Before I get to the famous entrepreneurs, let’s go over a quick definition on what exactly is an entrepreneur?
The definition of entrepreneur is “An innovator of business enterprise who recognizes opportunities to introduce a new product, a new process or an improved organization, and who raises the necessary money, assembles the factors for production and organizes an operation to exploit the opportunity.”
And a female entrepreneur is sometimes known as an entrepreneuse which is the French feminine form of entrepreneur.
Anyways, I just wanted to give you guys some motivation on becoming a entrepreneur, your own boss and show that anyone can be a famous entrepreneur if you put your mind to it. I know we might not all be billionaires like Bill Gates but we can all be on own bosses if we put our minds to it.
Matter of fact, I think a majority of us don’t even realize how much of an entrepreneur we are. But if you have made money on your own before whether it’s selling lemonade on a hot sunny day or coming up with a new way of selling a product, then you are on your way to a famous entrepreneur.
Anyways, I’m sure you’re sick of my blabbing on famous entrepreneur stuff so here’s the list of famous entrepreneurs you may or may not have known and what they’re famous for. (There are plenty of famous entrepreneurs that I’m sure isn’t on this list, feel free add any of you and I’ll give you a backlink to your site)
Feel free to subscribe to my RSS Feeds as I’ll be continually updating this post. Who knows? I may be putting your name on here soon enough.
1. Alvin Ailey Dance (Alvin Ailey) Dance Theater)
2. Mary Kay Ash Cosmetics (Mary Kay)
3. P.T. Barnum Entertainment (Barnum & Bailey)
4. Warren Bechtel Construction
5. Jeff Bezos Internet (Amazon)
6. Michael Bloomberg Financial Information
7. Richard Branson Several (Virgin
8. Andrew Carnegie Steel (US Steel)
9. Steve Case Internet (America Online)
10. Jim Clark Internet (Netscape)
11. Michael Dell Computers (Dell Computer)
12. Walt Disney Entertainment
13. Larry Ellison Software (Oracle)
14. Debbi Fields Cookies (Mrs. Fields)
15. Donald and Doris Fisher Clothing (Gap Inc.)
16. Ernest & Julio Gallo Wine
17. Bill Gates Software (Microsoft)
18. A. P. Giannini Banking (Bank of America)
19. Walt Goodridge Writer
20. Leo Goodwin Insurance (GEICO)
21. Barry Gordy Music (Motown Records)
22. Joyce Hall Greeting Cards (Hallmark)
23. William Randolph Hearst Publishing (Hearst Newspapers)
24. Richard A. Henson Airlines
25. Fernando Hernandez AT&T
26. Milton Hershey Chocolate
27. James J. Hill Railroads (Great Northern Railway)
28. Wayne Huizenga Sanitation (Waste Management)
29. Steve Jobs Computers (Apple)
30. Robert L. Johnson Broadcasting (BET)
31. John Johnson Publishing (Ebony)
32. Henry J. Kaiser Health Care (Kaiser Permanente)
33. Herb Kelleher Airlines (Southwest)
34. Ray Kroc Fast Food (McDonald’s)
35. Estee Lauder Cosmetics
36. William Levitt Housing
37. Henry Luce Publishing (Time/Life)
38. J. W. Marriott Hospitality
39. Louis B. Mayer Entertainment (MGM)
40. William McGowan Telecommunications (MCI)
41. Scott McNealy Computers (Sun Microsystems)
42. Judi Sheppard Missett Fitness (Jazzercise)
43. Gordon Moore Electronics (Intel)
44. Andrew Morrison Web Publishing
45. Rupert Murdoch Media
46. Pierre Omidyar Internet (Ebay)
47. David Packard Electronics (Hewlett-Packard)
48. William S. Paley Broadcasting (CBS)
49. Ross Perot Data Management (Electronic Data Systems)
50. Jay Pritzker Hospitality (Hyatt)
51. Ralph Roberts Cable TV (Comcast)
52. John D. Rockefeller Oil (Standard Oil)
53. Carlos Santana
54. David Sarnoff Broadcasting (NBC)
55. Howard Schultz Coffee (Starbucks)
56. Charles Schwab Discount Brokerage
57. Richard W. Sears Mail Order (Sears-Roebuck)
58. Russell Simmons Music (Def Jam Records)
59. Fred Smith Shipping (Federal Express)
60. Charles C. Spaulding Insurance
61. Gloria Steinem Publishing (Ms)
62. Martha Stewart Multimedia
63. Dave Thomas Fast Food (Wendy’s)
64. Donald Trump Real Estate
65. Ted Turner Broadcasting (CNN)
66. Madam C. J. Walker Hair Care
67. Sam Walton Discount Retail (Wal-Mart)
68. Thomas Watson, Sr. Computing (IBM)
69. Oprah Winfrey
70. You The Next Famous Entrepreneur
Thank you to cec.dpsk12.org/ for the list!
good idea bos….still dream to be success entrepreneur…..must be optimism….thanks
Oh I most definitely a female entrepeneur just having a hard time getting started.
Already ran my own business offline but would love to make it online now.
Back to work I go.
Have a great day Jay
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Please correct… number 69 should be Trent (Sell Porn Make Money) Please correct and repost
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Correction Needed:
69. Please update to Trent (Sell Porn Make Money)
Correct and repost. Thanks
Sorry if I am like triple posting, here, I just tried to comment here and nothing appeared. Hope I am not being blocked… hehe.
Hope this works now.
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Nice thoughts here. It is always good to have heros. However, I would suggest the definition and concept of the entrepreneur is too limited here.
My belief is that being an entrepreneur is as much about a spirit and lifestyle as it is about building corporate giants.
I define an entrepreneur as one who has the experience to recognize an opportunity; the experience to take advantage of the opportunity and the ability to motivate others to join and work toward the fulfillment of the opporutnity.
By this definition one does not need to be a corporate titan. In fact, an entrepreneurial hero can be one who works for a large organization but is successful in defeating bureaucracy and instilling an entrepreneurial environment.
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Change the way you think and you ll change the way you live
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Honestly, most of the names listed are not familiar to me. Only Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Michael Dell. But I am just hoping my name will be listed too. Will you list my name too? Just kidding ;0
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Bob – You’re right, the definition is too limited. Your definition pretty much sums up what I was going for.
Hye – When you become a famous entrepreneur, I’m sure a lot of people won’t know who you are either… but that’s not a bad thing!
And yes, when you become a famous entrepreneur, I’ll add you
Jay
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To achieve, we must believe! It’s hard work getting to the top, but if it were easy we would all be rich.
Thanks for the motivating post!
This is one hell of a list. Where did you get the list, Jay?
Yan
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Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy. Some of us just HAVE to be one – we cannot help ourselves but start a business.
Luck plays as big a roll in the success of many on that list as did innovation and talent. You need a little bit of all 3 to really make it big.
Political Disgust
http://www.politicaldisgust.com
Becoming a boss is a hard nut to crack.But surely your ideas may change somebody’s mind provided that the people should dedicate to business and the minuteness of it.
i know someday my name will be in that list as well
Bill Gates is just smart that’s why he is so rich now. He knows how to think. Their products are not good but he knows how to make it look good. Here’s a quote coming from him “If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good”. Cool.
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I agree that being an entrepreneur is not easy but to become an entrepreneur we should have some innovator qualities, dedication and creativity to become like an Bill Gates. Thanks for giving such an interesting information.
Their are some people in that list who I know and some I have never heard of, but those that I have are just normal people making a success out of the same things that we can all do.
I want to be like Jeff Bezos
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Superb list, where did you get this list, Jay?
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Great list of successfull man. I want to be a one of them and get a place in this list.
can you please give me a biography of that 1-10 successful entrepreneurs?….just dropped by! like it!please!:)
I hope i will be the next young entrepreneur
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wow old bill gates
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hey…i have the intention to be on this list one day
that would be nice if u can send me the biography of:oprah wenefry.bill gate…macdonalds…aple
A great list of truly remarkable individuals. Interestingly there seems to be no age barrier when it comes to starting a successful business.
Ray Krok founder of Mcdonalds was 54 years of age when he decided on the current successful food franchise chain.There are a few really influential names missing as well, what about Walt Disney he was a visionary.
nice list, but you didn’t add some other like Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and there may be many, but these are really famous…. How could you miss them????
Bill is wise that’s why he is so rich now. He knows how to think. Their products are not good but he knows how to make it look good. Here’s a quote coming from him “If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good”…
Steve Jobs consistently amazes me, not only did he create Pixar when he was fired from Apple, which he later sold to disney.
He strolls back into Apple helps develop their Ipod/Iphone etc. and turns the ailing company around. Some people have so much talent its incredible.
come on Bill Gates all time first on lists and I m very suprised about carlos santana
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I agree that being an entrepreneur is not easy but to become an entrepreneur we should have some innovator qualities, dedication and creativity to become like an Bill Gates. Thanks for giving such an interesting information.