His wikipedia page is pretty amazing. He certainly didn't get where he is by hitting the books.

"Briatore was born in Verzuolo near Cuneo, Italy, in the Maritime Alps, to a family of elementary school teachers. After twice flunking out of public school, he attended a private school, receiving a diploma with the lowest grades in Land Surveying at Fassino di Busca high school. Briatore found early work as a ski instructor and restaurant manager. He opened a restaurant named Tribüla, which was Briatore's nickname. The restaurant was unsuccessful and went bankrupt.

Then he worked as door-to-door insurance policies salesman. In the 1970s, he moved to Cuneo and became an assistant to businessman Attilio Dutto, owner of the Paramatti Vernici paint company (formerly owned by Michele Sindona). Dutto was killed on 21 March 1979 in a car bomb attack by an unknown perpetrator.

Briatore moved to Milan and worked in the Italian stock exchange. During this period, he met Luciano Benetton, founder of the Benetton clothing company.

He was convicted of multiple counts of fraud in the 1980s, receiving two prison sentences. In 1986, in Milan, Briatore was convicted for 3 years for fraud and conspiracy. He was convicted for his role in a team of confidence tricksters who, over a number of years, set up rigged gambling games, which used fake playing cards. The judges described these as elaborate confidence tricks, in which victims were invited to dinner, before being "ensnared" in rigged games, that involved a cast of fictional characters, and realised enormous profits for their perpetrators. Later, Briatore was involved in the bankruptcy of Paramatti. He was convicted on various counts of fraud in Bergamo, for which he was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. He never went to prison and he came back to Italy only thanks to an act of oblivion. In spite of his fugitive status, he kept close relations with Benetton and opened some Benetton stores in the Virgin Islands. When Benetton opened his first five stores in the United States in 1979, he appointed Briatore as director of the group's American operations."