The Worlds Greatest Entrepreneurs

You could spend a lifetime discussing this and never really come to an agreement as to who would be in your top 10. To try and ‘even up’ my own subjectivity on the topic I’ve done a bit of research and found out what some professors, authors, and successful business people think would be their favorite entrepreneurs. And of course like most things I do… I’ve compiled a list.

Money isn’t everything. I’ve kept that in mind while compiling my list. You see in my opinion, being an entrepreneur is far more than just being successful and making a load of cash. Many entrepreneurs have used their money to further the good of mankind, propelling humanity towards a brighter future by injecting massive amounts of money into good causes. So for that reason, philanthropists are definitely part of my list as well.

From an explorer in the Ming Dynasty to fast food juggernauts, Meet my list of 10 of the worlds greatest entrepreneurs !

#1 Admiral Zheng He 1371 to 1433
Zheng He took massive risks just like modern day entrepreneurs , and the payoffs were so huge they set a bar for 6 centuries of entrepreneurs to follow.

#2 Benjamin Franklin 1706 to 1790
Franklin had the idea that people could improve their lives by hard work and enterprise, just like he did. This way of thinking is the idea behind the American Dream.

#3 Mayer Amschel Rothschild 1744 to 1812
In an era when nation states were just beginning to industrialize, Mayer Rothschild created the worlds first multinational company. Because his company spread far across the world and crossed multiple borders , it did not circumvent to one single ruler.

#4 John Jacob Astor 1763 to 1848
Astor used the the profits from one successful enterprise to invest in another. Common-place nowadays, but not the case back then.

#5 Andrew Carnegie 1835 to 1919
A Scottish immigrant who’s empire of steel mills churned out the railroads, ships, and structures of post-Civil War America. After selling his steel empire to J.P Morgan for $ 480 million (a lot of money now, and a lot more at the start of the 20th century!), Carnegie devoted his life to endowing institutions that would help the poorer classes make better of themselves. His ‘Gospel of Wealth’ became a model and inspiration for philanthropists like Bill Gates.

#6 John D. Rockefeller 1839 to 1937
Rockefeller used economy tactics like scaling and vertical integration to modernize and industry. His oil company made its own barrels, owned its own storage, and had its own shipping facility. He understood the need to integrate his entire company in order to save money. In 1896 he devoted himself to philanthropy, and endowed the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Foundation.

#7 Thomas Edison 1847 to 1931
He invented a device to turn electricity into light. He invented a machine to record and playback sounds and he was always working on something new in his labs. Similar to todays Google i imagine. With 1,093 registered patents, he made sure that his idea’s would be recorded so he could make money from them in the future, which he did! He focused his inventions into actual usable products, making him a great entrepreneur of the time.

#8 Milton Hershey 1857 to 1945
For a man who’s name would be associated with chocolate, he actually made his start in caramel. Hershey built the worlds biggest chocolate factory willy wonka style , and built an entire town around it. He created an iconic product which previously was only available to the rich, and mass produced it to the point where he could bring the price down and sell it to the less well off, smart move Mr Hershey!

#9 W.K. Kellogg 1860 to 1951
The title says it all really. Mr Kellogg invented cornflakes!. He stumbled on the corn flake by mistake while preparing food for the patients at Battle Creek sanitarium. Later, he realized the potential in using children to influence buying decisions. Promoting radio shows and programmes aimed at kids, he soon secured the breakfast and cereal market for young and old alike. Kellogg’s accidental discovery of the corn flake, added to some well thought out marketing, soon changed the way Americans were to eat breakfast.

#10 Henry Ford 1863 to 1947
Henry Ford created a product that was once considered a luxury item, and transformed the manufacturing process in order to make it available to the mass market. Of course, this product was the car. Between 1908 and 1927 Ford sold 15 Million Model ‘T’ cars, and the mass availability of cheap cars drove the demand to build proper road structures. Transforming America into a nation of drivers.