Zara Dar: How this PhD dropout and OnlyFans creator made a million dollars | World News – Times of India

Ah, academia. The hallowed halls of learning, the long nights of research, the… perpetual poverty? If you’ve ever flirted with the idea of becoming a professor and imagined sipping champagne in your ivy-covered study, Zara Dar‘s story might bring you crashing back to reality.
Zara Dar, a former YouTuber who once preached the gospel of machine learning and neural networks to over 100,000 subscribers, has swapped her lab coat for something, well, a little spicier. She dropped out of her PhD program to become an OnlyFans content creator, and folks, the gamble has paid off. In just a short time, she’s raked in a cool $1 million—a number most professors can only dream of seeing on their grant proposals.

The Academic Grind: A Million Dollar Disillusionment

Before OnlyFans, Zara was deep in the trenches of academia. She pursued a master’s in computer science at the University of Texas, and like any good nerd, she had visions of a professorial career. But the more she saw behind the curtain, the more she realized that the “dream” was more of a nightmare.
“Professors spend more time writing grant proposals than doing actual research,” Zara quipped in her YouTube confession. “And even if you make it big in academia, what does that look like? $100,000 a year if you’re lucky? Most of that goes into paying rent, student loans, or just surviving.”
Contrast that with OnlyFans: Zara has no boss, no grants to beg for, and no tenure committee breathing down her neck. Instead, she has financial freedom, a growing investment portfolio, and—get this—a paid-off family mortgage.

From PhD to VIP: How Zara Made $1 Million

Zara didn’t dive into OnlyFans out of desperation. It started as a side hustle during her PhD, but when the numbers started rolling in, she had a revelation.
“My first big milestone was paying off my family’s mortgage,” she said, smiling in her video. “Then I bought a car. Now, I’m planning to buy my own house—all while avoiding student loans.”
For Zara, this isn’t just about money; it’s about control. She’s no longer tethered to the whims of academic funding agencies or corporate deadlines. She picks what she works on and, more importantly, when.

Academia’s Glass Ceiling: Why Zara Jumped Ship

Let’s face it—academia isn’t exactly the Ritz-Carlton of career paths. Long hours, low pay, and the constant fear of being “adjuncted” into oblivion are par for the course. Zara saw it for what it was: a treadmill disguised as prestige.
“Most people in academia will never get the recognition they deserve,” Zara said. “They’ll work their entire lives for someone else’s wealth and fame while staying in the shadows. And they’ll constantly worry about layoffs or scraping together funding for the next project.”

The Million Dollar Freedom

Now, Zara spends her time creating content, exploring topics that genuinely interest her, and building a life free from the constraints of academia or the corporate grind. And let’s be real—earning $1 million by being your own boss is a pretty compelling argument against writing yet another grant proposal.
Zara’s story is a modern parable for anyone feeling trapped in a system that doesn’t serve them. While some might clutch their pearls at her career choice, Zara’s success speaks for itself.
So, the next time you’re grinding away at your academic dreams, remember Zara’s journey. Sometimes, it pays to drop the chalk and pick up… whatever pays the bills.