So I was reading about Jim Cramer's career trajectory and honestly, it's a pretty wild rags-to-riches story that most people don't know about.

The guy went to Harvard for government, not finance. Started as a journalist making basically nothing, got his stuff stolen from his apartment, and at one point was literally living out of his car. But here's the thing - instead of giving up, he went back to school and got his law degree. It was during law school where he got obsessed with the stock market, and that obsession is what changed everything.

He started leaving stock tips on his answering machine, and his tips were so good that someone handed him half a million dollars to manage. That led to a job at Goldman Sachs, and eventually he launched his own hedge fund. The guy became obsessed with research - I mean actually obsessed. From 1988 to 2000, he had only one negative year and averaged 24% annual returns. That's actually better than Buffett's historical performance, which is insane when you think about it.

Now here's where it gets interesting - his jim cramer salary at his peak was pulling in over $10 million annually from the fund. That's serious money. But compared to other hedge fund guys? He's actually kind of mid-tier. Soros is worth $24 billion, Steve Cohen over $10 billion, Ray Dalio over $10 billion. The top 25 hedge fund managers collectively made $24.3 billion last year, with the lowest earner on that list pulling $280 million. That's nearly three times Cramer's entire net worth.

The thing is, Cramer's jim cramer salary potential got capped when he joined CNBC. As part of his deal, he can only personally trade stocks in TheStreet, General Electric, and Comcast. So he basically locked himself out of using the market to build more wealth. Meanwhile, other fund managers kept compounding their fortunes.

But here's what's interesting about this - it suggests Cramer actually prioritized making money for his audience over further enriching himself. His jim cramer salary from CNBC and media appearances replaced his hedge fund income, but he can't leverage the stock market the way he used to.

The real lesson here isn't about how much money Cramer made or didn't make. It's that you don't need formal training in finance to succeed in the market - just genuine passion for learning. Yeah, most of us won't hit $100 million, but the market is still the vehicle that can take you to real financial freedom if you're willing to put in the work.