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Students become millionaires in their spare time

You can buy a lot of Pot Noodles with that sort of moolah

Dozens of students have become millionaires after being given shares in lieu of wages for their summer job. The mathematics and IT students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) took jobs at Internet start up Akamai Technologies last year. They were paid in stock options for part-time and holiday job work at the company. Akamai floated last October, and some of the students now control shares worth more than $20 million (£12 million), according to the Financial Times. In fact, the company was so successful that many of the scholars decided to ditch university and work there full-time. But the Akamai management put its foot down – obviously mindful of that infamous Harvard drop-out, Bill Gates – and instigated a stay-in-school policy. "We had to say we're older and wiser, and it's not a great idea to drop out of school, said Paul Sagan, the group's president. We told them if they wanted to work at Akamai they would have to continue to be full-time students at MIT." Akamai was founded in 1995 and is a Web hosting company. One Akamai share today costs $252 (£155). ®

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