GREATEST ENTREPRENEURS
OF ALL TIME
HENRY FORD
1863-1947
• Founder of Ford Motor
Company
• Father of modern
assembly lines
• Introduced the Model T
automobile – produced in
only the color black for
years)
• He created a franchise
system that put a Ford
dealership in every city in
North America, and in
major cities on six
continents.
John D. Rockefeller
1839-1937
• Single most important
figure in the foundation of
the oil industry.
• Founded Standard Oil
Company & controlled
90% of the country’s
refined oil by the 1890s.
• Became richest man in
the world.
• Split company into 38
companies two which
became Exxon & Mobil.
Charles Swab
1937• Discount brokerage
business
• Introduced ecommerce investing –
allowing clients to
execute, buy and sell
orders online
J.P. MORGAN
1837-1913
• Reorganized public
utilities & steel
industries
• He recognized the
importance of strong
character & reputation
in business
• Regarded as the most
important banker to
ever live
AMADEO GIANNINI
1870-1949
• Started a bank
catering to the needs
of working families
• Bank of Italy
introduced branch
banking, home
mortgages,
automotive loans.
• Bank of Italy later
became known as
Bank of America.
CHARLES MERRILL
1885-1956
• Founded Merrill
Lynch in 1939
• Taught middle-class
Americans about the
stock market
• Held seminars
nationwide for
couples
MARTHA STEWART
1941• Author, caterer,
publisher, & TV
personality.
DAVID SARNOFF
1891-1971
• Created the National
Broadcasting
Company (NBC)
OPRAH WINFREY
1954• CNN calls her the
world’s most powerful
woman
• Time magazine calls
her one of the most
influential persons of
the 20th century.
• HARPO production
company
• 1st woman billionaire
GEORGE EASTMAN
1854-1932
• Created the film roll
• Created the
Eastman’s Kodak
Brownie & sold it for
$1
• Made possible for
average people to
create their own
Kodak moments
STEVE JOBS
1955• CEO of Apple
• Sold more than 110
million iPods and 4
billion songs from its
iTunes online store.
• Entered the cell
phone market with the
new iPhone.
• Also founded Pixar
Animation Studios
which he later sold to
Disney
THOMAS EDISON
1847-1931
• Light bulb
• Phonograph
• Motion picture
projector
BILL GATES
1955• Ranked by Forbes
magazine as the
richest person in the
world for 13 years
• Net worth of $60
billion
• Microsoft
ESTEE LAUDER
1908-2004
• Started with skin
creams
• Sold them at Saks
Fifth Avenue
• Created cosmetics
• Give gift bags to
customers full of
samples (free gift still
done today)
ASA CANDLER
1851-1929
• Created Coca-Cola
• Example of what
works in marketing
W.K. KELLOGG
1860-1951
• Created the first
toasted wheat flake
cereal
• Differentiated his
product with a clever
slogan “Beware of
Imitations. None
Genuine Without This
Signature. W.K.
Kellogg.”
MILTON HERSHEY
1857 - 1945
• Hershey milk
chocolate candy bar
• He built a town
around his factory
which included
schools, public
transportation, parks
and recreation.
• The town is named
Hershey,
Pennsylvania.
EBERHARD ANHEUSER &
ADOLPHUS BUSCH
• First American
brewery to introduce
pasteurization,
allowing beer to be
bottled & shipped to
new markets for
consumption.
• Responsible for about
half of U.S. beer sales
RAY KROC
• Largest chain of fast-food
restaurants, serving more
than 54 million customers
daily.
• Perfected processes &
imposed such discipline
that food purchased in
any of his restaurants
would taste exactly the
same as the food
purchased at any of the
other locations.
HARLAND SANDERS
• Set about selling his
secret-recipe chicken
door-to-door to
restaurant owners.
• KFC became an
international
franchise.
JUAN TRIPPE
• Founded Pan
American
• Believed international
airline travel was
something to be
enjoyed by everyone,
not just the rich.
• Introduced “tourist
class” fare from New
York to London.
HERB KELLEHER
• Pioneering low-cost,
no-frills airline.
• Airline known for
campy antics- flight
attendants singing,
pilots telling jokes.
• He believed happy
employees make
better employees.
WILLIAM HARLEY & ARTHUR
DAVIDSON
• The only U.S. made
motorcycle today
• $6.14 billion sales in
2007.
FRED W. SMITH
1944• Purchased planes so
that packages could
be delivered faster.
• FedEx moves 6
million packages
worldwide every day
& has expanded into
print and copy
services with the
acquisition of Kinkos.
SAM WALTON
1918-1992
• Wal-mart
• “Low-prices every
day”
• Walmart netted sales
of $348.6 billion in
2007
• Largest retailer in the
world.
RALPH LAUREN
1939• Instead of selling just
clothes, he sold a
lifestyle.
• He sold the
romanticized lives of
the people who wear
the clothes – the look
of success.
• Offered luxury at all
price points.
LEVI STRAUSS
1829-1902
• Most recognized
product all over the
world – Levis.
• World’s first jeans.
• Spawned an entirely
new fashion
movement.
PHIL KNIGHT
1938• Founder of Nike
• Made athletic shoes sexy
with slick advertising
campaigns & celebrityathlete endoresements.
• “You can’t explain much
in 60 seconds, but when
you show Michael
Jordan, you don’t have
to.”
P.T. BARNUM
1810-1891
• Produced the
“Greatest Show on
Earth”
• His entrepreneurial
talents was in
attracting publicity
with handbills &
billboards.
LOUIS B. MAYER
1885-1957
• Created MetroGoldwyn-Mayer
studios.
• Built MGM studios
into one of the most
financially successful
studios in the world.
WALT DISNEY
1901-1966
• Despite many
failures, kept his
nearly obsessive
focus on building his
growing movie studio,
making quality
animated films and
ultimately creating
“the happiest place on
earth” – Disneyland in
California.
GEORGE LUCAS
1944• Understood the
potential value of
merchandising &
sequel rights
• $13.5 billion in Star
Wars memorabilia
sales since 1977.
WILLIAM BECKER & PAUL
GREENE
• Affordable family
lodging
• $6 a night no matter
the location
J.W. MARRIOTT JR
1932• International hotel
chain
• Expanded into other
brands ranging from
limited-service to fullservice luxury hotels
& resorts.
CONRAD HILTON SR.
1887-1979
• Founded the first
coast-to-coast hotel
chain in 1943.
• First international
hotel brand in 1949.
• Billion-dollar
international empire.
JEFF BEZOS
1964• Began as an online
bookstore.
• Founder of
Amazon.com
• Customers can
purchase almost
anything- books,
music, clothing,
jewelry, and, most
recently, wine.
PIERRE OMIDYAR
1967• Founder of Ebay
• Made the Internet
personal again by
connecting buyers
with sellers of
collectable items.
LARRY PAGE & SERGEY BRIN
1973• Stanford graduates – they
set out to create a better
way to search the Web.
• Formed Google in 1998.
• Google is on the top of
Fortune magazines top
places to work.
• Brin & Page are among
the wealthiest men alive.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
1706-1790
• America’s original
entrepreneur
• Pennsylvania Gazette &
Poor Richard’s Almanac
the most successful
publications in the
country.
• His printing operations
were so successful he
franchised printing in
other cities.
• He set up a wholesale
paper business.
WILL YOU BE NEXT????