ensnared into the slightly more raucous world of rock and roll! The singer lasted less than a year at the LSE and didn’t actually graduate. How different modern music might have been if he had continued with his accountancy career!
2. John Grisham – Award Winning Author
John Grisham is probably one of the best known and most successful crime and courtroom drama novelists. Many of his popular legal thrillers have been made into Hollywood movies, including The Firm, Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Runaway Jury.
Grisham was encouraged to work hard at school by his parents, who incidentally both had no formal education to speak of. John Grisham attended three different colleges and ultimately earned himself a degree in accounting. He then went to law school with the intention if studying taxation law but opted for criminal law instead which gave him a fantastic insight into the topics for his novels.
3. Eddie Izzard – Comedian
One of Britain’s best loved and most successful “alternative” comedians, Eddie Izzard, the son of an accountant, was coerced by his father to study accountancy at University. However, he spectacularly failed all of his exams and was unsuccessful in trying to persuade the University of Sheffield to allow him to re-take them!
However, whilst at University, he started toying with stand-up comedy and was comfortable in front of a live audience. He then began working as a street performer in London, and by the late 1980’s he had begun performing his unique brand of observational comedy in nightclubs.
4. Kenny G – Musician
Before becoming one of the worlds’s most sought after and successful jazz/pop saxophonists, Kenneth Bruce Gorelick could have led a very different life as an accountant or even a professional golfer! His older brother, Brian Gorelick, introduced him to golf when he was just ten years old, which is the same age he was when he started playing the saxophone.
Kenny also has a degree in accounting from the University of Washington, where he graduated magna cum laude. He credits his accounting degree with helping him manage his finances early on in his career and enabling him to choose someone he trusted to handle them when his music really took off.
He was also an early investor in the Starbucks coffee house chain, something his finely honed financial instincts must have prompted him to do!!
Accounts are boring? Think again!
