The world is filled with the stories of people that have changed the course of humanity. These are tales of visionaries, innovators, and entrepreneurs who took a chance and created something amazing.
Becoming a billionaire is no small feat. You have to be smart, hardworking, and willing to take risks. While those three qualities are certainly helpful, they aren’t the only traits that make billionaires what they are today. Keep reading for 10 billionaire entrepreneurs who changed history in the making.
1. Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. These words are often used to describe him, but I prefer to describe him as a human who lived in the context of his time.
Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835 and moved with his family to the United States at age 13.
He started working as a messenger boy for the telegraph company Western Union before he was eighteen years old. This start set the stage for his future career as a successful businessman. Eventually, Carnegie became one of the richest people on Earth.
2. Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who was born on July 18, 1950. He formed the Virgin Group, which now owns over 400 businesses.
His first business effort was a magazine called Student, which he started when he was 16 years old. He started a mail-order record company in 1970. In 1972, he founded the Virgin Records record shop business, which subsequently became known as Virgin Megastores.
3. Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American businessman and an automobile manufacturer, who developed the assembly line technique of mass production. He brought prosperity to millions of people through his cars. He also enjoyed the support of the US government and became one of their biggest supporters, but he had a dark side too.
Born on July 30, 1863, in Detroit Michigan, Henry Ford was one of the first vehicle manufacturers to put mass-produced vehicles on the road. His contributions to society as a whole are undeniable. He is responsible for millions of American jobs and innovations that have helped our society grow.
4. Bill Gates
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is the world’s richest man. He has a net worth of $75 billion and he is ranked as the second wealthiest person in history. It’s safe to say that Bill Gates knows a thing or two about business. He was once listed as one of the best leaders in the world by Fortune magazine.
He is generous too. Despite being one of the richest people on earth, Bill Gates has donated more than $28 billion to various charitable causes in his lifetime.
5. John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American oil industry business magnate and co-founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. He started the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and controlled it until 1897 when he formally resigned.
His fortune was estimated at $900 million (about $189 billion in 2015 dollars) at his death in 1937, and he is considered to be one of the richest people in history.
6. Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt was born to a poor farmer in New York on May 27, 1794. He started working on his father’s farm at the age of 10 and learned early to be frugal and resourceful.
At the age of 12, he began working as a cabin boy on ships that traveled between New York and New Brunswick. He quickly worked his way up the ranks to become an Able Seaman. Within two years, at the age of 14, he won a prize for being the fastest sailor in New York.
7. Sam Walton
Sam Walton was a billionaire, the founder of Walmart, and one of the most influential businessmen in American history. He was a very ordinary man who grew up in a poor family with seven siblings. He started his own business at a time when his competitors thought it was impossible to do so.
Walton’s success can be attributed to the unique business principles that he developed over time. These principles are still applicable today and can be used by anyone starting their own business.
8. Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison is the founder and CEO of Oracle, a multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing database software. It’s one of the world’s largest independent software companies.
He is also the 2nd wealthiest person in America with a net worth of $58.6 billion as of 2017. His success is due to his aggressive business tactics and his ability to focus on revenue growth in improving Oracle’s products.
9. Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, the legendary founder of Apple, Inc., revolutionized several fields including music, computing, and mobile communications. He was an innovator and an entrepreneurial genius who changed the way we live. He is one of the most influential figures in the digital era.
Steve Jobs dropped out of college after only six months because he couldn’t stand following rules. He was a rebel and didn’t care about doing things that other people thought were right. “Schools are not meant to create great entrepreneurs,” he said in a commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. “
10. Dhirubhai Ambani
Dhirubhai Ambani (15 April 1932 – 6 July 2002) was an Indian business magnate. He founded Reliance Industries in Bombay, India, in 1957.
Starting from scratch he created the largest fortune India has ever seen. Dhirubhai Ambani was one of the richest men in Asia and the world by the early 1990s, with a net worth of $3 billion when most of his peers were billionaires or at least millionaires.
Conclusion:
If you want to be successful, it starts with desire and hard work. These 10 billionaires all had a deep passion for what they were doing. They didn’t let anything get in their way and kept on pushing until they achieved success.
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