People
The founders, investors, and operators we've researched.
Beyoncé
Singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and cultural icon.
Alex Hormozi
Alex Hormozi is an entrepreneur known for transforming business strategies and mastering high-ticket sales through comp…
Jeff Bezos
Founder of Amazon, which grew from an online bookstore to the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company.
Napoleon Bonaparte
French military leader who conquered most of Europe.
Kobe Bryant
NBA legend who spent 20 seasons with the LA Lakers, winning 5 championships.
Warren Buffett
Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Julius Caesar
Roman general, statesman, and dictator who conquered Gaul, crossed the Rubicon, and reformed Rome before his assassinat…
Andrew Carnegie
Steel magnate who built Carnegie Steel (later U.S.
Coco Chanel
Founder of Chanel and revolutionary fashion designer who liberated women from corsets, popularized the little black dre…
Winston Churchill
British Prime Minister who led the UK through World War II.
Cleopatra
Last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.
Marie Curie
Physicist and chemist who discovered polonium and radium.
Walt Disney
Co-founder of The Walt Disney Company.
Thomas Edison
Inventor and businessman who developed the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the practical electric light bulb…
Albert Einstein
Theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity (E=mc²).
Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Company.
Benjamin Franklin
Founding Father, inventor, diplomat, printer, scientist, and polymath.
Bill Gates
Co-founder of Microsoft and former richest person in the world.
Alexander the Great
King of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in history by age 30, stretching from Greece to northwestern Ind…
Jay-Z
Rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur.
Steve Jobs
Co-founder of Apple, Pixar, and NeXT.
Michael Jordan
Six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time.
Genghis Khan
Founder of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in history.
Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States who preserved the Union during the Civil War and abolished slavery with the Emancip…
J.P. Morgan
Banker and financier who dominated American finance in the Gilded Age.
Mozart
Austrian composer widely regarded as one of the greatest in Western music history.
Elon Musk
Founder/CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
Jesus of Nazareth
Central figure of Christianity.
Joshua Kushner
a legacy independent of family ties while prioritizing relationships and ethical conduct.
Isaac Newton
Physicist and mathematician who discovered gravity, the laws of motion, and invented calculus.
Pablo Picasso
Spanish painter and sculptor who co-founded Cubism and became the most influential artist of the 20th century.
John D. Rockefeller
Founder of Standard Oil, which controlled 90% of US oil refining.
Theodore Roosevelt
26th President of the United States.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bodybuilder (7x Mr.
Socrates
Greek philosopher considered the father of Western philosophy.
Steven Spielberg
Film director who created Jaws, E.T., Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, and many more.
Taylor Swift
Singer-songwriter and one of the best-selling music artists of all time (200M+ records).
Mark Twain
Author of 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.' Known as the 'father of American literat…
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, engineer, and inventor.
George Washington
First President of the United States and commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
Andre Agassi
Tennis legend who won 8 Grand Slam titles.
Marc Andreessen
Co-creator of Mosaic (first widely-used web browser), co-founder of Netscape, and co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a1…
Maya Angelou
Poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist.
Joan of Arc
French peasant girl who, claiming divine guidance, led the French army to several decisive victories during the Hundred
Sam Altman
Sam Altman co-founded OpenAI and has significantly influenced the landscape of artificial intelligence and startup cult…
Bernard Arnault
Chairman & CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Moët, Tiffany, etc.).
Mary Kay Ash
Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, a direct-sales beauty empire.
Jane Austen
English novelist whose works — Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma — became some of the most beloved in th…
Johann Sebastian Bach
German composer and musician of the Baroque period, widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in Western music h…
Hannibal Barca
Carthaginian general considered one of history's greatest military commanders.
P.T. Barnum
Showman, businessman, and founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Marc Benioff
Founder & CEO of Salesforce, the cloud computing company that pioneered SaaS (Software as a Service).
Sara Blakely
Founder of Spanx, the shapewear company she started with $5,000 in savings.
Michael Bloomberg
Founder of Bloomberg LP, the financial data and media company.
Josephine Bonaparte
Empress of France as wife of Napoleon.
Anthony Bourdain
Chef, author, and TV host.
Richard Branson
Founder of Virgin Group, which spans 400+ companies including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Records, and Virgin Galactic.
Sergey Brin
Co-founder of Google (now Alphabet) with Larry Page.
Brené Brown
Research professor, author, and speaker.
Jimmy Buffett
Singer-songwriter who turned 'Margaritaville' into a $1B+ lifestyle empire spanning restaurants, resorts, alcohol brand…
Tory Burch
Fashion designer and founder of Tory Burch LLC, a global fashion brand valued at ~$3.5B.
Augustus Caesar
First Roman Emperor.
James Cameron
Film director behind Terminator, Aliens, Titanic, and Avatar — the two highest-grossing films in history.
Ed Catmull
Co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and former president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation.
Charlemagne
King of the Franks and first Holy Roman Emperor.
Yvon Chouinard
Founder of Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company known for environmental activism.
Francis Ford Coppola
Film director who created The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation.
Céline Dion
Canadian singer with one of the most powerful voices in music history.
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)
YouTube creator with 300M+ subscribers — the most on the platform.
Frederick Douglass
Escaped slave who became the most prominent abolitionist leader in America.
Bob Dylan
Singer-songwriter and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.
James Dyson
Inventor and founder of Dyson Ltd.
Daniel Ek
Co-founder and CEO of Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform with 600M+ users.
Larry Ellison
Co-founder and chairman of Oracle Corporation, the database and cloud computing giant.
Roger Federer
Swiss tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Enzo Ferrari
Founder of Ferrari, the iconic Italian sports car and racing company.
Richard Feynman
Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for quantum electrodynamics, the Feynman diagrams, and his work on the Manhattan Pr…
Lady Gaga
Singer, songwriter, and actress who became one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Charles de Gaulle
French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during WWII and served as President of France (1959–1969).
Katharine Graham
Publisher of The Washington Post during Watergate.
Paul Graham
Co-founder of Y Combinator, the most influential startup accelerator in history (Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, Reddit).
Catherine the Great
Empress of Russia who expanded the empire, modernized the country, and made Russia a great European power during the Ag…
Ken Griffin
Founder and CEO of Citadel LLC, one of the world's most successful hedge funds, and Citadel Securities, the largest mar…
Andy Grove
Former CEO of Intel who transformed it into the world's largest semiconductor company.
Reed Hastings
Co-founder of Netflix, which transformed from a DVD-by-mail service into the world's largest streaming entertainment co…
Jimi Hendrix
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter widely considered the greatest electric guitarist of all time.
Ryan Holiday
Author and entrepreneur known for popularizing Stoic philosophy.
Jensen Huang
Co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, which became one of the world's most valuable companies by dominating AI/GPU computing.
Carl Icahn
Corporate raider turned activist investor.
Elizabeth II
Queen of the United Kingdom for 70 years — the longest reign in British history.
Ingvar Kamprad
Founder of IKEA at age 17.
Stephen King
Author of 65+ novels, many of which became iconic films (The Shining, IT, The Shawshank Redemption).
Henry Kissinger
US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.
Phil Knight
Co-founder and former chairman of Nike.
Ray Kroc
Businessman who turned McDonald's from a single restaurant into the world's largest fast-food chain.
Estée Lauder
Founder of Estée Lauder Companies, one of the world's largest beauty and skincare conglomerates (Clinique, MAC, La Mer,
Ralph Lauren
Fashion designer who founded Ralph Lauren Corporation.
George Lucas
Creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Palmer Luckey
Founder of Oculus VR (sold to Facebook for $2B) and Anduril Industries (defense tech, valued at $14B+).
Jack Ma
Co-founder of Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company.
Niccolò Machiavelli
Florentine diplomat and political philosopher.
Charlie Munger
Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's partner for 60+ years.
Mansa Musa
Emperor of the Mali Empire, often cited as the richest person who ever lived.
Satya Nadella
CEO of Microsoft since 2014.
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher whose works on power, morality, and the 'Übermensch' profoundly influenced Western philosophy, liter…
Christopher Nolan
British-American filmmaker known for The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer (Best P…
David Ogilvy
Founder of Ogilvy & Mather and known as the 'Father of Advertising.' His campaigns for Dove, Rolls-Royce, and Schweppes
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Theoretical physicist who directed the Manhattan Project, creating the atomic bomb.
Rosa Parks
Civil rights activist known as 'the mother of the civil rights movement.' Her refusal to give up her bus seat in 1955 s…
Dolly Parton
Singer-songwriter, actress, and businesswoman.
Melanie Perkins
Co-founder and CEO of Canva, the graphic design platform valued at $40B+ with 170M+ monthly users.
Michael Phelps
Most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals (23 gold).
Rihanna
Singer and founder of Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty.
J.K. Rowling
Author of the Harry Potter series, which has sold 600M+ copies and spawned a $25B franchise.
Rick Rubin
Record producer who co-founded Def Jam Recordings and has produced albums for everyone from LL Cool J to Johnny Cash to
Sheryl Sandberg
Former COO of Meta (Facebook).
Ernest Shackleton
Antarctic explorer famous for the Endurance expedition, in which he saved all 27 of his crew members after their ship w…
Jim Simons
Mathematician and founder of Renaissance Technologies.
George Soros
Investor, philanthropist, and founder of Soros Fund Management.
Bruce Springsteen
Rock musician known as 'The Boss.' Author of the memoir 'Born to Run.' Has sold 150M+ albums and is one of the most suc…
Danielle Steel
One of the best-selling authors of all time with 800M+ copies sold across 190+ books.
Martha Stewart
Media mogul and businesswoman who built Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia — a lifestyle empire spanning media, products,…
Barbra Streisand
Singer, actress, filmmaker.
Lisa Su
Chair and CEO of AMD.
Quentin Tarantino
Film director known for Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Django Unchained, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Margaret Thatcher
First female Prime Minister of the UK (1979–1990).
Peter Thiel
Co-founder of PayPal and Palantir.
Donald Trump
Real estate developer, media personality, and 45th & 47th President of the United States.
Queen Victoria
Queen of the United Kingdom for 63 years during the height of the British Empire.
Sam Walton
Founder of Walmart and Sam's Club.
Vera Wang
Fashion designer who became the world's most famous bridal gown designer.
Oscar Wilde
Irish playwright, poet, and wit.
Serena Williams
Tennis champion with 23 Grand Slam singles titles — the most in the Open Era.
Anna Wintour
Editor-in-Chief of Vogue and Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast.
Tiger Woods
Professional golfer with 15 major championships — second only to Jack Nicklaus (18).
Lee Kuan Yew
Founding father and first Prime Minister of Singapore.
Scipio Africanus
Roman general who defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama, ending the Second Punic War and establishing Rome as the dom…
Arminius
Germanic chieftain who destroyed three Roman legions at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, halting Roman expan…
Cristóbal Balenciaga
Spanish fashion designer who founded the Balenciaga fashion house.
Lucille Ball
Actress, comedian, and media mogul.
Mary Barra
Chairman & CEO of General Motors — the first woman to lead a major global automaker.
Alexander Graham Bell
Inventor of the telephone and co-founder of AT&T.
Edward Bernays
Austrian-American public relations pioneer, often called 'the father of PR.' Nephew of Sigmund Freud.
Rose Blumkin
Founder of Nebraska Furniture Mart, which became the largest furniture store in North America.
Bill Bowerman
Co-founder of Nike (then Blue Ribbon Sports) with Phil Knight.
Donald Bren
Chairman of Irvine Company, the largest private real estate company in the US.
Samuel Bronfman
Canadian businessman who built Seagram into the largest distilled spirits company in the world during Prohibition and b…
Wright Brothers
American aviation pioneers who achieved the first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight at Kitty Hawk in 1…
Ettore Bugatti
Italian-born French automobile designer and founder of Bugatti.
Vannevar Bush
Engineer, inventor, and science administrator who led the US Office of Scientific Research during WWII and conceptualiz…
Nolan Bushnell
Founder of Atari and Chuck E.
Bill Campbell
Known as 'The Trillion Dollar Coach.' Executive coach to Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, and many other tech leader…
Robert Caro
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and journalist, known for his monumental biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon B.
Isabella of Castile
Queen of Castile who, with husband Ferdinand, unified Spain, completed the Reconquista, and funded Columbus's voyage to
Colin Chapman
Founder of Lotus Cars and Team Lotus in Formula One.
Herb Cohen
Author and negotiation expert.
Sam Colt
Inventor of the Colt revolver and founder of Colt's Manufacturing Company.
Captain James Cook
British explorer and navigator who made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, mapping lands from New Zealand to Hawaii.
Barbara Corcoran
Founded The Corcoran Group, one of NYC's largest real estate brokerages (sold for $66M).
Joe Coulombe
Founder of Trader Joe's, the beloved grocery chain known for unique products, low prices, and Hawaiian-shirt-wearing em…
Brunello Cucinelli
Founder of the luxury cashmere fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli S.p.A.
Glenn Curtiss
Aviation pioneer and founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane Company.
Christian Dior
French fashion designer who founded the House of Dior.
John Doerr
Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, the legendary VC firm.
Will & Ariel Durant
Historians who co-wrote 'The Story of Civilization,' an 11-volume history of the world.
Joseph Duveen
Art dealer who dominated the international art market in the early 20th century, selling Old Master paintings to Americ…
Bernie Ecclestone
Business magnate who ran Formula One for four decades, transforming it from a European motorsport into a multi-billion-…
Rothschild Family
Banking dynasty that became the wealthiest family in modern history.
Judy Faulkner
Founder and CEO of Epic Systems, the largest electronic health records company in the US (holds records for 300M+ patie…
Michele Ferrero
Italian confectioner who built Ferrero Group (Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, Tic Tac) into the world's second-largest
Debbie Fields
Founder of Mrs.
Henry Flagler
Co-founder of Standard Oil with Rockefeller.
Henry Clay Frick
Industrialist known as the 'Coke King' who partnered with Carnegie in steel.
Robert Friedland
Mining billionaire who has discovered and developed some of the world's most valuable mineral deposits.
Jacob Fugger
German banker and mining magnate.
Larry Gagosian
The world's most powerful art dealer.
Gaston Glock
Austrian engineer and founder of Glock Ges.m.b.H.
Jay Gould
Railroad magnate and financier.
Todd Graves
Founder and CEO of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers.
Constantine the Great
First Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity.
Emma Grede
Co-founder and CEO of Good American (with Khloé Kardashian).
Hetty Green
Financier known as 'the Witch of Wall Street.' The richest woman in America during the Gilded Age.
Alexander Hamilton
Founding Father, first US Secretary of the Treasury, and architect of the American financial system.
Harold Hamm
Founder of Continental Resources.
William Randolph Hearst
Media magnate who built the nation's largest newspaper chain.
Whitney Wolfe Herd
Founder and former CEO of Bumble, the dating app where women make the first move.
Claude Hopkins
Advertising pioneer who wrote 'Scientific Advertising' and 'My Life in Advertising.' Pioneered test marketing, sampling…
Ma Huateng
Co-founder and CEO of Tencent, one of the world's largest tech companies (WeChat, QQ, gaming, fintech).
Arianna Huffington
Co-founder of The Huffington Post (sold to AOL for $315M) and founder/CEO of Thrive Global, a wellness company.
Vlad the Impaler
Prince of Wallachia (modern Romania) who fought against the Ottoman Empire.
Samuel Insull
Electricity magnate who built a $3B utility empire in Chicago.
Brad Jacobs
Serial entrepreneur who has founded 8 separate billion-dollar companies including XPO Logistics, United Rentals, and QX…
Thomas Jefferson
Third US President, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and founder of the University of Virginia.
Abigail Johnson
Chair and CEO of Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest financial services firms ($4.9T in assets under manag…
Sheila Johnson
Co-founder of BET (Black Entertainment Television).
Jerry Jones
Owner and GM of the Dallas Cowboys since 1989.
Chung Ju-yung
Founder of Hyundai Group, which he built from nothing into one of the largest conglomerates in the world (construction,
Henry J. Kaiser
Industrialist who built Liberty ships during WWII, founded Kaiser Permanente (healthcare), and Kaiser Aluminum.
Huda Kattan
Founder of Huda Beauty, a cosmetics brand she built from a beauty blog into a company valued at $1.2B+.
Herb Kelleher
Co-founder and longtime CEO of Southwest Airlines.
Vinod Khosla
Co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of Khosla Ventures, a major VC firm focused on deep tech, clean energy, and…
Toni Ko
Founder of NYX Cosmetics (sold to L'Oréal for $500M) and Bespoke Beauty Brands.
Christian von Koenigsegg
Founder of Koenigsegg Automotive, a Swedish hypercar manufacturer that builds some of the fastest and most technically…
Daphne Koller
Co-founder of Coursera and founder of Insitro (AI-driven drug discovery).
Wendy Kopp
Founder of Teach For America and co-founder of Teach For All (now in 60+ countries).
Ivar Kreuger
Swedish industrialist known as the 'Match King' who controlled 75% of the world's match production and became one of th…
Ken Langone
Co-founder of Home Depot and financier.
Albert Lasker
Known as 'the father of modern advertising.' Led Lord & Thomas ad agency and pioneered reason-why advertising.
Jorge Paulo Lemann
Brazilian billionaire who co-founded 3G Capital.
Mark Leonard
Founder and president of Constellation Software, which acquires and manages vertical market software companies.
Doug Leone
Former managing partner of Sequoia Capital, one of the world's most successful VC firms (Apple, Google, Airbnb, WhatsAp…
Jamie Kern Lima
Founder of IT Cosmetics, which she sold to L'Oréal for $1.2B — the largest acquisition in L'Oréal's history at the time.
Julio Lobo
Cuban sugar magnate known as 'the Sugar King.' Controlled the world's sugar market before Castro's revolution seized hi…
Alfred Lee Loomis
Wall Street financier turned science patron who funded critical WWII research, including radar development at MIT's Rad…
Ada Lovelace
English mathematician widely considered the first computer programmer.
Li Lu
Chinese-American investor and founder of Himalaya Capital.
Daniel Ludwig
Shipping and real estate magnate who was the richest person in the world before most people had heard his name.
Philip II of Macedon
King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great.
John Mackey
Co-founder of Whole Foods Market, which pioneered the natural and organic grocery movement.
John Malone
Chairman of Liberty Media and Liberty Global.
Bernie Marcus
Co-founder of Home Depot with Arthur Blank and Ken Langone.
Dietrich Mateschitz
Co-founder of Red Bull, which he built into the world's leading energy drink brand.
Marissa Mayer
Former CEO of Yahoo and employee #20 at Google.
Danny Meyer
Restaurateur who founded Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack.
Larry Miller
Businessman who built the Larry H.
Gordon Moore
Co-founder of Intel and author of Moore's Law (transistor density doubles every ~2 years), which predicted the pace of…
Akio Morita
Co-founder of Sony Corporation.
Michael Moritz
Venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital.
Haruki Murakami
Japanese novelist known for surreal, melancholic works like 'Norwegian Wood,' '1Q84,' and 'Kafka on the Shore.' One of…
Tom Murphy
Former CEO of Capital Cities/ABC.
Paige Mycoskie
Founder of Aviator Nation, a fashion brand known for its retro California aesthetic and signature rainbow stripe.
Horatio Nelson
British naval commander who won decisive victories during the Napoleonic Wars, including the Battle of Trafalgar.
Indra Nooyi
Former CEO of PepsiCo (2006–2018).
Robert Noyce
Co-inventor of the microchip and co-founder of both Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.
Aristotle Onassis
Greek shipping magnate who built one of the world's largest private fleets.
Jiro Ono
Sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo, a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
Amancio Ortega
Founder of Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, etc.), the world's largest fashion retailer.
Michael Ovitz
Co-founder of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which became the most powerful talent agency in Hollywood.
Thomas Peterffy
Founder and chairman of Interactive Brokers, one of the world's most efficient electronic brokerage firms.
László Polgár
Hungarian chess teacher and educational psychologist who raised three daughters to become chess prodigies, proving 'gen…
Miuccia Prada
Co-CEO of Prada and one of the most influential fashion designers in the world.
Sol Price
Founder of FedMart and Price Club (the first warehouse club).
Joseph Pulitzer
Publisher of the New York World.
Grigory Rasputin
Russian mystic who gained enormous influence over the Russian royal family by claiming to heal the hemophiliac heir.
Naval Ravikant
Co-founder of AngelList and prolific angel investor (Twitter, Uber, etc.).
Shonda Rhimes
TV producer and writer who created Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton.
Gina Rinehart
Executive chair of Hancock Prospecting, Australia's largest private company.
Nora Roberts
Best-selling romance and thriller novelist with 225+ novels and 500M+ copies sold.
François de la Rochefoucauld
French moralist and author of 'Maxims,' a collection of pithy observations on human nature that remain influential 350…
Martine Rothblatt
Founder of Sirius XM Radio and United Therapeutics.
Pleasant Rowland
Founder of American Girl (dolls), which she sold to Mattel for $700M.
Charles Schulz
Creator of Peanuts (Charlie Brown, Snoopy).
Les Schwab
Founder of Les Schwab Tire Centers, a chain of 500+ tire stores across the western US known for legendary customer serv…
Kendra Scott
Founder of Kendra Scott jewelry, a $1B+ accessories brand.
Claude Shannon
Mathematician and engineer known as 'the father of information theory.' His 1948 paper laid the foundation for digital…
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Victorian engineer who built the Great Western Railway, SS Great Britain, the Thames Tunnel, and iconic bridges and shi…
Henry Singleton
Founder and CEO of Teledyne, a conglomerate he built through aggressive acquisitions and stock buybacks.
Nick Sleep
British investor who ran the Nomad Investment Partnership (2001–2014), achieving 921% returns.
Anastasia Soare
Founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills, one of the most popular cosmetics brands in the world.
Levi Strauss
Founder of Levi Strauss & Co.
Sulla
Roman general and dictator who marched on Rome twice and restructured the Roman Republic's constitution.
Ed Thorp
Mathematician who invented card counting (Beat the Dealer) and pioneered quantitative investing.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Shipping and railroad magnate who built the largest fortune in America.
Leonardo Del Vecchio
Founder of Luxottica, the world's largest eyewear company (Ray-Ban, Oakley, LensCrafters).
Bill Walsh
Head coach of the San Francisco 49ers who won 3 Super Bowls.
George Westinghouse
Inventor and industrialist who founded Westinghouse Electric.
Meg Whitman
Former CEO of eBay (grew revenue from $4M to $8B), HP, and Quibi.
John Williams
Film composer behind Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and many more iconi…
Hans Wilsdorf
Founder of Rolex, the most recognized luxury watch brand in the world.
Oprah Winfrey
Media mogul, talk show host, actress, and philanthropist.
Susan Wojcicki
Former CEO of YouTube.
Stephen Wolfram
Founder of Wolfram Research (Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha).
John Wooden
Legendary UCLA basketball coach who won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, including 7 in a row.
Brigham Young
Second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Cato the Younger
Roman senator and Stoic philosopher who was the last defender of the Roman Republic against Julius Caesar's dictatorshi…
William Zeckendorf
American real estate developer who transformed the Manhattan skyline.
Sam Zell
Real estate mogul known as 'the Grave Dancer' for buying distressed assets.
Brian Acton
Co-founder of WhatsApp, the messaging app acquired by Facebook for $19B in 2014.
Paul Allen
Co-founder of Microsoft alongside Bill Gates.
Rafaela Aponte
Co-founder of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world's largest container shipping line.
Tatyana Bakalchuk
Founder of Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer.
Giuliana Benetton
Co-founder of the Benetton Group, the Italian fashion brand known for colorful knitwear and provocative advertising cam…
Melissa Bernstein
Co-founder of Melissa & Doug, the beloved children's toy company known for wooden toys, arts & crafts, and screen-free…
Roz Brewer
Former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Michelin Brothers
Founded Michelin Tire Company in France.
Donna Carpenter
Co-founder of Burton Snowboards with Jake Burton Carpenter.
Safra Catz
CEO of Oracle Corporation.
Peggy Cherng
Co-founder and co-CEO of Panda Restaurant Group (Panda Express), the largest Asian-American restaurant chain in the US…
Jim Clark
Founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon.
Denise Coates
Founder and joint CEO of Bet365, the world's largest online gambling company.
Betsy Cohen
Serial banking entrepreneur who founded Jefferson Bank (later Bancorp) and multiple fintech SPACs.
Kit Crawford
Co-founder of Clif Bar & Company, the organic energy bar brand.
Weili Dai
Co-founder of Marvell Technology, a major semiconductor company.
Michael Dell
Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies.
Nobel Family
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and established the Nobel Prizes.
Eileen Fisher
Founder of EILEEN FISHER Inc., the women's clothing brand known for sustainable fashion and simple, timeless design.
Jane Fraser
CEO of Citigroup — the first woman to lead a major US bank.
Adena T. Friedman
Chair and CEO of Nasdaq.
Sonia Gardner
Co-founder and president of Avenue Capital Group, a global investment firm managing $11B+ in assets.
Melinda Gates
Philanthropist and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Henry Goldman
Partner at Goldman Sachs who transformed it from a small commercial paper firm into one of the world's leading investme…
Theresia Gouw
Co-founder of Acrew Capital (formerly Aspect Ventures), a VC firm focused on diverse founders.
Diane Hendricks
Chairman of ABC Supply, the largest wholesale distributor of roofing and building products in the US.
Hortensia Herrero
Co-owner of Mercadona, Spain's largest supermarket chain, with her husband Juan Roig.
Leon Hess
Founder of Hess Corporation, a Fortune 200 oil and gas company.
Bill Hewlett
Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (HP), one of the most important technology companies ever.
Dee Hock
Founder and first CEO of Visa.
Fan Hongwei
Co-founder and former chair of Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, a Chinese solar energy company that was once valued at $4…
Janice Bryant Howroyd
Founder and CEO of ActOne Group, the largest privately held, minority-woman-owned personnel company in the US ($3B+ rev…
Cathy Hughes
Founder of Radio One (now Urban One), the largest African-American-owned radio broadcasting company in the US.
Zhong Huijuan
Founder and chair of Hansoh Pharmaceutical, one of China's largest pharmaceutical companies.
Johnelle Hunt
Co-founder of J.B.
Marian Ilitch
Co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza with her husband Mike.
Jimmy Iovine
Music producer and co-founder of Interscope Records and Beats Electronics (sold to Apple for $3B).
Jony Ive
British-American designer who served as Apple's Chief Design Officer.
Marcus Wallenberg Jr.
Swedish banker and industrialist whose family controlled 40% of Sweden's industrial workforce.
Jenny Just
Co-founder of PEAK6, a financial services firm that manages billions in assets.
Donna Karan
Fashion designer who founded DKNY and her eponymous label Donna Karan New York.
Kevin Kelly
Co-founder of Wired magazine, author, and tech philosopher.
Charles Kettering
Inventor and head of research at General Motors for 27 years.
Robert Kierlin
Founder and former CEO of Fastenal, which grew from a single store selling nuts and bolts into a $40B+ market cap indus…
Marcia Kilgore
Serial entrepreneur who founded Bliss Spa, Soap & Glory, FitFlop, and Beauty Pie.
Wang Laichun
Chair of Luxshare Precision, a Chinese electronics manufacturer and major Apple supplier.
Katrina Lake
Founder of Stitch Fix, the AI-driven personal styling service.
Yang Lan
Chinese media mogul, journalist, and co-founder of Sun Media Group.
Edwin Land
Inventor and co-founder of Polaroid Corporation.
Thai Lee
CEO of SHI International, a $14B+ revenue IT solutions provider — one of the largest woman-owned businesses in the US.
Judy Love
Co-founder of Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, one of the largest truck stop chains in the US (600+ locations).
Karen Lynch
President and CEO of CVS Health, the largest healthcare company in the US by revenue ($357B).
Tobi Lütke
Co-founder and CEO of Shopify, which powers millions of online stores and is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Founder of Biocon, India's largest biopharmaceutical company.
Tamara Mellon
Co-founder of Jimmy Choo, the luxury shoe brand.
Gail Miller
Owner of the Larry H.
Monty Moncrief
Texas oil billionaire and wildcatter.
Neha Narkhede
Co-founder of Confluent, the data streaming platform built on Apache Kafka, which she co-created at LinkedIn.
Thi Phuong Thao Nguyen
Founder and CEO of VietJet Air, Vietnam's first private airline.
Phebe Novakovic
Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest defense contractors ($40B+ revenue).
Paul Orfalea
Founder of Kinko's (now FedEx Office), which he grew from a single photocopy shop near UC Santa Barbara into 1,200+ loc…
Eren Ozmen
Chair and co-owner of Sierra Nevada Corporation, a major aerospace and defense company building the Dream Chaser spacep…
David Packard
Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.
Ruth Porat
President and CIO of Alphabet (Google).
Zhou Qunfei
Founder and chair of Lens Technology, one of the world's largest touchscreen glass manufacturers (supplies Apple, Samsu…
Jacqueline Reses
Executive fellow at Stanford Business School.
Lynda Resnick
Co-owner of The Wonderful Company (POM Wonderful, Fiji Water, Wonderful Pistachios, Halos oranges).
George Roberts
Co-founder of KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), one of the world's largest private equity firms.
Henry Royce
Co-founder of Rolls-Royce.
Gwynne Shotwell
President and COO of SpaceX.
David Siegel
Co-founder and co-chairman of Two Sigma Investments, a quantitative hedge fund managing $60B+ in assets.
Frederick Smith
Founder of FedEx.
Julie Sweet
Chair and CEO of Accenture, one of the world's largest professional services companies ($64B+ revenue, 750,000+ employe…
Adi Tatarko
Co-founder and CEO of Houzz, the home design and renovation platform with 70M+ monthly users.
Carol B. Tomé
CEO of UPS, the world's largest package delivery company.
Sakichi Toyoda
Japanese inventor and founder of Toyota Industries.
Therese Tucker
Founder and former CEO of BlackLine, a cloud-based accounting software company that she took public in 2016.
Ted Turner
Media mogul who founded CNN (the first 24-hour news network) and Turner Broadcasting.
Jayshree Ullal
President and CEO of Arista Networks, which she grew into a $70B+ market cap cloud networking company.
Susan Wagner
Co-founder of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager ($10T+ in assets under management).
Cher Wang
Co-founder of HTC Corporation, the Taiwanese smartphone and VR headset maker that was once a leading Android device man…
Alice Waters
Chef and founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley.
Lynda Weinman
Co-founder of Lynda.com, the online learning platform acquired by LinkedIn for $1.5B.
Mary West
Co-founder of West Corporation (now Intrado), one of the largest telecommunications companies in the US.
Maureen Wheeler
Co-founder of Lonely Planet travel guides with her husband Tony.
Anna Wojcicki
Co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, the consumer genetics company.
Jane Wurwand
Founder of Dermalogica, the professional skincare brand used by skin therapists in 100+ countries.
Elaine Wynn
Co-founder of Wynn Resorts and Mirage Resorts.
Mei Xu
Founder and CEO of Chesapeake Bay Candle (sold to Newell Brands) and Pacific Trade International.
Wu Yajun
Co-founder of Longfor Group, one of China's largest property developers.
Michelle Zatlyn
Co-founder, president, and COO of Cloudflare, the internet security and infrastructure company ($30B+ market cap).
Samuel Zemurray
Known as 'Sam the Banana Man.' Built the Cuyamel Fruit Company and eventually took over United Fruit Company.
Mel & Patricia Ziegler
Co-founders of Banana Republic (the original safari-themed version), which they sold to Gap Inc.
J. Paul Getty
Oil magnate who was named the richest living American by Fortune in 1957.
James J. Hill
Railroad magnate known as 'the Empire Builder.' Built the Great Northern Railway from St.
Alice Schwartz
Co-founder of Bio-Rad Laboratories, a life science research and clinical diagnostics company.
Neerja Sethi
Co-founder of Syntel, an IT consulting and outsourcing company that was sold to Atos for $3.4B.
William Shockley
Co-inventor of the transistor (Nobel Prize, 1956).
Harry Snyder
Founder of In-N-Out Burger, California's iconic fast-food chain known for quality, freshness, and simplicity.
Isadore Sharp
Founder of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the world's leading luxury hospitality brand.
A.G. Gaston
Black American business pioneer who built a conglomerate spanning insurance, banking, real estate, and media in Birming…
Albert Champion
French-American racing cyclist and entrepreneur who founded AC Spark Plug Company (later part of GM).
Alfred Sloan
CEO of General Motors for 33 years who pioneered modern corporate management, brand segmentation, and the annual model…
Ben Horowitz
Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of the most influential venture capital firms in Silicon Valley.
Billy Durant
Founder of General Motors and co-founder of Chevrolet.
Carl F Braun
Founder of C.F.
Carroll Shelby
Automotive designer and racing driver who created the Shelby Cobra and helped Ford beat Ferrari at Le Mans with the GT4…
Charles Goodyear
Inventor who discovered vulcanized rubber after years of failed experiments, enabling the modern tire industry.
Chuck Feeney
Co-founder of DFS Group (duty-free shops).
Chuck Yeager
Test pilot who became the first person to break the sound barrier in 1947.
Conrad Hilton
Founder of Hilton Hotels, building one of the first international hotel chains.
Daniel Gross
Co-founder of Cue (acquired by Apple), former partner at Y Combinator, and co-founder of Pioneer. One of the youngest AI leaders, building at the intersection of machine intelligence and human potential.
Dassler Brothers
Adi Dassler founded Adidas, Rudolf Dassler founded Puma.
David Geffen
Entertainment mogul who co-founded DreamWorks, Asylum Records, and Geffen Records.
Dodge Brothers
John and Horace Dodge built components for Ford before founding Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company.
Ernest Hemingway
Nobel Prize-winning novelist known for The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Evan Spiegel
Co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc.
Felix Dennis
British media entrepreneur who built Dennis Publishing (Maxim, The Week, Computer Shopper) into a global empire.
Francis Greenburger
Founder of Time Equities, a NYC real estate firm, and a prominent literary agent.
Frank Lloyd Wright
America's most famous architect who designed Fallingwater, the Guggenheim Museum, and over 1,000 structures across 70 y…
Frank Slootman
CEO of Snowflake who led the largest software IPO in history. Former CEO of Data Domain and ServiceNow — known as the most effective turnaround CEO in enterprise software.
Georges Doriot
French-American venture capitalist known as 'the father of venture capital.' Founded ARDC, the first publicly owned VC…
Henry Leland
Automotive pioneer who founded both Cadillac and Lincoln.
Howard Hughes
Aviator, filmmaker, and business magnate who built Hughes Aircraft and controlled TWA.
Jackie Cochran
Pioneering female aviator who held more speed and altitude records than any pilot of her era.
Jim Clayton
Founder of Clayton Homes, the largest builder of manufactured homes in the US.
Johan Cruyff
Dutch football legend who revolutionized the sport with 'Total Football' as both player and manager at Ajax and Barcelo…
John Bogle
Founder of Vanguard Group and creator of the first index mutual fund.
John Carmack
Co-founder of id Software (Doom, Quake) and pioneering game engine developer.
John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States
Johnny Carson
Host of The Tonight Show for 30 years.
Joseph P. Kennedy
Businessman, investor, and political patriarch.
Kirk Kerkorian
Las Vegas mogul who built the MGM Grand, bought and sold MGM Studios three times, and attempted hostile takeovers of Ch…
Linus Torvalds
Creator of Linux, the open-source operating system that powers most of the world's servers, smartphones (Android), and…
Louis B. Mayer
Head of MGM Studios who built the most powerful studio in Hollywood's Golden Age.
Malcom McLean
Trucking entrepreneur who invented the shipping container, revolutionizing global trade.
Marc Rich
Commodities trader who invented the spot oil market.
Mark Spitznagel
Founder of Universa Investments and pioneer of tail-risk hedging strategies.
Mark Zuckerberg
Co-founder and CEO of Meta (Facebook), the social media platform with 3B+ users.
Milton Hershey
Founder of the Hershey chocolate empire and the utopian town of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Muhammad Ali
Three-time heavyweight champion of the world
Nikola Tesla
Serbian-American inventor who developed the AC electrical system, Tesla coil, and radio technology.
Nims Purja
Nepalese mountaineer who climbed all 14 peaks over 8,000m in just 6 months and 6 days, shattering the previous record.
Paul English
Co-founder of Kayak.com, the travel search engine sold to Booking Holdings for $1.8B.
Paul Van Doren
Co-founder of Vans shoes, the iconic skateboarding and action sports brand.
Peter Cundill
Canadian deep-value investor who generated extraordinary returns over 33 years at the Cundill Value Fund.
Ray Dalio
Founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund managing $150B+ in assets.
Richard Garriott
Video game designer who created the Ultima series and was one of the first private space tourists.
Robert Campeau
Canadian real estate developer who mounted the largest leveraged buyout in retail history.
Robert Goddard
American physicist and engineer who built and launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.
Rory Sutherland
Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and author of Alchemy. One of the most original thinkers in behavioural economics and advertising — known for demonstrating that psychological value often exceeds logical value.
Sid Meier
Video game designer who created Civilization, one of the most influential strategy game series ever made.
Sidney Harman
Co-founder of Harman Kardon, the audio electronics company.
Siggi B. Wilzig
Holocaust survivor who immigrated to America penniless and became a Wall Street billionaire through banking and oil.
Stan Lee
Co-creator of the Marvel Comics universe including Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, and The Avengers.
Theodor Geisel
Children's book author known as Dr.
Thomas Watson Sr.
Built IBM from a small tabulating company into a global computing giant.
Walter Beech
Co-founder of Beech Aircraft Corporation (Beechcraft) with wife Olive Ann Beech.
Walter Chrysler
Founded Chrysler Corporation and built the Chrysler Building.
William Rosenberg
Founder of Dunkin' Donuts and the International Franchise Association.