This millennial used scholarship money to buy property in college—now his real estate company is worth $3.8 billion

Many college students living on a tight budget take on side-jobs just to scrape together and save enough money to help them pay off student loan debts down the road.

But self-made millionaire Eric Wu spent his college scholarship money and free time building an impressive real estate portfolio that included roughly 25 properties by the time he graduated in 2005, he tells CNBC Make It. And that paved the way for him to make millions in the real estate and tech industries.