This is a list of entrepreneurs'' by century. An

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative. This list includes notable entrepreneurs.

<18th-century entrepreneurs

Regina Basilier Regina Basilier (née Kleifeldt 1572–1631), was a Swedish (originally German) merchant and moneylender. She is known as a banker of king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Biography She was born in Danzig (which was then part of the Polish-Lithuani ...

(1572-1631), Swedish-German banker, trader and investor * Birgitta Durell (1619-1683), Dutch-Swedish manufacturer-industrialist * Louis De Geer (1587–1652), Walloon-born Dutch-Swedish businessman and industrialist; active mainly in the Dutch Republic and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

* Isaac Le Maire (ca.1558-1624), Walloon-born Dutch businessman and investor; active mainly in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

Johan Palmstruch Johan Palmstruch (June 13, 1611 – March 8, 1671) was a Latvian-born German/Dutch/Swedish entrepreneur, financier, and financial innovator. He is credited with the introduction of paper money to Europe. Biography Johan (Hans) Wittmacher was b ...

(1611-1671), Latvian-born Dutch-Swedish businessman, investor, and financial innovator; active mainly in the Dutch Republic and Sweden *

Pierre-Paul Riquet Stele in Toulouse Cathedral Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos (29 June 1609 (some sources say 1604) – 4 October 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi. Background Paul Riquet was b ...

(1609-1680), French entrepreneur, creator of the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considere ...

18th-century entrepreneurs

* Anna Elisabeth Baer 1878-1955 (shipping business), Finland *

Samuel Crompton Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the ...

1753-1827 (spinning mule), Great Britain *

Caroline Gother Caroline Gother (1761–1836) was a Swedish banker. She was born to Maria Elisabeth Bedoir (1726–1783) and the rich merchant and city official Engelbert Gother (1708–1775). Her father died bankrupted and her sisters swiftly married to support ...

1761-1836 (banking), Sweden *

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

1795-1873 (personal business), U.S. *

Anna Lohe Anna Lohe née Blume (1654 – 23 January 1731), was a Swedish banker. Life She was the daughter of Tobias Blume, a pastry maker of the royal Swedish court, and Anna Techlin. She married Johan Lohe (1643-1704) in 1673, with whom she had eighteen ...

1654-1731 (banking business), Sweden *

Thomas Newcomen Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He ...

1664-1729 (steam engine), Great Britain *

Charlotta Richardy Christina ''Charlotta'' Richardy (1751-1831), was a Swedish industrialist. Life She was born to the judge Albrecht Friedrich Richardson, mayor of Halmstad. Richardy never married and remained a ''mamsell''. While unmarried women, in accordance wit ...

1751-1831 (manufacture), Sweden *

Brigitta Sahlgren Brigitta Sahlgren ( née Ekmarck; 1694 – 12 May 1771) was a Swedish businessperson. She was the managing director of the '' Sahlgrenska sockerbruket'' ("Sahlgren Sugar Refinery") in 1736–1771 and a trade- and shipping company in 1736–1744. L ...

1694-1771 (sugar), Sweden *

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...

1736-1819 (tugboats), Great Britain

19th-century entrepreneurs

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and ...

(real estate), U.S. *

Augusta Björkenstam Augusta Björkenstam (3 December 1829 - 10 July 1892) was a Swedish countess and businessperson. She founded the transport company ''Stockholms Expressbyrå'' (1877), which managed the transport of luggage from the Stockholm Central Train Statio ...

(transportation), Sweden *

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

(steel), Pittsburgh, U.S. and Scotland *

James Buchanan Duke James Buchanan Duke (December 23, 1856 – October 10, 1925) was an American tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for the introduction of modern cigarette manufacture and marketing, and his involvement with Duke University. ...

(tobacco), U.S. *

Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

(film, telecommunication, technology, scientific research, energy), U.S. *

Charles T. Hinde Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur. He managed many businesses and invested in numerous business ventures over the course of his life. ...

(shipping, railroads, hotels), U.S. * Quah Beng Kee (Ferry, Shipping), Penang, Malaysia *

Biddy Mason Biddy Mason (August 15, 1818 – January 15, 1891) was an African-American nurse and a Californian real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist. She was one of the founders of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, Calif ...

(real estate), California, U.S. *

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

(finance), U.S. *

Antoinette Nording Antoinette Wilhelmina Nording (1814-1887), was a Swedish entrepreneur. She founded the famous perfume company '' Antoinette W Nording'', for a time the biggest perfume company in Sweden, in 1847. She can be regarded as the first female perfumer in ...

(perfume), Sweden *

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

(oil), U.S. *

Joseph Seligman Joseph Seligman (November 22, 1819 – April 25, 1880) was an American banker and businessman who founded J. & W. Seligman & Co. He was the patriarch of what became known as the Seligman family in USA and was subsequently related to the wealthy ...

(banking), U.S. *

Eugene Sharrer Eugene Charles Albert Sharrer was a British subject by naturalisation but of German descent, who was a leading entrepreneur in what is now Malawi for around fifteen years between his arrival in 1888 and his departure. He rapidly built-up commercia ...

(plantations, retail, river steamers),

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

(present-day Malawi) *

Claus Spreckels Adolph Claus J. Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) (his last name has also been misspelled as Spreckles) was a major industrialist in Hawai'i during the kingdom, republican and territorial periods of the islands' history. He also in ...

(sugar industry), Germany *

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...

(railroads), California, U.S. *

Levi Strauss Levi Strauss (; born Löb Strauß ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisco ...

(retail), U.S./Germany *

Jamsetji Tata Jamsetji (Jamshedji) Nusserwanji Tata (3 March 1839 – 19 May 1904) was an Indian pioneer industrialist who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company. Named the greatest philanthropist of the last century by several poll ...

(shipping, steel industry, hotels, education), India *

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

induction motor An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding. An induction mot ...

), U.S., Yugoslavia (born in Austro-Hungarian Empire) *

Alessandro Torlonia Prince ''Don'' Alessandro Raffaele Torlonia, Prince of Fucino, Prince of Civitella-Cesi, Duke of Ceri (January 1, 1800 – February 7, 1886) was an Italian nobleman of the House of Torlonia, titled Duca di Ceri, Prince di Fucino. He was the son ...

(banking), ItalyDaniela Felisini, Alessandro Torlonia. The Pope's Banker, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 *

Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...

(mining and steam engines), Great Britain *

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

(railroads), U.S. *

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of ...

(railroad braking, switching, and signalling systems; commercialization of natural gas; development, transmission and application of AC electricity), U.S.

20th-century entrepreneurs

Agha Hasan Abedi Agha Hasan Abedi ( ur, ), (14 May 1922 – 5 August 1995) was a Pakistani banker and convicted felon who founded Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) and saw its collapse after one of the biggest banking fraud scandals in history ...

(banking), Pakistan *

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...

(computers, scientific research, real estate, media, education, entertainment, artificial intelligence, space, philanthropy), U.S. *

Dhirubhai Ambani Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani (28 December 1932 – 6 July 2002), popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani, was an Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries. Ambani took Reliance public in 1977 and was worth US$2.9 billion in 2002 upon hi ...

(reliance industries), India *

Mary Kay Ash Mary Kay Ash (born Mary Kathlyn Wagner; May 12, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American businesswoman and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. At her death, she had a fortune of $98 million, and her company had more than $1.2 billion in sa ...

(cosmetics), U.S. *

Bang Si-hyuk Bang Si-hyuk (born August 9, 1972), known professionally as "Hitman" Bang (stylized as "hitman" bang), is a South Korean lyricist, composer, producer, and record executive. He is the founder of Big Hit Music (formerly Big Hit Entertainment) and ...

(music), South Korea * Otto Beisheim (retail), Germany *

William Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer who founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which a year later was renamed to The Boeing Company, now the largest exporter in the United S ...

(aviation), U.S. *

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

(media, transportation, space), UK *

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

(fashion), France *

Michael Dell Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies. He is ranked the 2 ...

(computers), U.S. * Richard M. DeVos, Sr. (multi-level marketing), U.S. *

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

(animation), U.S. *

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

(computers), U.S. *

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italians, Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari ...

(sports cars), Italy *

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

(automobile manufacturing), U.S. *

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

(computers, philanthropy, investments) U.S. *

Henry Hu Henry Hu Hung-lick GBM GBS JP (, born 20 January 1920) is a barrister in Hong Kong, formerly served as the vice-chairman of the Reform Club, Legislative Council member, and vice-chairperson of Urban Council during 1 April 1975 to 31 March ...

(technology), Hong Kong *

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

(aviation, film), U.S. *

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

(computers, technology, animation), U.S. *

Dean Kamen Dean Lawrence Kamen (born April 5, 1951) is an American engineer, inventor, and businessman. He is known for his invention of the Segway and iBOT, as well as founding the non-profit organization FIRST with Woodie Flowers. Kamen holds over 1,000 ...

(technology), U.S. *

Ingvar Kamprad Feodor Ingvar Kamprad (; 30 March 1926 – 27 January 2018) was a Swedish billionaire best known for founding IKEA, a multinational retail company specialising in furniture. He lived in Switzerland from 1976 to 2014. Early life and family ...

(retail), Sweden *

Vinod Khosla Vinod Khosla (born 28 January 1955) is an Indian-American businessman and venture capitalist. He is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures. Khosla made his wealth from early venture capital investments in areas such ...

(technology), U.S. *

Ferruccio Lamborghini Ferruccio Lamborghini (; 28 April 1916 – 20 February 1993) was an Italian automobile designer, inventor, mechanic, engineer, winemaker, industrialist and businessman who created Automobili Lamborghini in 1963, a maker of high-end sports cars ...

(sports cars), Italy * Estée Lauder (cosmetics), U.S. *

Jorge Loring Martinez Jorge Loring Martinez (Málaga, Spain, October 12, 1889Charles Henry Pope''Loring Genealogy'' (1917), p.313/ref> – Madrid, Spain, September 22, 1936) was a Spanish engineer and entrepreneur, pioneer of civil aviation in that country, and conside ...

(aviation), Spain *

Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. T ...

(breweries), India *

Terry Matthews Sir Terence Hedley Matthews (born 6 June 1943) is a Welsh-Canadian business magnate, serial high-tech entrepreneur, and Wales' first billionaire. He was the richest man in Wales until 2012, when he was surpassed by Sir Michael Moritz. He h ...

(technology), Canada *

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (born 23 March 1953) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur. She is the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India and the former cha ...

(biotechnology), India *

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

(entertainment media), U.S. * Sunil Mittal (telecommunication), India * N. R. Narayana Murthy (information technology), India * Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu (transportation, manufacturing), Nigeria *

Anita Roddick Dame Anita Lucia Roddick (23 October 1942 – 10 September 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of the British version of The Body Shop, now The Body Shop Internationa ...

(retail), UK * Michael J. Saylor (Internet), U.S. *

Magnús Scheving Magnús Örn Scheving (; born 10 November 1964) is an Icelandic writer, entrepreneur, television producer, actor and athlete. He is the creator, director, and star of the children's television show '' LazyTown'', in which he also portrayed th ...

(entertainment, health), Iceland *

Carlos Slim Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from hi ...

(telecommunications), Mexico *

Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics com ...

(technology), UK *

J. R. D. Tata Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French-Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. Born into the Tata family of India, he was the son of noted businessman Ratanji Dadabhoy ...

(steel, aviation, information technology, transportation, cosmetics, consumer products, education), France/India *

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

(entertainment media), U.S. *

Madam C.J. Walker Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the ''Gu ...

(retail, philanthropy), U.S. * Sam M. Walton (retail), US *

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

(entertainment), U.S. *

Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve Jobs, he c ...

(computers, technology, education, philanthropy), U.S. *

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

(entertainment), U.S.

21st-century entrepreneurs

* Annisul Huq (Business and television) *

Brian Acton Brian Acton (born 1972/1973) is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. Acton is the executive chairman of the Signal Technology Foundation, which he co-founded with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018. , Acton also serves as interim C ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Ritesh Agarwal Ritesh Agarwal is an Indian former billionaire entrepreneur who is a founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. Early years Ritesh Agarwal was born in a Marwari family in Bissam Cuttack, Odisha, India and brought up in Titilagarh. Ritesh comes from a ...

(Internet), India *

Bhavish Aggarwal Bhavish Aggarwal (born 28 August 1985) is an Indian entrepreneur and co-founder of Ola Cabs and Ola Electric. Aggarwal was included in ''Time'' magazine's ''100 Most Influential People of 2018.'' Early life Aggarwal was born and brought ...

(Internet), India *

Charles T. Akre Charles T. "Chuck" Akre is an American investor, financier and businessman. He is on the board of directors of Enstar Group, Ltd., a Bermuda run-off reinsurance company. He is also the founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Akre Capital ...

(securities), U.S. *

Folorunso Alakija Folorunsho Alakija (born 15 July 1951) is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist. She is involved in the fashion, oil, real estate and printing industries. She is the Group Managing Director of The Rose of Sharon Group which c ...

(fashion, oil and gas), Nigeria *

Rod Aldridge Sir Rodney Malcolm Aldridge (born 7 November 1947) is the founder and former executive chairman of Capita, a British company specialising in business process outsourcing. He is a former Chair of Vinspired, a charity launched in May 2006 aiming ...

(

business process outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

, education), UK *

Pierre Andurand Pierre Andurand (born February 1977) is a French businessman and hedge fund manager. In 2008, Forbes Magazine placed him in its list of the top 20 highest-earning hedge-fund managers. His funds have approximately $2bn in assets under management a ...

(investments), France * Trishneet Arora (Cyber Security), India *

Sachin Bansal Sachin Bansal (born August 5, 1981) is an Indian entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Flipkart During his over 11 year career at Flipkart, Bansal was CEO and chairman. In 2018, Bansal exited Flipkart following the Walmart deal. In ...

(Internet), India *

Eike Batista Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva (; born 3 November 1956) is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur who made and lost a fortune in mining and oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale project ...

(mining, oil and gas exploration), Brazil * Steve Baxter (Internet), Australia * David Benaron (

digital health Digital health is a discipline that includes digital care programs, technologies with health, healthcare, living, and society to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery and to make medicine more personalized and precise. It uses informatio ...

), U.S. *

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...

(Internet, space), U.S. * Constantin Bisanz (Investor), U.S. * Joe Blackman (events, entertainment), UK/U.S. *

Ryan Blair Ryan Blair (born July 14, 1977) is an American entrepreneur and author. He is the former co-founder and chief executive officer of the multi-level marketing company ViSalus Sciences, a subsidiary of the publicly traded company Blyth, Inc. In ...

(

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

), U.S. *

Sara Blakely Sara Treleaven Blakely (born February 27, 1971) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely was named in ...

(retail), U.S. *

Hernán Botbol Hernán Botbol (born 18 October 1981) is an Argentine tech entrepreneur who created several successful businesses. Currently he's running Apply Ai Corporation from Austin Texas. Bio Botbol is a technology and internet enthusiast. He attende ...

(Internet), Argentina *

Sergey Brin Sergey Mikhailovich Brin (russian: link=no, Сергей Михайлович Брин; born August 21, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist, and internet entrepreneur, who co-founded Google with Larry Page. Brin was the ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Tory Burch Tory Burch (née Robinson; born June 17, 1966) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. She is the Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of her own brand, Tory Burch LLC. She was listed as the 88th most powerfu ...

(retail), U.S. *

Malcolm CasSelle Malcolm CasSelle (1970-2020) was an American businessman. He was CEO of BIGtoken, Inc. He was the CIO of OPSkins and was the President of WAX (Worldwide Asset eXchange). Prior to WAX, CasSelle served as CTO and president of New Ventures at Tri ...

(Internet), U.S./China *

Lee Chambers (psychologist) Lee Chambers (born 22 May 1985) is a British businessman and radio host. Chambers has been interviewed by ''Vogue'', ''The Guardian'', and ''Newsweek'', and is known for analyzing inclusion and wellbeing in the workplace. He was born in Bolto ...

(healthcare), UK *

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

(music and entertainment), U.S. *

Nancy Cruickshank Nancy Cruickshank is a British entrepreneur in beauty, fashion, and technology. She has founded three start-ups and helped launch several others. Since 2018, she is the Chief Digital Officer at Carlsberg group A/S. Early life and education Nancy ...

(Internet), UK *

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Nick D'Aloisio Nicholas D'Aloisio (born 1 November 1995) is a British computer programmer and internet entrepreneur. He is the founder of Summly, a mobile app which automatically summarises news articles and other material, which was acquired by Yahoo for $30M ...

(Internet), UK *

Aliko Dangote ''For people with the given name, see Aliko (given name).'' Aliko ( sq-definite, Alikoi; ) is a village and a former commune in Vlorë County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Fini ...

(manufacturing, real estate, oil and gas), Nigeria *

Jack Dorsey Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American Internet entrepreneur and programmer who is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, Inc., as well as a co-founder and the CEO and chairperson of Block, Inc., the developer of the Squar ...

(Internet), U.S. * Helmy Eltoukhy (

genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

), U.S. *

Shawn Fanning Shawn Fanning (born November 22, 1980) is an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, and angel investor. He developed Napster, one of the first popular peer-to-peer ("P2P") file sharing platforms, in 1999. The popularity of Napster was widespr ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

(cosmetics), Barbados *

Jon Fisher Jon Fisher (born January 19, 1972) is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and writer. Jon sold his own Non-fungible token, NFTs before founding software company, ViciNFT. As a co-inventor and co-founding CEO, Fisher built three companies including Bh ...

(Internet), U.S. * Peter Gilgan (construction), Canada *

Vishal Gondal Vishal Gondal ( hi, Vishal गोंडल) (born 14 July 1976) is an Indian people, Indian entrepreneur and angel investor. He is the founder and CEO of GOQii (pronounced Go-Key). Gondal founded the game development and publishing company Ind ...

(video gaming), India *

Reid Hoffman Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman was the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily for prof ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Drew Houston Andrew W. Houston (; born March 4, 1983) is an American Internet entrepreneur, and the co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, an online backup and storage service. According to ''Forbes'', his net worth is about $2.2 billion. Houston held 24.4 percent v ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Arianna Huffington Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington (née Ariadnē-Anna Stasinopoúlou, el, Αριάδνη-Άννα Στασινοπούλου ; born July 15, 1950) is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of ''Th ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Steve Huffman Steve Huffman, also known by his Reddit username spez (), is an American web developer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, a social news and discussion website, which ranks in the top 20 websites in the world. He also co ...

(Internet), U.S. * Jessica Huie (greeting cards), UK * Mohammed Ibrahim (telecommunication), Sudan *

Daymond John Daymond Garfield John (born February 23, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, and television personality. He is best known as the founder, president, and chief executive officer of FUBU, and appears as an investor on the ABC reality tel ...

(clothing), U.S. *

Lisa S. Jones Lisa S. Jones (born 1 April 1974) is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur, best known for being the founder of Atlanta-based video email company EyeMail Inc. As both a Black-owned businesses, black and woman-owned business, EyeMail Inc. is ...

(technology), U.S. * Elle Kaplan (finance), U.S. *

David Karp David Karp (born July 6, 1986) is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr. Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Sal Khan Salman Amin Khan (born October 11, 1976), commonly known as Sal Khan, is an American educator and the founder of Khan Academy, a free online non-profit educational platform and an organization with which he has produced over 6,500 vi ...

(education), U.S. * Jin Koh (entrepreneur), U.S. *

Jan Koum Jan Koum ( ua, link=yes, Ян Кум; born Yan Borysovych Kum, ua, Ян Борисович Кум, on February 24, 1976) is a Ukrainian-American billionaire businessman and computer engineer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a ...

(Internet), U.S. * Jeremy Levitt (Internet), Australia *

Jack Ma Jack Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, he co-founded Yunfeng ...

(Internet), China * Ana Maiques (healthcare), Spain *

Fadi Makki Fadi Makki ( ar, فادي مكّي) is a pioneer in the application of behavioural economics to public policy in the Middle East, where he led a large number of RCTs in policy areas such as healthy life style, compliance and rule of law, sustain ...

(trade), Middle East (Lebanon, Qatar) * Strive Masiyiwa (telecommunication), Zimbabwe * Rudy A. Mazzocchi (healthcare), U.S. * Javier Moll (media), Spain/Australia *

Dave Morin Dave Morin (born 14 October 1980) is an American entrepreneur and angel investor. He is best known for founding Slow Ventures and the social network Path. A former manager at Facebook, he co-created the Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect. ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

(media, entertainment), UK/U.S. *

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

(Internet, space, energy, neurotechnology, transportation, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, electric cars), U.S./South Africa * Carrie Rose (Internet), UK *

Andrew Nisbet Andrew Nisbet (born August 1960) is a Director of Key West Holdings, which holds his family's interests in catering supplies and property. He is also founder of catering supplies retailer Nisbets Plc. Between 2012 and 2013, he was High Sherif ...

(catering), UK * Phiwa Nkambule (Internet), South Africa *

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Stev ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Larry Page Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was the chief executive officer of Google from 1997 unt ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Sean Parker Sean Parker (born December 3, 1979) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, most notable for co-founding the file-sharing computer service Napster, and serving as the first president of the social networking website Facebook. He also ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Melanie Perkins Melanie Perkins (born 13 May 1987) is an Australian billionaire technology entrepreneur, who is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Canva. Perkins is one of the youngest female CEOs of a tech start-up valued over 1 1,000,000,000 ...

(Internet), Australia *

Stefano Pessina Stefano Pessina (born 4 June 1941) is an Italian-Monegasque billionaire businessman; he is the executive chairman and largest single shareholder of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Early life Pessina was born in Pescara and grew up between Milan, ...

(healthcare), Italy *

Michelle Phan Michelle Phan (born April 11, 1987) is an American beauty YouTuber. She is the founder and owner of the multimillion-dollar cosmetics line EM Cosmetics. Early life Michelle Phan was born on April 11, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts. Both her pa ...

(Internet), U.S. * Manny Phesto (music, cannabis/CBD), U.S. *

Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman, investor, engineer, and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as ...

(information technology services), India * Kelsey Ramsden (construction, children's toys), Canada *

Burton Rocks Burton Evan Rocks (June 25, 1972), born in New York City, is an American sports attorney/agent, and writer. Rocks collaborated with Yankee outfielder Paul O'Neill on the 2003 ''New York Times'' bestseller ''Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir''. ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Kevin Rose Kevin Rose is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. He also served as production assistant and co-host at TechTV's ''The Screen Savers''. From 2012 to 2015, he was a venture partner at GV. Earl ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Vijay Shekhar Sharma Vijay Shekhar Sharma (born July 15, 1978) is an Indian technology entrepreneur and billionaire businessman. He is the Chairman, Managing Director and CEO of One97 Communications and its consumer brand Paytm. He founded Paytm in 2010. In Januar ...

(Internet), India * Param Singh (Internet, property), UK *

Lane Sutton Lane Sutton (born 1997) is an American entrepreneur and public speaker. History Sutton first became known to the public at the age of 13 when ''The Boston Globe'' recognized him for meeting Tony Hsieh, speaking at PodCamp, early start to entre ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Kevin Systrom Kevin Systrom (born December 30, 1983) is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur. He co-founded Instagram, the world's largest photo sharing website, along with Mike Krieger. Systrom was included on the list of America's Richest Entrep ...

(Internet), U.S. * Rodrigo Teijeiro (Internet), Argentina/Brazil *

Tânia Tomé Tânia Tomé (born 1981) is a Mozambican public speaker, entrepreneur,Tv Personality and author. She is also singer, songwritter and performer and releases music under the name Queentanisha. Early life and education Born in Mozambique, Tomé ...

(Consultancy, Investment & training), Mozambique *

Wang Jianlin Wang Jianlin (; born 24 October 1954) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the founder of Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest real estate development company, and the world's largest movie theater operator. He previo ...

(real estate development), China *

Emily Weiss Emily Weiss (born March 22, 1985) is an American businesswoman. She is the founder and former CEO of the cosmetics company Glossier and the blog ''Into the Gloss''. She was featured in the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list in 2015. In 2019, she was ...

(beauty), U.S. *

Anne Wojcicki Anne E. Wojcicki ( ; born July 28, 1973) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and serves as CEO of the personal genomics company 23andMe. She founded the company in 2006 with Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza to provide the general public access t ...

(

personal genomics Personal genomics or consumer genetics is the branch of genomics concerned with the sequencing, analysis and interpretation of the genome of an individual. The genotyping stage employs different techniques, including single-nucleotide polymorphi ...

), U.S. * Wu Yajun (property developer), China * Malala YoU.S.fzai (education), Pakistan *

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...

(Internet), U.S. *

Dylan Field Dylan Field (born 1992) is an American technology executive and co-founder of Figma, a web-based vector graphics editing software company. Field founded Figma in 2012 with Evan Wallace, who he had met while the two were computer science stude ...

(Software), U.S.

References

{{Lists of people considered founders by specific groups, state=autocollapse Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

<18th-century entrepreneurs

18th-century entrepreneurs

19th-century entrepreneurs

20th-century entrepreneurs

21st-century entrepreneurs

See also

References