PICCONN: 50 Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

50 Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time

Entrepreneurs are the great achievers of our society who have the courage, determination and belief in themselves to pursue a dream, to overcome obstacles, to nurture ideas to fruition.

The greatest entrepreneurs are those who revolutionize business, open opportunities for others and change the way we think and live. Their impact is felt for generations. The SUCCESS 50 represents America's greatest entrepreneurs of all time.* They are self-made men and women representing a cross section of America, with innovations that opened up the West, heralded the Gilded Age, created an American middle class and ushered in the Information Age.

While we believe these men and women to be the best of the best, their accomplishments are varied and not easily compared and, therefore, they are not ranked on this list. Some of their names may not be familiar, but the impact of their accomplishments is enormous. The lessons we deduce from their ingenuity, spirit and determination are invaluable. With the SUCCESS 50, we bring you these timeless lessons, as applicable to your life and business today as they were in shaping the achievements of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time.

*When two people have built a business together, they are counted as one.

Industry

Ben Franklin
1706-1790

Henry Ford
1863-1947

John D. Rockefeller
1839-1937

Cyrus McCormick Sr.
1809-1884

Andrew Carnegie
1835-1919

Finance

Charles Schwab
b. 1937

Amadeo P. Giannini
1870-1949

J.P. Morgan
1837-1913

Charles Merrill
1885-1956