from rags to riches

From poverty to great or exceptional wealth. My uncle has truly gone from rags to riches. He grew up without a penny, but through sheer determination, he founded his own company and is now one of the wealthiest men in the state.

Fig. from poverty to wealth; from modesty to elegance. The princess used to be quite poor. She certainly moved from rags to riches. After I inherited the money, I went from rags to riches.

From being poor to being wealthy, especially through one's own efforts. For example, The invention catapulted the scientist from rags to riches. Horatio Alger (1834-1899) popularized this theme in some 130 best-selling novels, in which the hero, through hard work and thrift, pulled himself out of poverty to wealth and happiness.

From poverty to wealth through one’s own efforts; the self-made man or woman. This phrase was the theme of the 130 or so extremely popular novels of Horatio Alger (1834–99), whose heroes always rose from their lowly position by virtue of hard work, thrift, and pluck to win great wealth and happiness. R. de Toledano used it in Frontiers of Jazz, writing of the clarinetist Benny Goodman, “Goodman was the first real rags-to-riches success in the swing-jazz field.”