30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs of All Time

By: Josh Dunlop

Topics: Entrepreneurship
Historical Entrepreneurs That Have Influenced The World
At some point, most entrepreneurs have said to themselves they want to be
like one of people in this list, I want to be the next Richard Branson. We
define them as success and role models for who we want to be, this post is
to give credit to these amazing entrepreneurs. One thing that most of these
people have in common is the fact that they all worked really hard and in
the end, they were really well rewarded for that. The list is in no particular
order, we all have our own opinions on who should be top dog, such as
Richard Brandson who inspired me the most to start my business.
#1 Matthew Boulton
Age: 80yrs (Died: 17th August 1809)
Birth Place: Birmingham, West Midlands UK
Industry: Entrepreneurial Manufacturer
Influence: Pioneered many manufacturing processes.
Net Worth: Unknown
Website:www.matthewboulton2009.org
Why they made the list
Matthew Boulton was a pioneer in manufacturing, he was far from wealthy;
his father was a toy maker at the time of his birth. Matthew attended a
local school and upon leaving; he joined his fathers business. At the age of
21yrs Matthew married Mary Robinson the daughter of a wealthy Mercer
(Mercer; a silk, linen and fustian textile merchant). Eventually he took
charge of his fathers business (1757) When his father died, he later gained
interest in precious metals; leaving behind the toy trade altogether. With a
new trade under his belt Matthew then travelled throughout the United
Kingdom, selling his goods wherever he could. After a short period of time
he negotiated with a highly regarded friend to present a sword to Prince
Edward as a gift, however it was Prince Edwards older brother; Prince
George III, the heir to the throne of England and later the King of England;
that was truly interested in the gift.
In 1761 after using the majority of his wealth which had accumulated from
his two marriages, and the inheritance he received from his father, he
bought a larger property for his growing business. He purchased Soho
House a very large premises in Staffordshire, West Midlands. He began
production at Soho and introduced modern production methods as well as a
pioneering insurance scheme for his workers. He soon became widely
known for his perfectionist characteristics as well as his many technological
advancements within manufacturing processes. Soho House soon became a
must see to the rich and powerful and he regularly had people of royal

stature coming to stay with him so they could see and learn more about his
work and techniques. Later in life Matthew became infatuated with science
and and astronomy, and became well known for his work. He was also
named as the Sheriff of Staffordshire before his death in 1809. By the time
he died Matthew had become one of the wealthiest and most pioneering
manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the UK.
#2 Andrew Carnegie
andrew carnegie 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 83yrs
(Died: 11th August 1919)
Birth Place: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK
Industry: Steel Tycoon
Influence: Pioneered many manufacturing processes.
Net Worth: 298.3 billion
Website: www.carnegiescience.edu
Why they made the list
Andrew Carnegie was born into a typical lower-class family in Scotland, and
lived in a weavers cottage; a very small house. The main room served not
only as the living quarters but also the dining room as well as the bedroom
for the family. His family were suffering from near starvation and poverty
when William; his father, emigrated the family to Allegheny, Pennsylvania in
the USA. The area in which they lived was very poor but better than their
previous community in Fife. The first job he had was that of a bobbin boy
where he helped change spools for 12hrs each day. Feeling this wasnt the
career for him he went on to become a telegraph messenger for $2.50 per
week; his job came with a couple of perks too, such as gaining free entry to
the local theatre. He soon progressed to $4.00 per week at the age of 18yrs
and through hard work and rapid development Andrew climbed swiftly the
ranks. Eventually he became an investor, investing the money he had saved
over the years into Adams Express Company a messenger service.
Carnegie later received shares in a car business after helping to safeguard
the shares of another business for a friend; he used this to his advantage
and reinvested all his money into the railway industry. During the civil war
Carnegie made a fortune through investments he had made; one of which
had him investing $40,000 of his own money into Story Farm; a creek rich in
oil. By the end of the year the investment had paid of in dividends to the
tidy sum of $1 million, as well as more profits coming in from the petrol and
oil goods. After the civil war had finished Carnegie gave $40,000 to help
build a library in his native Dunfermline, he also gave $50,000 of his money
to a hospital college to help teach more nurses and save more lives. Now an
investor in both oil and steel Carnegie was becoming very wealthy, and
decided to write his first book which sold over 40,000 copies. His writing
style and intelligence helped Carnegie become known as a great author and

journalist which helped him earn another hefty fortune in doing so. By 1898
Carnegie was worth more than $20 million and famously offered
$20,000,000 to buy the Philippines from Spain in a bid to allow them
independence. By the time of his death in 1919, Carnegie had become
famous for his investments, his oil his writings and of course his
entrepreneurial streak. With the money he made from all his investments he
died a very wealthy man his net worth being $350,695,653, today that
figure would be nearly $300 billion.
#3 Henry Ford
henry ford2 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 83yrs (Died
April 7th 1947)
Birth Place: Greenfield Township, Dearborn, Michighan, USA
Industry: Auto-motive manufacturer
Influence: Pioneer of Transport
Net Worth: $1.1 billion
Website: www.thehenryford.org
Why they made the list
Henry Ford, One of the few men that made mainstream automobiles
become a reality. He was born into a family of farmers who originated from
England and Ireland. Not the wealthiest of families but certainly not poverty
stricken. In his teenage years, his father had given him a timepiece, which
he later took to pieces just to see if he could piece it together again
successfully, which he did. He then started to do the same with other
peoples timepieces and eventually he started to repair them too. Henry was
also a sufferer of Dyslexia, and although this was a hurdle it was by no
means a reason to give up.
He went on to complete an apprenticeship with James F. Flower & Bros, and
also with the Detroit Dry Dock Company. In 1891 he met with Thomas
Edison who liked his concept of an auto-mobile, so he allowed him to use his
warehouses to manufacturer two vehicles. Ford was grateful but later went
on to build his own company so he could build the cars on his own terms
backed by William H. Murphy he founded the Detroit Automobile Company
(1899). This was short lived however, as the vehicles produced lacked the
quality and precision Ford wanted as well as being horribly expensive. The
business went under but it didnt stop him. Ford went on to build the
Cadillac Automobile company. After almost failing a second time due to lack
of sales and high debts more partners came into the business and the name
was changed to the Ford Motor Company. Current sales for the Ford group
are now a massive $190 billion.
#4 Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Edison1 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 84yrs

Birth Place: Milan, Ohio, USA
Industry: Science
Influence: His Inventions Changed the World
Net worth: $12,000,000
Website: www.thomasedison.com
Why they made the list
I felt obligated to add Thomas Edison to this list due to his motivation and
persistence which makes him a true entrepreneur, even after thousands of
failures. Now although Thomas didnt have a terrible upbringing in terms of
the money sense, he was a very poorly child. Ill a lot of his early life, he
suffered from a severe ear infection that rendered him deaf in one of his
ears although it has been said he was deaf in both. He also developed
scarlet fever as a boy nearly dying because of it, but it didnt stop him. After
becoming a minor celebrity for saving a toddler from being hit by a train,
Thomas was offered a job as telegraph operator.
Thomas went on to create thousands of inventions and patents, failing a lot
more times than succeeding. However his first taste of glory came when he
developed the tin foil phonograph, after working as a telegraph operator he
wanted to create a way of making a telegraph transmitter to work in a more
efficient way. He did this by realising that it sounded very similar to spoken
words when the tape from the machine was played at a fast pace.
Developing his idea further he went on to record a message through this
means creating his first successful invention that lead the way for many
more. Thomas Edison was a very patient and passionate man, motivated by
success he went on to try and fail thousands of times before getting some
of his inventions to work. Some of his inventions we still use today, and
most of them are historical for changing the world.
#5 Oprah Gail Winfrey
OPRAH11 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 56yrs
Birth Place: Kosciusko, Mississippi, USA
Industry: Media and Entertainment
Influence: Empowering People, Female Media Pioneer
Net Worth: $2.7 billion
Website: www.Oprah.com
Why they made the list
Oprah Winfrey, this is not the first time I have spoken about her and it
probably wont be the last time either; it seems shes coming up in quite a
few places. The reasons why Oprah is such an influential entrepreneurs is
because of the fact that shes been through so much and yet accomplished

so much more. After being the subject of vicious sexual attack at the age of
nine; she later became pregnant, losing the child at birth she was only 14
years of age at the time.In 1986 she famously revealed this to her shocked
viewers on her live show. Her fame came to fruition in 1983, when her
seductive character and genuine love of people gained her the job of her
dreams; as a talk-show host.
The following exposure was explosive and she soon became one of the most
famous, most well loved, and most professional people in the entertainment
industry. However; she did not want to stop there as she felt there was
another side to her, a side of which she wanted to pursue, her
entrepreneurial side. In 1988 following her instincts she founded the
company Harpo Studios, which for those of you not realised is simply Oprah
spelt backwards. The business went on in leaps and bounds most likely due
to her television career which gave her a massive amount of advertising is
each and every day. The company now has over 250 employees and is
currently growing every year. She also co-founded oxygen media which
helps attract over 50 million viewers. Because of all of the skills she
possesses, and her entrepreneurial side shes managed to create a personal
wealth $2.7 billion pretty tidy sum if you ask me.
#6 William Bill Gates
Bill Gates 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 54yrs
Birth Place: Seattle, Washington, USA
Industry: Information Technology, Computer Science
Influence: Changed the Personal Computer Forever
Net Worth: $53 billion
Website: www.gatesfoundation.org
Why they made the list
Bill Gates; The second richest man on the planet, one of the most
recognized names in the world, as much a celebrity as the pop stars and
movie stars due to his highly public profile. Bill has always been in the limelight since he began his career way back aged 13yrs the age of the personal
computer was far from near and Bill, Paul Allen and some others from highschool started using the computers of the time, the DEC PDP-10 was one of
them. Bill, Allen and their friends studied the inner workings and making
notes of coding language and tried to decipher it to understand how a
computer worked. They were eventually banned from the DEC PDP-10 after
they were caught exploiting code bugs which allowed them to extend the
amount of time they had been allocated on the machine. In 1973 after
completing high-school with a 1600 (top score) in his SATs, he enrolled at
the University of Harvard. While studying at Harvard Bill made a new friend
in Steve Ballmer, they have continued to be friends to this day and Ballmer
took over as CEO of Microsoft upon Gates early retirement. After spending

much of his study time at the helm of the Universitys computer systems Bill
decided to leave Harvard in order to start his own business, this was partly
due to the launch of the Altair 8800 which used Intels new cpu 8080 which
had gotten bill excited by the prospects of what he could do with the
technology.
Many people call Bill Gates a college drop-out, or that he failed college, this
simply is not true at all; it was a decision he made himself, he did not fail or
give in he saw an opportunity the same as many entrepreneurs and he took
a huge leap of faith that eventually paid off. Having gained interest from
MITs director Bill and Allen, created an emulator that ran on a
microcomputer to simulate a computer they had no access to (but had said
they had) to show to Ed Roberts (MIT). They received a deal from MIT and
began working on their new business in 1975 with the company name
Micro-Soft although in 1976 they changed it to Microsoft, dropping the
hyphen. Throughout the years Bill and Allen made some amazing
advancements in computer technology and partnered with some massive
businesses in order to gain the capital they needed to start the
manufacturing of their own products and software. IBM approached
Microsoft in 1980 asking for them to develop code for their BASIC (computer
language) computer the IBM PC, MS DOS was created and this made
Microsoft a very big player in the industry over night. In 1985 a decade after
beginning their business They launched the first ever copy of MS Windows.
As we know Microsoft became the standard in computer technology and has
now become the largest computer information and technology business in
the world. Microsoft currently stands at $62.4 billion (2010) with Bill Gates
have a personal fortune of around $53 million which he uses to help very
worthy causes and charities; including his own, the Gates Foundation.
#7 Larry Page
larry page 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 37yrs
Birth Place: East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Industry: I.T entrepreneur, Computer Science
Influence: Revolutionized Online Searching and Media
Net Worth: $15 billion
Website: www.google.com/larry_page
Why they made the list
Co-Founder of one of the most recognized search engines in the world,
Google. Its no wonder why Larry became interested and later an
entrepreneur within the computer science industry; his parents were both
computer science professors at the University of Michigan. Being of quite a
wealthy background Larry was a very lucky person. He attended the
Montessori Radmoor School (formerly the Okemos Montessori School), and

later completed a degree in the science of computer engineering (BA

Honors Degree) as well as completing a Masters Degree in Computer
Science from Stanford University. In 1995 Larry met Sergey Brin, who was
also a fellow Stanford student. They became close friends and eventually
went into business together in 1996, forming the company Google
Incorporated. Larry alongside his partner Brin ran Google Inc. as copresidents of the company, until hiring the CEO Eric Schmidt.
Larry and Brin got their first financial backing from Andy Bechtolsheim, one
of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems, with the sum of $100,000. It was
here that Pages Web Crawler was soon to become the search engine we
know today. Starting from his own Stanford University home page the web
crawler began to search the internet for web pages, with the home page
being the only starting point. To assess the importance of the information
which the Web Crawler had found; Page and Brin created a complex
algorithm which the late named PageRank. In 1999 just three years since
they went into business, Larry and Brin found themselves becoming
hounded by investors, and they finally accepted $25 million from Kliener
Perkins Caufield and Sequoia Capital. By 2001 Google, now global; was
producing profits of over $100 million, and by 2003 had raised those profits
to $960 million a massive amount growth in just two years! Google as of
today is now worth $172,399,800,300 or there about.

#8 Sergey Brin
sergey brin 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 37yrs
Birth Place: Moscow, Russia
Industry: I.T , Computer Science
Influence: Revolutionized Online Searching and Media
Net Worth: $15 billion
Website:www.google.com/sergey_brin
Why they made the list
As youll already know (at least if you read about Larry Page, above) Sergey
Brin is one of the co-founders of Google Inc. Brin immigrated to the United
States of America with his family aged just 6yrs old, and although he is both
Russian in terms of ethnicity and background, he is a citizen of America,
with his nationality set as American. His grandfather and his father both had
studied mathematics in the past and Sergey was also keen on the topic,
more than likely after seeing his father and grandfather work on various
equations and projects as a child. He graduated from the University of
Maryland with a degree in mathematics and computer science, he then left
and began studying at Stanford University, for a PH.D in computer science,

a topic Sergey was keen to explore further, here at Stanford Sergey met
Larry Page, another student of computer science.
Sergey and Larry decided to work together and with their mediocre
computer systems they frantically worked at developing new search engine
designs and algorithms. They started doing this basically because they
wanted to cause disruption to the Stanford online website infrastructure,
but in doing so, they had masterfully created a search engine with massive
potential, and all completely by accident. They upped their game and the
inner workings of the code further and further; perfecting the algorithms
and creating the unique PageRank system. The pair suspended their studies
and went on to co-found the company Google Inc. the very same Google
which we love and hate today.
#9 Steve Jobs
steve jobs 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 55 yrs
birth Place: San Francisco, California, USA
Industry: computer technology, computer science
Influence: Advancement in Computers and Media Devices
Net Worth: $6.1 billion
Website: www.apple.com
Why they made the list
Steve jobs, you either love him or hate him but theres one thing that is
certain; you will definitely know who is. One thing that you might not know
him about him is that hes actually adopted, but that hasnt stopped him
becoming one the most successful people in the world and why should it.
Jobs graduated from high school in 1972, one of Steve jobs, first jobs was
actually as a technician the computer company Atari. Which was possibly a
big turning point for Steve at the time In 1974 the same year jobs first
worked with Atari, jobs went into business with his old friend Steve Wozniak.
Jobs had managed to convince Steve Wozniak that it would be a good idea
to start assembling computers and selling them on for a profit. It seemed to
quite decent idea as they soon started making a profit from the computers
they were making, and on April 1, 1976 Apple Computer company was
founded as a partnership with Steven jobs and Steve Wozniak as the cofounders.
Within just 4 years; the Apple Computer Company being founded Apple
became a publicly traded corporation, and in 1983 jobs managed to lure
John Scully away from the Pepsi-Cola company. Jobs went on in leaps and
bounds and in 1984 on January 26th jobs introduced the first Apple
Macintosh. It wasnt all pleasantries though; in May 1985, following an
internal power struggle between the board of directors; jobs lost control of
the Apple computer company and was forced out; although he did still have

shares in the business. He then went on to form another company NeXT

computers which did amazingly well sobering fact that in 1986 he bought
The Graphics Group which was later named Pixar Animation, the $10
million. Some time later; in 1996 Apple computers company decided to buy
the NeXT company for approximately $429 million, bringing Steve jobs back
to Apple as the companys interim CEO. In 2000 Apple announced publicly
that Steve jobs was to become the permanent CEO of the company. In 2007
Apple changed its name to Apple Inc. On a side note In January 2006 jobs
announced the Disney had purchased Pixar in an-all stock transaction;worth
approximately $7.4 billion, so as you can see Steve jobs has done pretty
well for himself.
#10 Sir Richard Branson
richard branson1 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 60 yrs
Birth Place: Blackheath, London, England, UK
Industry: British industrialist
Influence:
Net Worth: 2.97 billion ($474.6 billion)
Website: www.virgin.co.uk
Why they made the list
Richard Branson is a well-known British industrialist probably best known for
his company the Virgin Group, which holds in itself over 360 different
companies. Branson started his education at scaitcliffe school, in 1963
continued by his attendance at Stowe School in 1965. In 1966 Branson
started his first successful business venture Student Magazine. In 1967
Branson went on to opens first charity The Student Advisory Centrewhich
was a great success. In 1970, Branson decided to create another company;
which was a retail business based on mail-order deals. Its first success came
when Mike Oldfield signed the virgin group and had a record which went
platinum very quickly. Following the success of Mike Oldfield more bands
began to sign with the virgin group The Sex Pistols being one of the biggest.
In 1984 Richard Branson formed the Virgin Atlantic Airways company, or as
we know today, virgin Airways; which has been a great success just like
many of his previous companies before it. Probably one of Bransons most
notorious business ventures to date, is his newest venture the Virgin
Galactic, where is aiming to take passengers into space which he calls
space tourism. The virgin Galactic company according to rumour will be
licensing the technology behind the so-called spaceship one which is being
funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen as well as Burt Rutan who is an
American engineer well-known for his aeronautical work. Sir Richard
Branson is without doubt one of the greatest entrepreneurs the UK has and
possibly ever will have in its history, without him a lot of things wouldnt be

how they today, such as the music we listen to, the charities we support,
and quite possibly in the near future space travel.
#11 Mark Zuckerberg
mark zuckerberg8701 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age:
26yrs
Birth Place: White Plains, New York, USA
Industry: Social Media Mogul
Influence: Revolutionized Online Social Media and Networking
Net Worth: $6.9 billion
Website: www.Facebook.com
Why they made the list
Mark Zuckerberg, is possibly one of the most spoken about individuals of
the past year, not only is he one of the richest men on the planet, hes just
had a story portrayed by the Hollywood giants in a new movie entitled the
Social Network. Zuckerberg first launched his website Facebook whilst
attending Harvard University, the website was launched from his dormitory
room, on 4 February 2004. It has been rumoured, but the inspiration for
Facebook actually came from his former high school the Phillips Exeter
Academy which had its own student directory known asThe Photo Address
Book which according to rumour, the students nicknamed the Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg was joined by fellow Harvard university students Dustin
Moskovitz and Chris Hughes as he wanted to evolve the Facebook website.
To begin with Facebook wasnt available to everybody and due to this
competitors such as; MySpace and Bebo seemed to be the clear winners, in
terms of social networking. However that soon changed when Zuckerberg
and the co-founders of Facebook dropped out of the Harvard University in a
bid to make Facebook success, which they knew was possible, due to the
amount of support it had received at the University. By then the 2004
Facebook had received over 1 million users for the website. Then in 2005
capital venture firm Accel partners, invested $12.7 million into the business
to help them evolve its further. Soon Facebook was being approached by
massive brands and companies who wants to buy out Zuckerberg and cotutor is obvious trendsetting capabilities and the possible revenue to be
made from it. However we know that Zuckerberg didnt actually sell
Facebook and he still is CEO of it although his partners have left now, and
today according to Forbes magazine Zuckerberg is worth approximately
$6.9 billion. Not bad for a college dropout.
# 12 Ariana Huffington
ariana huffington 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 60yrs
Birth Place: Athens, Greece
Industry: Blogging Columnist and Author
Influence: A Pioneer in Blogging and Online News

Net Worth: $115million

Website: www.HuffingtonPost.com
Why they made the list
Ariana Huffington, born in 1950 in Athens has got to be the most influential
and professional as well as successful female within the blogging industry.
Some of you may not know that she is also an author of the off-line variety,
writing a biography of Maria Callas in 1981 she also wrote a biography on
public Picasso eight years later in 1989. To became well known in the early
90s due to her relentless support for conservative causes during her exhusbands unsuccessful bid for the Senate in (1994). She later founded the
Huffington is which is now liberal American news websites which he cofounded with Ken Lerer and Jonah Peretti.
The website itself of some mass of valuable information regarding politics,
business, lifestyle, and environmental causes as well as media and
entertainment news. They decided that the website could do with some
localisation, so that loyal supporters of the Huffington Post could read
detailed news for the area, due to this in 2000 they launched their very first
local version of the Huffington post called HuffPost Chicago, very soon after
came New York and Denver as well as Los Angeles. As well as writing
articles for the blog herself she also has the help from many of her famous
supporters such as Rosie ODonnell and Harry Shearer. She has also won
many awards through the Huffington post; such as winning the Peoples
Voice Award in the 2010 webby awards, she also won the 2006 and 2007
webby award for best politics blog and in 2009 the blog was named second
in the best 25 blogs of 2009 in Time magazine.
#13 Peter Jones
peterjones 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 44yrs
Birth Place: Maidenhead, Berks, United Kingdom
Industry: Telecommunications
Influence: Investing in young entrepreneurs
Net Worth: 220 million
Website: www.peterjones.tv
Why they made the list
Peter (CBE) is probably best known by the public for his role on Dragons
Den, a British television programme which is broadcast on the BBC network.
He is a British entrepreneur whose main dealings are within the mobile
telecommunication, media and leisure industries. He is also named America
for his television programme the American Inventor, on which he judges
businesses in an almost X-factor style show for business. His first business
venture to earn him money was a tennis academy which he set up at the
age of 16. His second and also successful business venture was completely

different in that it was a technological company based on computers where

he manufactured his own PCs however the business went bankrupt after
failing to receive payment from his customers.
This led to him having to give up his three-bedroom house as well as his
cars, forcing him to move back in with his parents. He then joined the
company Siemens Nixdorf, and it 20 years of age he became the youngest
ever head of the business unit in United Kingdom. After leaving Siemens
Nixdorf he started to work within the telecommunications industry and after
a year of hard saving he managed to set up his next business venture which
was Phones International Group. Times were obviously hard in the beginning
as he has stated he had to sleep on the office floor until his business grew
enough for him to find somewhere suitable to live. His business became
amazingly successful and is revenue totalled nearly 14 million by the end
of his first year which more than doubled in his second year when it nearly
reached 45 million. Peter James undoubtedly brought telecommunications
to new heights and new levels within United Kingdom, and in doing so has
made brave leaps of faith within business proving years true entrepreneur.
Since starting his second business venture he has been part of many other
investments through the Dragons Den programme on the BBC with most
notable ones probably being; Reggae Reggae, Visual Talent, and more
recently Worthenshaws.
#14 Michael Newton
michael newton 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 50yrs
Birth Place: Cheshire, UK
Industry: CCTV, Retail
Influence: Brought Revolutionary CCTV to the UK
Net Worth: $504.25 million
Website: www.ad-group.co.uk
Why they made the list
Michael Newton may not be someone most of you have heard of and you
may even think he is not a historical figure, but he most definitely is in the
UK. Michael changed the UK in big ways back in 1982 when he started with
a CCTV system that basically monitored how long a person was at a table
(in a bar). He soon introduced a line of multi-channel systems able to view
across a broad range of areas all at once and not just in a singular location.
He continued to add new systems to his arsenal and introduced them all to
the UK. Today using Michaels CCTV systems, over 7 million images are
recorded a second!
If it wasnt for his ingenuity and passion for what he did, it may not have
been another few years until the introduction of a similar CCTV device, Not

only did he make a fortune through his business; he also helped to make
the UK a more secure and safe place to be. In 1994 due to his enthusiastic
interest within aviation he began to learn how to fly; and soon passed his
pilots license, not long after passing his pilots exam, he decided to go into
the aviation industry to try his hand at a new sector. In 1998 he made the
move into the commercial airline sector of the industry, which eventually
led to the AD Aviation company he is now the CEO of.
#15 Charles Kemmons Wilson
0cmh419s 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 90yrs (Died
debris talks 2003)
Birth Place: Osceola, Kansas, USA
Industry: Hotelier
Net Worth: $100 million
Website: www.holidayinn.com
Why they made the list
Charles kemmons Wilson, is best known for his outstanding commitment
and passion the hotelier business. Rumour has it that Charles came up for
his idea of his business venture after a road trip brought to his attention the
fact that many of the roadside motels, were definitely not up to scratch in
both quality and consistency for that era. He decided to become a hotelier,
he wanted to make hotels and motels; more friendly, consistent, of a higher
quality, and be somewhere that people really enjoy coming back to again
and again. He and his business partner Wallace E. Johnson named the
business Holiday Inn of America, rumoured to have come from one of his
architects as a joke referring to the Bing Crosby movie. They went on to
create for Motorolas in the Memphis area and it was a great success, in
1957 Wilson franchised chain and it grew dramatically. By 1958 Wilson and
Johnson had managed to create 50 different Holiday Inns, all across the
country, by the following year that had double to 100, and within five years
the number of Holiday Inns, had reached a level of 500 (1964). Remarkably
Wilson had managed to reach the magic number 1000 different Holiday
Inns across the country by 1968, just over a decade from starting a
business from scratch.
Wilson created some innovative ways to leveraged the market, which puts a
lot of pressure financially, on traditional hotels as well as its bigger
competitors such as Howard Johnsons, Best Western, and even the Ramada
Inn Company. There were 1400 holiday Inn hotels across the world by 1972,
which funnily enough was the same year that Charles Wilson was on the
cover of Time magazine. In 1979 Charles Wilson decided to retire from the
hotelier business, and in doing so retire from the Holiday Inn, although this
broke his heart he knew it was the right thing to do. The Holiday Inn
Corporation (Holiday Corporation), was taken over by the UK-based
company Bass PLC. However it wasnt until 1990 when Charles Wilson sold

the remainder of his shares to Bass PLC that the company gained full
control, the company that was known worldwide. As a side note about also
out that Charles Wilson also created many different businesses related to
the Holiday Inn.
#16 Simon Nixon
simon nixon 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 42yrs
Birth Place: Chester, Wales, UK
Industry: Financial
Influence: Revolutionized Online Financial Systems
Net Worth: $570 million
Website: www.moneysupermarket.com
Why they made the list
Simon Nixon is one of those entrepreneurs that likes to keep his cards close
to his chest, and his personal life private because of this up until 2008 there
really wasnt much information on Simon Nixon. If you dont already know
who he is Simon Nixon is best known as the man who founded Money
Supermarket He establish the business in 1993 while still a student at the
Nottingham University in the United Kingdom. Everytime he was backed by
Duncan Cameron he was an off-line mortgage adviser and decided to invest
a little in Simon Nixons idea. In 1999 Nixon took the business online
providing online mortgage information as well as expanding to provide
services within the credit card and personal loans sector.
With his usual excess, and his brilliant and refreshing customer service his
business grew beyond his wildest dreams and in 2003 he opened up
another website under the money supermarket brand called
insuresupermarket.com, he also opened up travelsupermarket.com in 2004
to expand his business futher. The business was growing and Nixon wanted
more of the pie, which was great seeing as in 2007 Duncan Cameron had
decided to sell his share of 47% under the presumption that there was soon
to be a very sharp downturn in business for them. Duncan Cameron couldnt
have been more wrong, Simon Nixon bought Duncans shares from
approximate figure of 162 million. The company became listed on the
London stock exchange in the same year, and in late 2009 Nixon managed
to get the comedian Omid Djalili to star in some of his commercials.
#17 Anita Roddick
Anita Roddick 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 64 yrs
(Died September 10, 2007)
Birth Place: Littlehampton, UK
Industry: cosmetics

Influence: Green Product Pioneer.

Net Worth: $1.03 billion
Website: www.AnitaRoddick.com
Why they made the list
Dame Anita Roddick created The Body Shop in 1976 with just 15 products
that she had sourced herself from around the world. Anita had traveled
extensively before opening up her business and with her husband and two
girls in tow she set off to create something special.Faced with a massive
task of getting the shoppers in the UK to part with their money for
Greener products, but with a motivation, a dollop of passion and a pinch
of luck Anita managed to succeed. Luckily for Anita just as she was halfway
through her first year the UK shoppers had a change of heart and started
shopping for these Green products she was selling.
She opened another store and another, and another, they just seemed to
grow and grow. Anita had managed to build her empire to a whopping 1,980
The Body Shop stores, totaling in more than 75 million customers worldwide
in 50 different countries by 2003 and was then bought out in a very
controversial deal with LOreal it was controversial due to The Body Shop
not using ANY products tested on animals, as opposed to LOreals company
that did. The deal made her 652.3 million ($1.03 billion) better off which
was more than well deserved for her fierce years of service. I hope Dame
Anita managed to enjoy that money for the remainder of her life.
#18 Donald Trump
Donald Trump jpg 200x200 crop upscale q851 30 Most Influential
Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 64yrs
Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA
Industry: Real Estate
Influence: Pioneer in Real Estate, Empowering Entrepreneur
Net Worth: $2 billion
Website: www.trump.com
Why they made the list
We all know Donald Trump, and I have spoken about him in previous posts,
not just because of his amount of success but also because of his amount of
failure in which he overcame again and again. Donald began working for his
father in the late 1960s, it was here that he truly shined and began to show
the world just where was headed in the future. He started his career by
successfully revamping a failing complex than appalling occupancy
percentage, turning it into a fantastic complex with a 100% occupancy
percentage. Succeeded again when a few years later he took on a massive
project which the city of New York had failed to complete, he was given a

very small budget, but most complete set and used less than a third of the
remaining budget.
Donald Trump as we know has not been just a successful businessman, hes
had his ups and downs, and hes been to a point where most entrepreneurs
would have given up. In 1992 Trump was forced to sign a bankruptcy plan
due to the fact that he could not make payments towards his debts which
were accumulating at quite a speed. The most that his personal debt, note I
said personal and not just business debt, was an incredible $900 million!
Can you seriously imagine being in debt by that much money? However not
want to disappoint; trump managed to not only get out of his debt and get
his business out of debt, but he also managed to climb straight back up that
ladder and become a multi-billionaire. It has been estimated that Donald
Trump is worth approximately $2 billion.

#19 Jeff Bezos

bezos1 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 46yrs
Birth Place: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Industry: online retail
Influence: Revolutionized E-Commerce
Net Worth: $8.7 billion
Website: www.Amazon.com
Why they made the list
Jeff Bezos was born in 1964 and is the founder of the president and the
chief executive officer as well as the Chairman of the board for one of the
most popular and well-known websites/e-commerce sites in the world,
Amazon.com. Jeff Bezos mother was just a teenage girl when he was born in
Albuquerque New Mexico, she married his father which lasted only one year
in total, and when Jeff was just five years old she remarried the man he
recalls his father Miguel Bezos. They moved to Texas and Miguel became an
engineer for Exxon. Jeff Bezos was very interested in scientific projects at an
early age and got into a lot of trouble by reading up small electric alarms to
keep his siblings out of his bedroom. He managed to persuade his parents
to convert their garage into his own personal laboratory, which suited him
just fine.
He went on to be very highly awarded through his school and college years
and he was awarded an honorary doctorate in science and technology from
Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. After finally graduating from Princeton
University, Jeff Bezos decided he wanted to work in computer science field
and began working on Wall Street. In 1994 after a bright idea whilst on a
cross-country trip from New York to Seattle Jeff Bezos came up with a

business plan for what he called, is on. He managed to get some backing
and started Internet business that very year and as we know it is now one of
the most successful e-commerce sites in the world. Amazon.com currently
has a revenue of around $25 billion not bad the saying he came up with the
idea in the back of a car on a road trip.
#20 Steve Case
steve case 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 52yrs
Birth Place: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Industry: Internet Services
Influence: Helped Pioneer Online Services
Net Worth: $1.0 billion
Website: www.aol.com
Why they made the list
you may or you may not know Steve Case, hes one of those rich and
successful entrepreneurs, with a gigantic company who likes his privacy,
kept private. He was born and he grew up in Honolulu in Hawaii and
graduated in 1976 from a private school. In 1980 he left the Williams
College in Williamstown Massachusetts, with a degree in political science. In
1982 after having worked as an assistant brand manager at Procter and
Gamble, he joined the Pizza Hut incorporation in Kansas, and served as one
of the pizza marketing managers. In 1983 he met Bill Von Meister, who was
a contact of his older brother. His company was creating a marketing
service to the Atari game console which basically allowed the users to
download certain games using only a phone line and a modem. This was
seen as an amazing advancement in technology. Later in the same year Von
Meister hired case to become a marketing consultant for a business, which
at the time was almost going bankrupt.
1985 case co-founded business called Quantum Computer Services, case
was soon promoted to vice president of marketing and due to his good
work, entrepreneurial character, and his passion for the company he was
soon promoted yet again becoming the Chairman and CEO of the company
in 1991 and 1995 respectively. In 1988 his business began working with
Apple as well as PC link, helping create online services for both. Later in
1991 case changed the companys name to America online, and later that
same year decided to integrate the Apple and PC services under the name
AOL. Over the following years case personally made many innovative online
games with his team most of them being very successful. After 10 years
with amazing growth throughout the business AOL and Time Warner
decided to do a merger. The mergers was worth approximately $164 billion
and it was completed in year 2000. Over the course of the next five years
the business seemed to take a very sudden downturn due to the recession
of the dot-com boom. In 2005 case decided to leave AOL and Time Warner

so that he could spend more time on his own business Revolution LLC which
is a company he created in 2005.
#21 George Eastman
George Eastman 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 77yrs
(Died March 14, 1932)
Birth Place: Waterville, New York, USA
Industry: photographic
Influence: A Pioneer inPhotography
Net Worth: $100 million
Website: www.Kodak.com
Why they made the list
Many of you will know the company Kodak, and many of you have probably
used some of their products whether it be a digital camera, 35mm film, or
even their processing services. What you may not know or rather who you
may not know is the man he made it all happen. George Eastman was a self
educated man born in Waterville, New York, and is most notable legacy
alongside his massive generosity, donating literally millions of dollars of his
own personal wealth to charities and hospitals, is that of the roll film. He
played a massively leading role in transforming photography as a form
bringing it from a very expensive hobby into the public domain so that
anybody could take photographs and keep their memories forever.
The Kodak company was founded in 1884, and although Eastman had
founded the business he was more intrigued with the inventions within the
photography industry rather than actually running the business. Due to this
he hired Henry Strong as the president of Eastman Kodak. In 1885 Eastman
invented the roll film which was used worldwide for over 100 years it was
also the basis for the motion picture camera film which early filmmakers
such as Thomas Ava Edison used. In 1888 Eastman decided to register
Kodak as an official trademark he also came up with the phrase You Press
the Button and We Do the Rest. Easement died in 1932 but not before
donating masses of his personal fortune to numerous causes, such as the
University of Rochester and the Royal Free Hospital.*
#22 Simon Fuller
simon fuller 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 50yrs
Birth Place: Dhekelia, Cyprus
Industry: Music
Influence: Television and Music Pioneer
Net Worth: $2.7 billion $4.1 million
Website: www.19entertainment.com

Why they made the list

Simon Fuller, although born in Cyprus, is a British artist manager, hes also
the television producer and the founding creator of the pop Idol franchise.
Pop Idol as you may know first appeared in the UK and has continued over
100 different versions including American Idol and Australian Idol to name
just a few. Is also being a manager of many very great performers his most
notable ones being Annie Lennox, the Spice Girls, and S club 7. He was the
chief executive in 19 Entertainment, which is based in the three major cities
of London, LA, and New York. He founded the business in 1985 after leaving
the company Chrysalis Ltd and working with some of the most profound
names in the music industry such as Madonna. In 1985 aged only 25 years
old, he signed the musician Paul Hardcastle his first song went to number
one in both the UK and the US charts with his Vietnam song,19.
In 1999 he got his first taste of working in television after he had auditioned
over 10,000 different people to form a new band, the band was called S club
7. The band later became one of the most popular pop bands of the era
taking many number one places in the UK and the US charts. Fuller later
came up with the idea of Pop Idol after taking his time and thinking about
how S club 7, was such a success and how the process was such a fun way
to decide which musicians and singers to have within a band. As many of
you will know, and as stated above, pop Idol went on to become huge
success and later went over the waters to America where it was just as
successful. Fuller had managed to get some of the best presenters and
judges in the entertainment industry to appear on a show. This only created
more of a hype and just made the program or that more successful.

# 23 Carlos Slim Helu

Carlos Slim Helu 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 70yrs
Birth Place: Mexico City, Mexico
Industry: Telecommunication
Influence: Investments and Telecommunications
Net Worth: $53.5 billion
Website: www.carlosslim.com
Why they made the list
Carlos Slim Helu, best known as slim, is a well-known entrepreneur who is
currently the richest man alive. Carlos started in business at the age of
eight when his father asked him to help with the family store. He graduated
with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Mexico, however his
personal wealth began when he inherited a large amount of real estate from
his parents. Using his capital from the real estate to make some very

explosive acquisitions. In the 1970s some of his assets became part of a

group called Grupo Galas S. A, which was later renamed Grupo, Carso. This
business had many different departments such as restaurants, real estate,
mining, tobacco, railways, and also department stores. Later in the 1980s
after more than 30 different companies joined his group some of them very
well known and well respected, slim took control of the majority of shares of
Cigtam, a tobacco business.
Cigatam, for those of you that dont know the manufacturers of Marlboro
cigarettes as well as many other brands of cigarettes. Still within the 80s
Slim decides to sell a massive 50% of his shares just as the market was at
its peak, making him a massive fortune overnight. He used the money to
purchase a business chain called Sanborns, which again included
restaurants music stores and bookshops to name a few. In the 1990s he
managed to get Sears one of the countrys largest department stores to join
his group, however it wasnt until his monopolisation of the
telecommunication industry in Mexico when he won a bid for the
privatisation of Telfonos de Mxico, also known as Telmex. With Telmex he
incorporated a partnership with France Telecom as well as Bella Canada
which brought him great success. His business now controls 90% of all
landlines within Mexico. With his fortune he has been an amazing example
of what an investor should be, investing in companies such as Apple
Computer Inc, MSN, as well as red Uno and Coca-Cola. It is here with his
investments as well as his large share of the telecommunication business
where he is made the majority of his fortune.
# 24 Penny Streeter
Penny Streeter 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 43yrs
Birth Place: Zimbabwe
Industry: Recruitment
Influence: Creating Employment Opportunities
Net Worth: $117.80 million
Website: www.a24group.com
Why they made the list
Penny Streeter is somewhat of an unknown to most of you over in the USA,
and quite possibly to a lot of us here in the UK too. She was born in 1967, in
Zimbabwe, and later attended the Alberton High school in Johannesburg
until she graduated in 1983. She decided to leave South Africa and set her
sights upon the UK. In 1989 after launching her in recruitment business she
was left penniless and homeless after the business failed and she went
through a divorce leaving her with nothing. Six years later in 1995 after
managing to get out of the terrible situation she was in previously, she
decided to set up business again, confident that she could be successful.
With her confidence and passion were in the right place and a she launched

the new venture funded by working evenings as a party entertainer, the

business Ambition 24hours was established.
Ambition 24Hours was a business which recruited temporary staff to fulfill
the need in many different sectors such as nursing, social workers,
teachers, lecturers and also carers. In 2004 the company expanded into
South Africa which was located there is a kind of back-office the UK as well
as the South African markets. In 2004 she launched an 11 million
investment plan in South Africa to initialise a South African nursing agency.
Just two years later in 2006 the company made its first noticeable
acquisition; the nursing services of South Africa, this was the largest agency
the temporary staffing of nursing personnel. She now has a multi-million
dollar recruitment agency and is currently expanding in the UK as well as
South Africa to this day
# 25 Emma Harrison
emma harrison 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 41yrs
Birth Place: Clacton on Sea, UK
Industry: Business Services
Influence: Creating Schemes to Help Employment
Net Worth: $157 million
Website: www.mya4e.com
Why they made the list
Emma Harrison is not only a British entrepreneur, she is also the chairman
owner and also the co-founder of action for employment also known as A4e.
She only has a degree in engineering, but she also has two honorary
doctorates from the University of Derby and the University of Bradford
respectively. Her company Action for Employment has grown massively
since its founding in 1991. She currently has over 4000 members of staff
across a total of 250 different business centres worldwide. Action for
employment is one of the prime contractors to various governments helping
with services such as the Flexible New Deal and social care.
Emmas business expertise and confidence has brought her much success
and she is also high demand as a mentor or from many different small
businesses and groups throughout the world. She currently serves on a
number of boards and is also the chairman of Andromeda which is an
events company. She also works within the Peoples health plc, as well as
having a role in the Bank of England regional consultations on behalf the
monetary policy committee. In laymans terms Emma is one of the most
successful entrepreneurs that the UK has ever seen she is chairman of
many different companies and is many different boards for other
businesses, departments and industry sectors worldwide. A mentor that we
can all look up to.

#26 Linda Bennett

Linda Bennett 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 46yrs
Birth Place: Somerset, UK
Industry: Clothing and Retail
Influence: Inspiring Fashion and Entrepreneurs
Net Worth: $235.6 million
Website: www.lkbennett.com
Why they made the list
Linda Bennett is truly a remarkable entrepreneur not only has she made it
in a very saturated industry but she has made it by working her way from
the bottom to the top. Her passion is in the clothing industry. She founded
the luxury womenswear brand LK Bennett in the United Kingdom in 1990.
The reason she named LK Bennett was because her middle name is Kristin
and she thought it would make for a more professional sounding business
name. Bennett trained at Hackneys cordwainers College as well as at
Reading University where she studied land management also. To this day
Bennett still likes to design many of her brand items and is constantly
creating new shoes for her brand.
Aged 26 she opened an accessories shop in Wimbledon with just 13,000
worth of savings and a 15,000 bank loan. She managed to turn this into
one of the most stylistic and high end brands within the clothing industry
creating shoes for the likes of the Duchess of Cornwall, which she wore for
her wedding in 2005 to Prince Charles. With an entrepreneurial streak
Bennett has managed to place all of the stores in very prime locations, just
in reach of her ideal customer base. In 2004 she decided to sell the
business and asked for 75 million ($117.8 million) however the asking
price was never met and she kept hold of the business. Just four years on
she managed to sell the business to a private equity firm called Phoenix
Equity partners and Sirius Equity, the deal was for a rumoured 70 million
($110 million). However that was on top of the wealth that she had already
accumulated throughout the life of the business.
# 27 Madame C. J. Walker
madam c. j 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 51yrs (Died
May 25, 1919)
Birth Place: Delta, Louisiana, USA
Industry: Haircare
Influence: Hair Care Pioneer, Empowered Female Entrepreneurs
Net Worth: $600,000
Website: www.madamcjwalker.com
Why they made the list

Madame CJ Walker is somebody that you may very well and not know that
youd be forgiven for not doing as well but she died over 90 years ago.
Although her fortune of $600,000 may not seem much the reason why she
such inspirational person to have on this list is because she made herself an
empire, through hard work and determination, she was also an inspiration
to all other female would-be entrepreneurs. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove,
is known best for being Americas first African-American entrepreneur, as
well as being one of the most wealthiest women of her era. A lot of the
women in her era experienced hair loss for some reason. Its thought that
this was due to a lacking of indoor plumbing and electricity, making it hard
for them to bathe each and every day. Walker had experienced this also
(hair loss) and so she experimented with some of own home-made
remedies. They work so well that she decided that it was worth investing in
and creating a business out of so she did.
The products were an instant hit and soon stores all across the country were
selling them, in 1908 she opened a College to train hair care trainees, and
in 1910 she moved to Indianapolis and established a factory which he used
as her main headquarters. Later in her life she went on to teach and lecture
female entrepreneurs to help them build their own businesses and to gain
their own freedom and independence. This in itself made quite a name for
her and she later joined the National Association of the advancement of
coloured people also known as the NAACP. She joined them in an effort to
stop hate crimes and to ban lynching, making it a federal crime. She died in
1919 because of apparent kidney failure leaving behind her fortune and the
manufacturing business to her daughter ALelia Walker. Today the business
continues although not as successful as in its heyday.
# 28 Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 87 yrs (Died
January 10, 1971)
Birth Place: Samur, France
Industry: Fashion
Influence: Fashion and Perfume Pioneer
Net Worth: $160 million
Website: www.Chanel.com
Why they made the list
Coco Chanel, it kind of slips of the tongue doesnt it, its one of those names
that we all know and probably one of those names that we associate with
the world of fashion and her perfumery. Known worldwide Coco Chanel was
one of the most creative and successful entrepreneurs of her era. Her first
chosen career was that of a singer, although she couldnt get the work
whether that was because she had a poor voice or because there was such
excellent singers at the time Im not quite sure. However it spurred her into

becoming the entrepreneur that we know her are as today. In 1910 she
became a hat maker and opened up her own beauty in the Paris, France.
The business was a success and in 1913 she opened a boutique in
Deauville, where she began introducing a luxury line of casual clothing
which were apparently suitable for leisure or sport.
In 1921 after concocting a perfume for herself, she found other people
enjoyed it so much that she decided to introduce it to her boutique she
called it Chanel No. 5. It is thought that this perfume was the first of its kind,
by that I mean that it was the first perfume that was ever sold worldwide
and not just within a singular state or country. In 1939 at the beginning of
World War II, Chanel decided to close her, now many, boutiques as she
believed it to be the wrong time to sell fashion. However after four years
without working she decided it was time to renew her passion. 1945 after
moving back to Paris (she had previously moved to Switzerland), she
continued with their collections of luxury clothing and perfumes, and
although her new collections at first did not have much success with the
Parisians at the time, she was very successful with the British and American
customers. Today her legacy, Chanel, is worth an estimated $4.5 billion.
# 29 Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 69yrs
Birth Place: Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Industry: Television, magazine publisher
Influence: Health, Entertainment, Advice
Net Worth: $913 million
Website: www.MarthaStewart.com
Why they made the list
Martha Stewart may not be very well-known to our British readers; although
you probably have heard her name before. Martha Stewart, is an American
television host who also has published magazines in the past. She managed
to create amazing success for herself through a plethora of business
ventures such as publishing, merchandising, presenting and also
broadcasting. Perhaps the most recognizable thing that many of you will
think of when you think of Martha Stewart is prison, or rather her prison
time. In 2004 she was convicted of lying to an investigator, regarding a
stock sale and served only five months in prison. Just so the British readers
understand, lying to an investigator in the US, is a federal offense which is
punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Many people thought that inside the prison she would deteriorate, and
possibly have a mental breakdown however that did not happen and on her
return from prison she bounced back massively and became even more
successful than before. In 2005 she released a book which was highly
publicized due to her comeback, this was received very well by her funds

and became a very good seller. To them back into television with the Martha
Stewart show and also appeared on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Today
with all of her merchandise which is in many stores around the US, her
lucrative television deals and her many books and magazines have earned
her an accumulated total approximately $913 million.

# 30 Walt Disney
walt disney3 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs Of All Time Age: 65 yrs (Died
December 15, 1966)
Birth Place: Samur, France
Industry: Entertainment
Influence: Pioneered Entertainment
Net Worth: $1.1 billion
Website: www.Disney.go.com
Why they made the list
Im 100% certain every reader today, reading this will know Walt Disney,
and he is a great example of a successful entrepreneur. His first break in
entertainment came when he was hired by the Kansas City film Ad
Company, where he learned to make animations from cut-outs. He was then
given a massive inspiration after reading the book by Edwin G. Lutz;
Animated Cartoons: how they are made. Upon reading it and getting quite
excited about the prospects of becoming a professional animator he left
Kansas City Film Ad Company. Laugh-O-Grams his second business went
bankrupt; which was mainly down to the studio costs, staff costs and and
lack of business to bring in revenue to pay for them. Which meant he wasnt
a bad businessman, he was just bad with money.
Having really learned his lesson from failing so miserably, Walt and his
brother Roy went to Hollywood where they managed to secure a distributor
deal to help with the business. Things grew more and more successful and
the business started to go from strength to strength. His unique characters
and his ability to bring animation to life really brought the fans to the
cinemas and theatres. Walt Disney received an Academy award in 1932 for
his efforts in animation, thanks to his new found fans who were demanding
more cartoons featuring Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney continues his success
for another 34 years before his death they left behind a legacy which is now
called the Walt Disney Co. Today the Walt Disney business is currently worth
$35 million