After four years serving as a medic, he met a cardiac surgeon named Dr. His mother raised him to believe that he still had just as much of a right to be a millionaire as anyone else.Ĭhris knew that his family couldn’t afford to send him to college, so his only option to receive an education was to join the Navy. It didn’t matter if he was born black, or poor, or suffered abuse. His mother had essentially given him permission to succeed. He sighed, saying, “One day, those guys will be millionaires.” His mother immediately responded, “Chris, one day, you can be a millionaire, too.”

You add them all up, and one day you look back and you’ll be surprised.Īt 16 years old, Chris sat by the television, watching a March Madness basketball game.

She brought them to the library, and encouraged Chris to rise above his struggles and get a college education.īaby steps count too, as long as you are going forward. When Betty Gene finally regained custody of Chris and his two sisters, she made sure to be the best mother she could be. From this very young age, Chris had already experienced more pain and trauma than many see in their entire lifetime. Chris was then sent to live with a foster family, but they left him alone to play on the streets of Milwaukee and because of this neglect he became the victim of a child predator. Gardner was physically and verbally abused by his stepfather on a daily basis, until his mother was put in jail for defending herself. But through the power of education, determination, and the sheer force of his will, Chris Gardner grew up to be a millionaire stock broker.Ĭhris Gardener was born in Milwaukee to a single mother, Betty Gene, who ended up marrying a violent man named Freddy Triplet. The odds were stacked against him, and most people would have written him off as a statistic. Chris suffered abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and only knew a life of poverty when he was young. He was a black boy raised by a single mother. Chris Gardner was the last person you would expect to be a millionaire.

The life of chris gardner