K. Shelby Skrhak is Managing Web Editor for SUCCESS magazine. She is a working mom, award-winning journalist and blogger.

Business / Entrepreneurship

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

Media

Martha Stewart
b. 1941

David Sarnoff
1891-1971

Robert Johnson
b. 1946

Oprah Winfrey
b. 1954

Technology

George Eastman
1854-1932

Steve Jobs
b. 1955

Michael Dell
b. 1965

Bill Gates
b. 1955

Thomas Alva Edison
1847-1931

Ross Perot
b. 1930

Consumer Goods

Estee Lauder
1908-2004

Madam C.J. Walker
1867-1919

Asa Candler
1851-1929

W.K. Kellogg
1860-1951

Milton Hershey
1857-1945

Eberhard Anheuser
1805-1880
Adolphus Busch
1839-1913

Franchising

Ray Kroc
1902-1984

Harland Sanders
1890-1980

Juan Trippe
1899-1981

Transporation

Herb Kelleher
b. 1931

Fred W. Smith
b. 1944

William S. Harley
1880-1943
Arthur Davidson
1881-1950

Retail

Aaron Mongomery Ward
1843-1913

Sam Walton
1918-1992

Richard Sears
1863-1914
Alvah Roebuck
1864-1948

Fashion

Ralph Lauren
b. 1939

Levi Strauss
1829-1902

Phil Knight
b. 1938

Entertainment

P.T. Barnum
1810-1891

Louis B. Mayer
1885-1957

Walt Disney
1901-1966

Berry Gordy Jr.
b. 1929

George Lucas
b. 1944

Hospitality

William Becker
1921-2007
Paul Greene
1914-1994

J.W. Marriott Jr.
b. 1932

Conrad Hilton Sr.
1887-1979

Internet

Jeff Bezos
b. 1964

Steve Case
b. 1958

Pierre Omidyar
b. 1967

Larry Page
b. 1973
Sergey Brin
b. 1973

Who's Missing?

Tell us who you think should of made the list and why.

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Where is Nikola Tesla? The greatest inventor of all time in technology. Thomas Edison is glorified by white america. Tesla should be studied in school, Edison as a secondary study.

These people are all fabulous examples of what great business people have to do in order to become greatly successful. Keep in mind that no matter what your goals are perseverance is an ultimate condition to your success. In order to take advantage of the opportunity planted by adversity, you must persevere. http://tinyurl.com/9uqz3eh All my Best, Jess

Steve Wozniak needs into this list on the same line as Jobs. Jobs did indeed end up as a 'business manager' but as entrepreneurs the two should be tied together.