A collection of entrepreneurs and other business leaders from throughout history.
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Aaron Montgomery Ward (born 1843, died 1913)
American businessman.
- Founder of the first mail-order firm, which bears his name
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Adolphus Busch (born 1839, died 1913)
German-American businessman and philanthropist.
- Founder of the Anheuser-Busch brewery empire
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Alfred P. Sloan (born 1875, died 1966)
American industrialist.
- Chairman of the board of the General Motors Company
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Alfred C. Fuller (born 1885, died 1973)
Canadian-American businessman.
- Founded the Fuller Brush Company
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Alfred Krupp (born 1812, died 1887)
German armaments magnate.
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Amadeo Peter Giannini (born 1870, died 1949)
American banker.
- Founded the Bank of America Corporation
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Andrew W. Mellon (born 1855, died 1937)
American financier and industrialist.
- U.S. treasury secretary, 1921-31
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Aristotle Onassis (born 1906, died 1975)
Second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
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Armand Hammer (born 1898, died 1990)
American businessman.
- Headed Occidental Petroleum; established America''s first business contacts with the Soviet Union
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Asa Candler (born 1851, died 1929)
American businessman.
- Founded the Coca-Cola Company
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August Belmont (born 1816, died 1890)
German-American financier.
- Founded the August Belmont & Company banking house
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Avery Fisher
American industrialist.
- Founded the Fisher Electronics Company
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Charles E. Wilson (born 1890, died 1961)
American industrialist and statesman.
- President of General Motors, 1941-53; U.S. secretary of defense, 1952-57
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Charles E. Merrill (born 1885, died 1956)
American financier.
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Charles Crocker (born 1822, died 1888)
American railroad builder and financier.
- President of the Southern Pacific Railroad
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Clement Studebaker (born 1831, died 1901)
American wagon and carriage maker.
- Founded H.& C. Studebaker, which later evolved into an important automobile manufacturing company
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Collis Potter Huntington (born 1821, died 1900)
American merchant and railroad pioneer.
- Founded the mercantile company Huntington & Hopkins
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Cornelius Vanderbilt (born 1794, died 1877)
American financier.
- A pioneer in the steamship and railroad industries
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David Sarnoff (born 1891, died 1971)
Russian-American engineer and businessman who founded the NBC radio network.
- Broadcasting pioneer who was instrumental in the development of both radio and television
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DeWitt Wallace (born 1889, died 1981)
American editor and publisher.
- Co-founder of Reader''s Digest magazine
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Edward H. Harriman (born 1848, died 1909)
American financier and railroad executive.
- Railroad magnate involved with the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Central Pacific Railroads
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Elbert H. Gary (born 1846, died 1927)
American lawyer and businessman.
- Iinstrumental in organizing U.S. Steel, the largest industrial corporation in the world
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Eleuthère I. Du Pont de Nemours (born 1771, died 1834)
French-American industrialist.
- Founded a gunpowder plant that later developed into the multinational chemical company that bears his name
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Erastus Corning (born 1792, died 1872)
American financier.
- Headed the New York Central Railroad
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Ezra Cornell
American businessman who established Cornell University.
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Francis W. Ayer (born 1848, died 1923)
American advertising pioneer.
- Founded the N.W. Ayer & Son advertising firm
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Frank W. Woolworth (born 1852, died 1919)
American merchant.
- Founder of the famous ''''five and dime'''' chain stores bearing his name.
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George Eastman (born 1854, died 1932)
American inventor, industrialist and philanthropist.
- Treasurer and general manager of the Eastman Kodak Company
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George Westinghouse (born 1846, died 1914)
American inventor and manufacturer. Invented air brakes and the automatic signaling system.
- Founded the Westinghouse Electric Company
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Gerard Swope (born 1872, died 1957)
American economist and industrialist.
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Gustavus Swift (born 1839, died 1957)
American businessman.
- A pioneer in the meat-packing business; founded Swift & Company
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Harvey S. Firestone (born 1868, died 1938)
American industrialist.
- Founded the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
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Henry Ford (born 1863, died 1947)
American industrialist. An early champion of assembly-line manufacturing.
- Launched a transportation revolution by mass-producing affordable automobiles
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Henry J. Heinz (born 1844, died 1919)
American businessman.
- Founded the H.J. Heinz food empire
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Henry J. Kaiser (born 1882, died 1967)
American industrialist.
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Henry E. Huntington (born 1850, died 1927)
American businessman and philanthropist.
- Railroad builder, art collector, and real-estate mogul
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Henry Villard (born 1835, died 1900)
German-American journalist, railroad executive and financier. Original name: Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard.
- President and chairman of the board of the Northern Pacific Railroad; helped Thomas Edison found the Edison General Electric Company
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Herbert H. Dow (born 1866, died 1930)
American chemist and industrialist.
- Founded the Dow Chemical Company
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Howard Johnson (born 1896, died 1972)
American businessman.
- Founded the hotel chain that bears his name
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Howard R. Hughes (born 1905, died 1976)
Eccentric American billionaire who became a recluse in later life. Built the Spruce Goose, the world's largest wooden aircraft.
- Industrialist, financier, aviator, and film producer
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Jakob Fugger (born 1459, died 1525)
German banker known as ''Jakob the Rich.''
- Headed a prominent banking and trading house
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James C. Penney (born 1875, died 1971)
American businessman.
- Founded the department-store chain that bears his name
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James Buchanan Brady (born 1856, died 1917)
American financier.
- Known as ''''Diamond Jim'''' for his flamboyant lifestyle and love of precious gems
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James Duke (born 1856, died 1925)
American businessman who established Duke University.
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James Jerome Hill (born 1838, died 1916)
Canadian-American financier and railroad magnate.
- Founded the Great Northern Railroad
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James McGill (born 1744, died 1813)
Scottish-born Canadian businessman.
- Founded McGill University
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Jay Cooke (born 1821, died 1905)
American banker.
- Sold a billion dollars in bonds to help finance the U.S. government during the Civil War
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Jay Gould (born 1836, died 1892)
American financier and railroad magnate.
- His attempt to corner the gold market was largely responsible for the Black Friday panic of 1868
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Jean Paul Getty (born 1892, died 1976)
American businessman, art collector, and author.
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John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1874, died 1960)
American philanthropist.
- Developed the Rockefeller Foundation and built Rockefeller Center in New York City
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John D. Rockefeller (born 1839, died 1937)
American industrialist and philanthropist.
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John Wanamaker (born 1838, died 1922)
American businessman and philanthropist. Served as U.S. postmaster general from 1889 to 1893.
- Pioneered department-store merchandising
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John Pierpont ''J.P.'' Morgan (born 1837, died 1913)
American financier.
- One of the most powerful figures in the history of American finance and industry
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John Jacob Astor (born 1763, died 1848)
German-American businessman.
- Fur trader, banker and real-estate magnate
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Amasa Leland Stanford (born 1824, died 1893)
American railroad builder.
- Founded Stanford University
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Levi Strauss (born 1829, died 1902)
American businessman who invented blue jeans.
- His vast clothing empire began with sales of denim pants to miners in California
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Malcolm Forbes (born 1919, died 1990)
American magazine publisher.
- One of the richest men in the world; known for the lavish birthday parties he threw for himself
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Marcus Daly (born 1841, died 1900)
Irish-American miner and businessman.
- Co-founded the Anaconda Mining Company; founded the Amalgamated Copper Company
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Marshall Field (born 1834, died 1906)
American businessman and philanthropist.
- Founded the department-store chain that bears his name
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Meyer A. Rothschild (born 1743, died 1812)
German-Jewish financier.
- Founded a European banking dynasty; advised and aided Napoleon''s opponents
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Meyer Guggenheim (born 1828, died 1905)
Swiss-American copper magnate.
- Patriarch of a prominent family of business leaders and philanthropists
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Minor C. Keith (born 1848, died 1929)
American railroad magnate.
- Founded the United Fruit Company
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Nathan Straus (born 1848, died 1931)
German-American business executive.
- Headed Macy''s Department Store
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Ray A. Kroc (born 1902, died 1984)
American businessman.
- Founded the McDonald''s Corporation in 1955
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Richard Sears (born 1863, died 1914)
American businessman.
- Founded the R. W. Sears Watch Company, a mail-order company that developed into the Sears department-store chain
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Sam Walton (born 1918, died 1992)
American businessman.
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Samuel Cunard (born 1787, died 1865)
Canadian-born British merchant and shipping magnate.
- Founded the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, more commonly known as the Cunard Line
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Stephen Girard (born 1750, died 1831)
French-American financier and philanthropist.
- At the time of his death, he was the richest man in America
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Theodore N. Vail (born 1845, died 1920)
American businessman.
- Headed American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T)
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Thomas Fortune Ryan (born 1851, died 1928)
American financier.
- A founder of the American Tobacco Company
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Thomas Lipton (born 1850, died 1931)
Scottish merchant.
- Founded the tea company that bears his name
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Walt Disney (born 1901, died 1966)
American pioneer of cinematic animation.
- Built a vast entertainment empire
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Walter L. Jacobs (born 1898, died 1985)
American businessman.
- Founded the first car-rental agency
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Will K. Kellogg (born 1860, died 1951)
American businessman and philanthropist.
- Founded the breakfast-food company that bears his name
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William Wrigley, Jr. (born 1861, died 1932)
American businessman.
- Founded the chewing-gum company that bears his name
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William C. Durant (born 1861, died 1947)
American industrialist.
- Formed General Motors (GM)
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William S. Paley (born 1901, died 1990)
American businessman.
- Headed the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
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William Randolph Hearst (born 1866, died 1951)
American newspaper and magazine publisher.
- U.S. representative from New York, 1903-07
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Andrew Carnegie (born 1835, died 1919)
Scottish-American businessman, philanthropist, author, and peace advocate.
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Conrad ''Nicky'' Hilton, Jr. (born 1887, died 1979)
American hotel magnate.
- Founded the Hilton Hotel Corporation
- Founded the Hilton Hotel Corporation
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Haroldson Lafayette ''H.L.'' Hunt (born 1889, died 1974)
American businessman.
- Founded the Hunt Oil Company
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William George Fargo (born 1818, died 1881)
American businessman.
- Co-founder of the Wells-Fargo stagecoach company
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Osei Tutu (born 1636, died 1712)
Seventeenth century African ruler.
- Founder of the Asante kingdom in West Africa
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Obafemi Awolowo (born 1909, died 1987)
Nigerian statesman.
- Former prime minister of the Western Region of Nigeria
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Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola (born 1937, died 1998)
Nigerian multimillionaire businessman.
- Publisher, Concord group of newspapers, Lagos, Nigeria
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Wallace Amos, Jr. (born 1936)
American businessman.
- Founded the Famous Amos Chocolate Cookie Company in 1975
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Akio Morita (born 1921, died 1999)
Japanese scientist and businessman
