PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: business
45th and 47th president of the United States
Donald Trump is the 45th and 47th president of the United States (2017–21; 2025– ). Following his inauguration on January 20, 2025, Trump became only the second president to serve two nonconsecutive terms,...
prime minister of Cape Colony
Cecil Rhodes was a financier, statesman, and empire builder of British South Africa. He was prime minister of Cape Colony (1890–96) and organizer of the giant diamond-mining company De Beers Consolidated...
American industrialist
Henry Ford was an American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with his assembly-line methods. (Read Henry Ford’s 1926 Britannica essay on mass production.) Ford spent most of his life...
American entrepreneur
Elon Musk is a South African–born American entrepreneur who cofounded the electronic payment firm PayPal and formed SpaceX, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was also one of the first significant...
prime minister of Pakistan
Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as prime minister in 1990–93, 1997–99, and 2013–17. He was disqualified from holding public office in 2017 over allegations of corruption...
president of Kenya
William Ruto is a Kenyan businessman and politician who has served as president of Kenya since 2022. Before that, he was deputy president (2013–22) under Uhuru Kenyatta. Ruto was born in Sambut village...
American financier and convicted sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender who was accused of serial sex trafficking of women and girls. Through his successful financial career, Epstein became a multimillionaire...
Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian
Viola Desmond was a Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian who built a career as a beautician and was a mentor to young Black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture. However,...
prime minister of Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif is a Pakistani businessman and politician, and the second brother of his family to serve as prime minister (2022–23; 2024– ). He began his political career in the late 1980s after his elder...
Italian media magnate and prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi was an Italian media tycoon who served three times as prime minister of Italy (1994, 2001–06, and 2008–11). After graduating from the University of Milan with a degree in law, Berlusconi...
American businessman
Steve Jobs was the cofounder of Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.), and a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer era. Jobs was raised by adoptive parents in Cupertino, California, located in what...
American musician and actress
Dolly Parton is an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress who pioneered the interface between country and pop music styles and became one of the most iconic entertainment figures...
founder and CEO of Theranos
Elizabeth Holmes is an American entrepreneur who was the founder and CEO (2003–18) of the blood-testing company Theranos Inc. In 2014—at age 30—she was dubbed the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire,...
American industrialist and inventor
George M. Pullman was an American industrialist and inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, a luxurious railroad coach designed for overnight travel. In 1894, workers at his Pullman’s Palace Car Company...
American investor
William Albert “Bill” Ackman (born May 11, 1966, Chappaqua, New York, U.S.), is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. Ackman is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pershing Square Capital...
American attorney and businessman
Hunter Biden is an American attorney and businessman and the sole surviving son of Joe Biden, 46th president of the United States. The Yale-educated lawyer has held an array of positions at law firms,...
governor of Illinois
J.B. Pritzker is an American Democratic politician and businessman who is governor of Illinois (2019– ). He is a member of the prominent Pritzker family, who owns the Hyatt hotel chain and is one of the...
South African businessman and politician
Mmusi Maimane is a South African businessman and politician who has been active in opposition parties in the country. Since 2022, he has been the head of the Build One South Africa (BOSA) party, which...
president of Madagascar
Marc Ravalomanana is a Malagasy entrepreneur and politician who served as president of Madagascar (2002–09). He stepped down in the midst of a political crisis in 2009 and went into exile before returning...
American film producer and media executive
David Ellison is an American film producer and media executive who founded Skydance Media, the studio behind some of the most commercially successful films of the early 21st century. After establishing...
Indian industrialist
Gautam Adani is an Indian industrialist and founder of the global conglomerate Adani Group. Adani, who gained great admiration across India for his rags-to-riches biography, rose from a modest mercantile...
prime minister of Lebanon
Saad al-Hariri is a Saudi-born Lebanese businessman and prime minister of Lebanon (2009–11; 2016–20). The son of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic al-Hariri, Saad entered politics following his father’s...
Indian businessman
Mukesh Ambani is an Indian business mogul who serves as chairman and managing director of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a multinational conglomerate with businesses across...
American business executive
Larry Ellison (born August 17, 1944, New York City, New York) is an American businessman and entrepreneur who cofounded the software company Oracle Corporation (ORCL) and was its chief executive officer...
American businessman
Jared Kushner is a billionaire real estate developer, a two-time Nobel Peace Prize-nominee, the first son-in-law, and a close adviser to U.S. Pres. Donald Trump, such that he has been called the “Trump...
president of Chile
Sebastián Piñera was a Chilean businessman and politician who served two terms as president of Chile (2010–14; 2018–22). He was the first conservative to lead the country since the end of the dictatorial...
American businessman
Sam Bankman-Fried was the founder and former chief executive officer (2019–22) of FTX Trading Ltd., a cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange became the second largest of its kind, making Bankman-Fried a...
Indian businessman
Ratan Tata was an Indian businessman who became chairman (1991–2012 and 2016–17) of the Tata Group, a Mumbai-based conglomerate. He was known for his leadership of one of the country’s largest business...
American engineer and automobile manufacturer
Walter P. Chrysler was an American engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Chrysler Corporation. (Read Lee Iacocca’s Britannica entry on Chrysler.) Chrysler was the third of four children of Henry...
American chef and restaurateur
Thomas Keller is an American chef and restaurateur whose restaurant the French Laundry, in Yountville, California, consistently ranks among the best in the world. Keller is the first—and as of 2024 the...
American manufacturer, aviator, and motion-picture producer
Howard Hughes was an American manufacturer, aviator, and motion-picture producer and director who acquired enormous wealth and celebrity from his various ventures but was perhaps better known for his eccentricities,...
American businessman
Robert F. Smith is one of the most successful investors in modern private equity and a defining figure in the software industry’s growth. The founder, chair, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, he built...
American philanthropist and novelist
MacKenzie Scott is an American billionaire, philanthropist, and novelist. According to Forbes magazine, in March 2025 she had a net worth of $28.2 billion, making her the 68th richest person in the world...
American business executive
Jerry Jones is an American business executive who is the owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, one of the world’s most valuable sports teams. Since he acquired the franchise in 1989, Dallas has won three...
Ethiopian-born chef
Marcus Samuelsson is an Ethiopian-born chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality. In 1995, as executive chef of Aquavit, a Scandinavian restaurant in New York City, Samuelsson, at age 24,...
United States senator
Rick Scott is an American Republican politician who was elected to represent the state of Florida in the U.S. Senate in 2018. He had previously served as governor of the state (2011–19). Scott was born...
British-American businesswoman
Jane Fraser holds the distinction of becoming the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. Appointed chief executive officer of Citigroup (C) in 2021, she took charge of an institution long criticized...
president of Paraguay
Horacio Cartes is a Paraguayan businessman and politician who was elected president of Paraguay in 2013, thereby restoring executive power to the centre-right Colorado Party, which had lost the presidency...
American computer programmer, businessman, and philanthropist
Bill Gates (born October 28, 1955, Seattle, Washington) is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur who cofounded Microsoft Corporation, the world’s largest personal-computer software company....
American actress and businesswoman
Priscilla Presley is an American actress and businesswoman best known for her marriage to musician Elvis Presley. Although they eventually divorced, she remained in the public eye and established an acting...
American industrialist and philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-born American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He was also one of the most important philanthropists...
American film producer
Harvey Weinstein is a former film producer who became a powerful figure in Hollywood as the cofounder and cochairman of Miramax Films (1979–2005) and later the Weinstein Company (2005–17). His movies won...
president of Panama
Ricardo Martinelli Panamanian businessman and politician who served as president of Panama (2009–14). Martinelli was educated primarily in the United States; he attended Staunton Military Academy in Virginia...
Indian businessman
Sunil Bharti Mittal is the billionaire founder and chair of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s largest conglomerates. The Bharti group owns businesses across a wide variety of sectors, including mobile...
American businessman
Barron Hilton (born October 23, 1927, Dallas; died September 19, 2019, Los Angeles) was an American businessman who led the Hilton family hotel empire and helped found the American Football League. He...
German economist and engineer
For more than half a century, Klaus Schwab presided over the World Economic Forum, transforming it from a modest European business gathering into one of the most visible global stages for political, corporate,...
French royal adviser
Jacques Coeur was a wealthy and powerful French merchant, who served as a councillor to King Charles VII of France. His career remains a significant example of the spirit of enterprise and the social progress...
Russian businessman
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a Russian oil tycoon and, at one time, was the richest man in Russia. He was imprisoned in 2003 on charges of fraud and tax evasion. One of Russia’s famed “oligarchs,” he was convicted...
American businessman
Phil Knight is an American businessman who cofounded (1964) the multinational sportswear and sports equipment corporation Nike, Inc. (originally called Blue Ribbon Sports). During his tenure as CEO (1964–2004),...
South Korean physician, educator, and entrepreneur
Ahn Cheol-Soo is a physician, educator, politician, and computer entrepreneur who founded AhnLab, Inc., South Korea’s largest Internet security firm. He later entered politics, establishing the People’s...
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