ANDREW CARNEGIE

Andrew Carnegie was an American entrepreneur who actually immigrated from

Scotland. Born into the lower class, Carnegie and his family immigrated to Pennsylvania,
where they lived a better lifestyle. Carnegie later founded the Carnegie Steel Company,
growing it to become one of the largest companies in U.S. history.

In addition to the success of his company, Carnegie became a very successful angel

investor. Using the money made through his steel company, he invested in various car
companies, messenger services, and land that contained oil reserves. Upon his death in
1919, Carnegie had an estimated net worth of $350 million, which, in 2019 dollars,
would be worth nearly $4.5 billion.
 HENRY FORD
Unlike Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford was a natural-born citizen who grew up in
Michigan. Born into a family that originated from England and Ireland, he was well off,
although not wealthy. Ford was a hard-working man and eventually completed an
apprenticeship with the Detroit Dry Dock Company. In 1891, he met with Thomas Edison
and told him about his concept of the automobile. Edison liked the idea and let Ford use
his warehouse to develop and manufacture two prototypes.

Using the prototypes, Ford soon founded the Detroit Automobile Company. The
company was short-lived, however, since the product did not meet Ford's standards. He
went on to found the Cadillac Automobile Company, which also failed, before starting
the Ford Motor Company for which he is famous. His third attempt at a car company
made him very successful, and the company remains a going concern with annual sales
of over $160 billion.
 OPRAH WINFREY
Oprah Winfrey is a shining example of an American success story. While she did not
reveal her past until 1986, Winfrey was a victim of sexual assault at the age of 9 and
became pregnant at the age of 14 before losing the child during childbirth. These early
trials and tribulations gave her the perspective and confidence that helped her land her
first TV show in 1983. From there, Winfrey steadily grew her brand and her empire,
founding Harpo Studios, a multimedia company, in 1988. The company, through
ad revenue and other revenue streams, has steadily grown to over 12,500 employees.

Winfrey co-founded Oxygen Media, another media company that attracts millions of
annual television viewers. Winfrey, a TV personality turned entrepreneur, has a net
worth of $2.5 billion as of 2019.
 BILL GATES
Bill Gates, one of the most well-known American technology entrepreneurs, is the
second-richest person in the world with a net worth of over $98.9 billion as of 2019.
Gates grew up in Seattle, Wash., and began tinkering with personal computers at an
early age with friends such as Paul Allen. Showing a ton of aptitude and promise, Gates
enrolled in Harvard, where he met Steve Ballmer before dropping out to start Microsoft.

Gates, with the help of Allen, Ballmer, and others, built Microsoft to become one of the
world's largest and most influential tech companies. As of 2019, Gates still sits on the
board of Microsoft, which is valued at almost a trillion dollars based on its market
capitalization, but he has refocused his personal efforts on the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.
 LARRY PAGE
Larry Page is the co-founder of Google, the world's number one search engine. Google
was started by Page and his partner Sergey Brin while they were doctorate students at
Stanford University. With an initial investment of just $100,000, the two partners quickly
grew Google into a multinational conglomerate. In 2015 Google was restructured to
form the parent company Alphabet Inc., with Page serving as CEO. Page has a net worth
of over $50 billion as of 2019.