'No shortcut': Lab dishwasher becomes $30B CEO

Jake Leach, the President and Chief Executive Officer of healthcare technology company Dexcom, began his career as a lab dishwasher at the company, earning $10 an hour. Now, nearly three decades later, he leads a global healthcare business valued at around $30 billion, according to The Fortune. As a teenager, Leach worked tirelessly to save money to pay for his community college education in California.

In the 1990s, he took a job at MiniMed, an insulin pump company where his duties included cleaning laboratory equipment such as beakers and flasks. Though not glamorous, the job helped Leach establish a career in diabetes management. He now owns a $30 billion company that develops non-invasive glucose-monitoring systems. Leach attributes his career success to hard work and emphasizes that there are no shortcuts to success.

Growing up in California's San Fernando Valley, he learned the importance of hard work from an early age, even saving enough money to buy a bicycle in his youth. His career eventually became particularly significant as his grandfather's diabetic health issues led to his need for insulin for life. Leach attended Glendale Community College before transferring to UCLA, where he studied electrical and biomedical engineering.

After joining Dexcom as a 30-person startup in 2004, he helped build the company from the ground up and nearly doubled his salary during his tenure.