Explorers & Business
53 entries in the Historical Figures compendium.
Andrew CarnegieScottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who gave away most of his fortune.Henry FordIndustrialist who made automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans.Howard HughesAviator, filmmaker, and magnate who shaped aviation and Hollywood.Bill GatesCo-founder of Microsoft and leading philanthropist.Warren BuffettAmerican investor and philanthropist, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.Jay CookeFirst major U.S. investment banker and Civil War financier.Carl IcahnAmerican businessman and activist investor who pioneered shareholder pressure.Andrew MellonBanker, Treasury secretary, and industrialist who shaped 1920s tax policy.Michael MilkenFinancier who pioneered the junk bond market and was later convicted.J. P. MorganAmerican financier who dominated Wall Street during the Gilded Age.Paul AllenCo-founder of Microsoft, philanthropist, and investor.Steve BallmerMicrosoft CEO who tripled sales but missed smartphone trends.Jeff BezosFounder of Amazon, the world's largest online retailer.Michael BloombergBusinessman, mayor, and philanthropist who founded Bloomberg L.P.Sergey BrinCo-founder of Google and Alphabet Inc.James H. ClarkEntrepreneur and computer scientist who founded Silicon Graphics and Netscape.Michael DellFounder of Dell Technologies, a leading tech infrastructure company.Melinda French GatesAmerican philanthropist and former Microsoft executive.Larry PageCo-founder of Google and creator of the PageRank algorithm.Clive SinclairEnglish inventor and entrepreneur who pioneered home computing.Thomas J. WatsonIBM chairman who built a global tabulating-machine empire.Jerry YangCo-founder of Yahoo! and venture capitalist.King C. GilletteInventor of the disposable safety razor blade.Robert BoschGerman engineer and founder of the Bosch company.Akio MoritaJapanese entrepreneur and co-founder of Sony.Matthew BoultonEnglish businessman and partner of James Watt in steam engines.William Knox D'ArcyBusinessman who founded the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, later BP.J. Paul GettyAmerican oil magnate and founder of the Getty Oil Company.Calouste GulbenkianArmenian-British oil magnate who opened Middle East petroleum to the West.H. L. HuntOil tycoon who built a fortune from the East Texas Oil Field.Mikhail KhodorkovskyExiled Russian oligarch and opposition activist.John D. RockefellerFounder of Standard Oil and pioneering philanthropist.John D. Rockefeller Jr.Financier, philanthropist, and developer of Rockefeller Center.George WestinghouseInventor of the railway air brake and AC power pioneer.Freddy HeinekenDutch brewer who globalized Heineken and survived a 1983 kidnapping.Henry J. HeinzAmerican entrepreneur who co-founded the H. J. Heinz Company.Milton S. HersheyAmerican chocolatier who mass-produced milk chocolate and built a company town.Ray KrocBusinessman who built McDonald's into a global fast food empire.Roger AilesTelevision executive and conservative media consultant.William CaxtonFirst to introduce printing press to England, 1476.Aldus ManutiusItalian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press.Rupert MurdochAustralian-born American media mogul who built a global news empire.Kerry PackerAustralian media tycoon who founded World Series Cricket.David SarnoffBusinessman who shaped American radio and television broadcasting.Ted TurnerMedia magnate who created CNN and revolutionized cable television.Éleuthère Irénée du PontFrench-American chemist who founded a major gunpowder company.Basil ZaharoffArms dealer who sold to both sides of conflicts.Meyer GuggenheimPatriarch of the Guggenheim family and mining magnate.Marc RichCommodities trader who founded Glencore and received a controversial pardon.John Jacob AstorGerman-born American who became the first multi-millionaire in the United States.G. D. BirlaIndian industrialist who diversified family business and founded major institutions.Richard BransonEnglish entrepreneur who founded the Virgin Group.Mohamed Al-FayedEgyptian businessman who owned Harrods and faced widespread abuse allegations.
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