Today’s definition of Entrepreneurship is that it is the act of setting up an organized, well framed small business, hoping that it would gain humungous profits in the long run. This framework also includes a failsafe to act as a cushion in case of an undesired outcome or, the entrepreneurs brave all odds and come out successful, after all, fortune favors the brave!
Most of the entrepreneurs today, lack the self-confidence and determination to continue on, in the case of a failure. But there are others who, with sheer determination and self-belief have risen against odds to reach unprecedented heights! Here are the top 20 successful entrepreneurs of the world!
Also Read: Zero to Billionaire -Journey of 21 Successful Entrepreneurs
1. Bill Gates
Founded: Microsoft
Net Worth: $84.5 billion
Gates is synonymous with success. The man who, along with Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft has an estimated net worth of US$ 84.2 Billion. Although an excellent student Gates dropped out of Harvard to start his own computer software company with Allen and he hasn;t turned back since.
2. Carlos Slim
Founded: Grupo Carso
Net Worth: $48.9 billion
Carlos is a Mexican business magnate with a penchant for numbers from an early age. He was taught finance, accounts, and management by his father early on and was able to make his first investment in a government savings bond at the age of 11. Since then his skills at managing numbers has never diminished, for he was the richest person on Earth between 2010 & 2013.
3. Richard Branson
Founded: Virgin Group
Net Worth: $5 billion
Sir Richard Branson is an English businessman and founder of Virgin group, which has close to 400 other companies under it today. Richard started off early with his first encounter in business being a magazine at age 16, and Virgin company at 22!
4. Michael S. Dell
Founded: Dell Technologies
Net Worth: $20.5 billion
The founder & CEO of Dell Technologies developed a liking for computers from an early age of 15 when he first opened up his new Apple II just to see how it worked. He went on to enroll for a pre-med course at the University of Texas and on the side opened up a computer upgrade store, that’s when it all started.
5. Larry Ellison
Founded: Oracle Corporation
Net Worth: $49.9 billion
The co-founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison was initially fascinated by Edgar F. Codd’s research on relational databases, when he was working for Ampex in the 70s. This relational databases design is what led to the formation of Oracle Corporation.
6. Sergey Brin
Founded: Google Inc.
Net Worth: 38.6 billion
Sergey is a Russian-American computer scientist, who along with Larry Page, co-founded Google Inc. He went to Stanford, where he met Page and started a stripped down version of the giant web search engine, later they dropped out of Stanford to start up Google in a rented garage! Currently, he heads Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company.
7. Mark Zuckerberg
Founded: Facebook
Net worth: 55.3 billion
Almost all of us are familiar with this name. Mark founded Facebook along with several other Harvard dorm-mates, introducing FB just to Harvard! With the rapid growth of the site, it was slowly rolled out to other campuses, gradually growing to the enormous size it has, today.
8. Amancio Ortega Gaona
Founded: Zara
Net worth: $71.8 billion
The founder of the Zara clothing stores which is now under the Inditex fashion group. He left schooling to join a clothing store at the age of 14, mainly because of his father’s job in the railways. He first tried his hand in the fashion industry by gathering hundreds of women to make quilted bathrobes, for his own venture named, Confecciones Goa.
9. Steve Job
Founded: Apple Inc.
Net worth: 10.2 billion
Steve, along with Mike Wozniak, co-founded what is today, the biggest smartphone manufacturing company Apple Inc. Jobs was a student at Reed College but dropped out very soon, and set out to India as a traveler. Later he co-founded Apple to sell Wozniak’s Apple I PC.
10. Ted Turner
Founded: CNN
Net Worth: $2.2 billion
He is the founder of the 1st, 24×7 news channel Cable News Network or CNN. After taking over his father’s billboard business, he bought the Atlanta UHF station which was renamed to Turner Broadcasting System. That is where CNN was born after ten years of its inception and went on to change the way news was covered.
11. Colonel Harland David Sanders
Founded: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
Net Worth: $1.8 billion (KFC)
Sanders has had to work many jobs as a Stoke engineer, Gas station worker, Insurance agent etc., after his father’s death.It was at the age of 62 that he opened up the first KFC in Utah. The potential for restaurant franchising was higher than ever then, and KFC still flourishes today.
13. Larry Page
Founded: Google Inc.
Net Worth: $39.5 billion
Larry Page, along with Sergey Brin co-founded Google Inc. With parents being computer science specialist Page was surrounded by material that was filled with computers and information about them and fortunately, he too developed an interest in the field and gave us the gift of Google
14. Jeff Bezos
Founded: Amazon
Net Worth: $71.8 billion
Showing great skill for technology and the sciences at a very young age, Bezos went on to get a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He left his job that “paid well” to start Amazon from his garage in 1994.
15. Oprah Winfrey
Occupation: Media proprietor
Net Worth: $2.9 billion
Oprah is known for her ever popular TV show, The Oprah Winfrey Show! She is the richest African-American and the first and only Black billionaire in all of North America!
16. Nolan Bushnell
Company founded: Atari Inc.
Net Worth: $50 million
Bushnell is the founder of the video game developer company Atari Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza-Time Theaters. He has been dubbed as the founding father of gaming and has received several accolades for his contribution to the entertainment industry.
17. Sam Walton
Company founded: Walmart
Net Worth: $34.9 billion
Walmart is named after Sam Walton for he was the founder of the international supermarket chain, and also founded Sam’s club, which is now a part of Walmart.
18. Ingvar Kamprad
Company founded: IKEA
Net Worth: $39.1 billion
Kamprad is a Swedish business magnate and founder of the international furniture retail store IKEA. Ingvar had a liking for business from a very young, he sold matches bought at a very low price, then moved on to other small items and finally opened up IKEA on his uncle’s kitchen table.
19. Elon Musk
Company founded: Tesla Inc, SpaceX, Paypal, Solar City & OpenAI
Net Worth: $13.4 billion
Elon Musk needs no introduction, an advocate and firm believer of sustainable energy source for the future, co-founded Tesla Inc, SpaceX, Paypal, SolarCity & OpenAI. In addition to this, he has plans for high-speed transportation mechanism called Hyperloop!
20. Jack Ma
Company founded: Alibaba Group
Net Worth: $28.4 billion
After taking 4 years to pass the entrance exam for BA, he secured the degree and went on to graduate from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Even after this he applied for a job at 30 companies & got rejected, even at a KFC outlet he was rejected! At age 31, he was introduced to the internet, founded the Alibaba website in 1999.
Also Read: How to Save Time Being An Entrepreneur?