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Milton Hershey
Today, the name Hershey has become synonymous with chocolate- and with good reason. In 1905, Hershey built the world’s largest chocolate factory in the Pennsylvania township that now bears his name. -
John Pierpont Morgan
The infamous American financier and banker was a dominant force in corporate finance and industrial consolidation. Though many were quick to criticize his powerful influence and control, many credit him with skillfully directing the banking coalition that stopped the Panic of 1907. -
Henry Ford
Ford is perhaps known as much for his system of mass production as with the cars and company that were his name sake. Ford was a key force in making America a nation of car owners and drivers. On his assembly lines, he produced inexpensive cars for the masses, and even paid his workers enough to be able to afford them themselves. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford sold approximately 15 million Model Ts. -
L.eon L Bean
A famous entrepreneur that according to legend, in 1911, while managing his brother Ervin's store in Freeport, Maine, the avid outdoorsman decided he was tired of getting his feet soaked while hunting deer in the boggy hinterlands of Maine. In a flash of inspiration, he hit on the notion of sewing lightweight, comfortable leather uppers to the rubber bottoms of ordinary galoshes. Not much of a craftsman himself, Bean had a local cobbler make him a pair of boots based on his design. -
Walt Disney
n 1918, when the war broke, Walt attempted to enlist in the Army, because of his age; the Army denied his enlistment. He and a friend joined the Red Cross, and deployed to France, where Walt drove an ambulance for the Red Cross in support of allied troops. Walt decorated his ambulance with cartoons he drew. Upon returning from France in 1919, he chose to pursue a career in art and animation. Moving to Kansas City, he partnered with another cartoonist Ubbe Iwerks to form a company called, “Iwerk -
Frederick Terman
In the 1930's, Professor Frederick Emmons Terman of Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering was concerned by the lack of good employment opportunities in the area for Stanford engineering graduates. It troubled him that his best graduates had to go to the East Coast to find employment, especially in the field of radio engineering. His solution was to establish the then-new radio technology locally. One of his first steps was to bring to -
Ray Kroc
Kroc is the man behind the ubiquitous McDonald’s Fast Food Chain. It’s spectacular growth can largely be attributed to Kroc’s unswerving focus on the long-term development of the company and its franchisees and on his dedication to maintaining a high standard of “quality, service, cleanliness, and value” so that the customer experience would be uniform across locations. Currently, the company has managed to place its trademark Golden Arches in over 120 countries, making it the largest fast food -
Conrad Hilton Sr.
Conrad Hilton rose from his job as an innkeeper in small town Texas, to become a successful hotelier who founded the first nation-wide hotel chain in 1943 and eventually expanded the brand globally a few years later. Currently, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, as the company is called today, operates over 540 hotel branches in 76 countries across six continents. -
Georges Doriot
In 1946, General Doriot, while still at the Office of the Quartermaster General, was instrumental in drafting a blueprint for "The Institute of Man," a plan to continue the high level of industrial and technological research on behalf of soldiers in the postwar era. This plan came to fruition with the opening of Natick Army Research, Development and Engineering Laboratories in 1954 and continues today as the US Army Soldier Systems Command, Natick, Massachusetts. -
Estée Lauder
Estée Lauder started her namesake cosmetics company after spending time watching her uncle concoct creams, lotions, and perfumes for his business. Estee concocted a few of her own, eventually founding her business in 1946. Much of Estee Lauder’s legacy centers on her way of doing business. Aside from her relentless desire to sell only quality products, she was a virtual sales genius. Lauder is credited with pioneering the practice of offering free samples of her products, usually at high-end st -
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffet, aka the “Oracle of Omaha,” is an iconic American investor and influential economic adviser as well as the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is also a regular on the world’s wealthiest people list. But don’t think that all this fame and fortune has gone to his head; Buffet is known for his personal frugality: he still lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500. -
Sam Walton
Sam Walton was born on March 29, 1918, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962, after years in the retail management business. The discount chain expanded internationally over the next 30 years, growing into the world’s largest company by 2010. Walton stepped down as CEO in 1988, at the age of 70, but remained active in the company until his death in 1992. -
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was a feminist writer and rights activist. She studied at Smith College and went on to marry and have three children. From her experience, she wrote The Feminine Mystique (1963), exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside of their traditional roles. She also helped advance the women’s rights movement as one of the founders of the National Organization for Women. -
George Johnson
Johnson dreamed of becoming a famous inventor, and during his teenage years he grew more curious about the way things worked and more ambitious in his experimentation—sometimes to the detriment of his family. "Lonnie tore up his sister's baby doll to see what made the eyes close," his mother later recalled. Another time, he nearly burned the house down when he attempted to cook up rocket fuel in one of his mother's saucepans and the concoction exploded. -
Jeff Bezos
After founding Amazon.com in 1994, Bezos built up a formidable online marketplace for selling books and in the process changed the way the Internet was used to purchase goods or services. Many common practices in online sales were developed and perfected by Amazon.com- most notably: product recommendations, easy check out, and a solid system for incorporating customer reviews. Today, Amazon.com, sells a wide variety of products, including music, clothing, and jewelry. -
Ralf Lauren
Ralph Lauren may be as much associated with the horse-riding polo player logo than the preppy, tailored look of his clothing line. Today, the Ralph Lauren brand graces more than just clothing: it can be found on fragrances, accessories, beauty products, and even housewares. Many credit founder Ralph Lauren with helping to develop (and define) the men’s fashion industry- and to think, it all started with a tie shop in 1967. -
Richard Branson
The playboy of the entrepreneurial world, Sir Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group, a conglomeration of over 400 companies, and it all started with a mail-order record shop he opened in 1970. Many of his famous stunts, such as his attempted balloon ride around the world, as well as two of his recent ventures: Virgin Galactic (space tourism) and Virgin Oceanic (tours to the deep ocean), depict the message is that anything is possible. -
Earl Graves
While sitting on the Small Business Association’s (SBA) advisory board, Earl Graves put out an annual newsletter that covered economic and urban affairs and trends affecting the black business person. In 1970, the newsletter eventually evolved into the Black Enterprise magazine. His publication, one arm of his media company, Earl G. Graves, Ltd., has enjoyed enormous success and has a readership of 3.7 million and a paid circulation of over half a million. -
George Lucas
George Lucas, the writer and director behind the lucrative Star Wars movie series, recognized the potential future value of his original 1977 Star Wars movie beyond the box office. Instead of getting paid the standard director’s salary, he opted for a percentage of that year’s ticket sales and obtained both the merchandising and sequel rights to the movie. Since the 1977 release, Star Wars memorabilia has generated some $13.5 billion in sales. -
Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons didn't invent rap. But he did play a leading role in the music's astonishing success. Like Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who brought black soul music into the mainstream (and to whom Simmons is often compared), Simmons is credited for moving rap-or hip-hop, as aficionados call it-from the streets of the inner city into the mainstream of American pop culture. Also the founder of Rush Communications. -
Robert L. Johnson
Robert Johnson has accomplished several “firsts” in his business career. In 1980, he founded the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network, the first cable television network for African Americans. In 1991, BET became the first African-American owned company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Ten years later, Johnson became the first African American billionaire, and the first black person to be listed on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people. -
Bill Gates
Many are familiar with the fact that Bill Gates founded Microsoft as a student in Harvard. He quickly dropped out to build up the software empire synonymous with his name. Microsoft’s rise came quickly after its strategic partnership with IBM; for over a decade, the company and its products dominated the industry virtually unchallenged. Today, he is one of the richest people in the world with an estimated worth of $56 billion. -
Lorenzo Borghese
The Bachelor Prince, the Cosmetics Entrepreneur While the development and manufacturing of his Royal Treatment Spa products remain in Italy, he works out of his New Jersey office overseeing his cosmetics empire. He has a hands-on approach to his business, personally involving himself in every aspect of development of new products. In addition to his duties to his pet cosmetic company, he also is managing partner in his father’s company as well as executive vice-president of Multimedia Exposure. -
Mark Zuckerberg
If you don’t know who Mark Zuckerberg is already, you really must have been living under a rock. Mark is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and is currently the CEO of the social networking behemoth we know as Facebook. Hailing from White Plains, New York, Mark started his programming at a very early age back in “Middle School†and it looks like that really paid off. Currently owning approximately 24% of Facebook, Mark is now a Multi-Billionaire, with a fortune of roughly $6.9bn and gro -
Blake Ross
Blake Ross is an American software developer, known best for his work with Mozilla Firefox. That’s right at the age of 25yrs he has been able to accumulate a total fortune worth $150 million. In 2005 he was nominated for the Wired Magazines top “Rave Award†opposite some very popular names including Larry Page and Jon Stewart. Blake also co-founded the company Parakey which was eventually bought out by, yes you’ve guessed it, Facebook.
