Edward Oakley Thorp

Edward Thorpe was born in Chicago in 1932 to military Oakley Glenn Thorpe. In early childhood, Thorp mastered arithmetic: he counted in his mind and calculated square and cube roots.

Growing up in a family that struggled to get by, Ed Thorp never imagined that he would become a professor who would mathematically prove how card-counting gives every player an edge; that his discoveries would cause an uproar among casinos; that he would invent the wearable computer; or that he would take his knowledge of gambling to Wall Street, revolutionize investing, and make millions.

Thorp is the author of Beat the Dealer, which mathematically proved that the house advantage in blackjack could be overcome by card counting.He also developed and applied effective hedge fund techniques in the financial markets, and collaborated with Claude Shannon in creating the first wearable computer.

Thorpe is now worth an estimated $800 million.