Most Famous Business People in the World

100 Business People in view out of 1,865

Business 1,865
All 152,953
Donald Trump
Donald Trump American Magnate Born 1946
#2
Henry Ford
Henry Ford American Entrepreneur 1863 – 1947
#373
Elon Musk
Elon Musk South African Magnate Born 1971
#925
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie American Industrialist 1835 – 1919
#1,166
Jimmy Wales
Jimmy Wales American Trader Born 1966
#1,413
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg American Entrepreneur Born 1984
#1,512
John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller American Entrepreneur 1839 – 1937
#1,641
Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler German Entrepreneur 1908 – 1974
#1,941
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus Bangladeshi Entrepreneur Born 1940
#1,993
Ingvar Kamprad
Ingvar Kamprad Swedish Business 1926 – 2018
#5,150
Larry Page
Larry Page American Entrepreneur Born 1973
#5,482
Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki American Business Born 1947
#5,653
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV American Entrepreneur 1864 – 1912
#6,177
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor German Entrepreneur 1763 – 1848
#7,222
Rafic Hariri
Rafic Hariri Lebanese Business 1944 – 2005
#7,616
Akio Morita
Akio Morita Japanese Business 1921 – 1999
#8,215
Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault French Business Born 1949
#8,934
Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn Brazilian Entrepreneur Born 1954
#10,150
Sam Walton
Sam Walton American Entrepreneur 1918 – 1992
#11,307
Pierre Bergé
Pierre Bergé French Business 1930 – 2017
#11,668
Jack Welch
Jack Welch American Business 1935 – 2020
#12,522
Giovanni Agnelli
Giovanni Agnelli Italian Entrepreneur 1866 – 1945
#12,831
Anthony Fokker
Anthony Fokker Dutch Manufacturer 1890 – 1939
#12,834
Conrad Hilton
Conrad Hilton American Entrepreneur 1887 – 1979
#13,170
Calouste Gulbenkian
Calouste Gulbenkian British Business 1869 – 1955
#13,955
SH
Soichiro Honda Japanese Business 1906 – 1991
#14,118
Thomas J. Watson
Thomas J. Watson American Entrepreneur 1874 – 1956
#14,971
Basil Zaharoff
Basil Zaharoff Greek Trader 1849 – 1936
#15,409
Enrico Mattei
Enrico Mattei Italian Entrepreneur 1906 – 1962
#15,703
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone British Business Born 1930
#15,811
J. Bruce Ismay
J. Bruce Ismay British Business 1862 – 1937
#16,229
Jay Gould
Jay Gould American Entrepreneur 1836 – 1892
#16,327
Thomas Andrews
Thomas Andrews British Business 1873 – 1912
#16,660
Ivar Kreuger
Ivar Kreuger Swedish Business 1880 – 1932
#17,097
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick American Entrepreneur 1849 – 1919
#17,244
David Packard
David Packard American Entrepreneur 1912 – 1996
#17,281
Marissa Mayer
Marissa Mayer American Executive Born 1975
#17,567
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss American Entrepreneur 1829 – 1902
#18,035
Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden Canadian Entrepreneur 1878 – 1966
#19,273
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins American Entrepreneur 1795 – 1873
#20,925
Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman American Business Born 1956
#21,488
Hanns Martin Schleyer
Hanns Martin Schleyer German Entrepreneur 1915 – 1977
#21,665
Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon American Business Born 1970
#21,711
Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell American Entrepreneur Born 1943
#23,007
Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Mittal Indian Business Born 1950
#23,231
Henry J. Kaiser
Henry J. Kaiser American Industrialist 1882 – 1967
#23,274
Estée Lauder (businesswoman)
Estée Lauder (businesswoman) American Entrepreneur 1906 – 2004
#23,420
Li Ka-shing
Li Ka-shing Hong Konger Entrepreneur Born 1928
#23,846
Juan Trippe
Juan Trippe American Entrepreneur 1899 – 1981
#23,884
George Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner American Business 1930 – 2010
#24,702
Fritz Thyssen
Fritz Thyssen German Business 1873 – 1951
#24,754
RZ
Robert Zoellick American Bank Born 1953
#24,854
AO
Amancio Ortega Spanish Entrepreneur Born 1936
#25,098
Jérôme Kerviel
Jérôme Kerviel French Trader Born 1977
#25,562
Paul Rusesabagina
Paul Rusesabagina Rwandan Entrepreneur Born 1954
#25,715
Adriano Olivetti
Adriano Olivetti Italian Entrepreneur 1901 – 1960
#28,613
Adolf Dassler
Adolf Dassler German Entrepreneur 1900 – 1978
#29,141
Shibusawa Eiichi
Shibusawa Eiichi Japanese Business 1840 – 1931
#29,995
TO
Taiichi Ohno Japanese Business 1912 – 1990
#30,074
JT
John Templeton British Business 1912 – 2008
#30,237
Frank Winfield Woolworth
Frank Winfield Woolworth American Merchant 1852 – 1919
#31,248
François Pinault
François Pinault French Business Born 1936
#31,780
Gene Amdahl
Gene Amdahl American Entrepreneur 1922 – 2015
#31,810
Masaru Ibuka
Masaru Ibuka Japanese Entrepreneur 1908 – 1997
#32,082
Al-Waleed bin Talal
Al-Waleed bin Talal Saudi Arabian Entrepreneur Born 1955
#32,093
John Deere (inventor)
John Deere (inventor) American Manufacturer 1804 – 1886
#32,998
Henry Flagler
Henry Flagler American Merchant 1830 – 1913
#33,024
AG
Asa Griggs Candler American Entrepreneur 1851 – 1929
#33,181
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore Italian Entrepreneur Born 1950
#34,094
Beate Uhse-Rotermund
Beate Uhse-Rotermund German Entrepreneur 1919 – 2001
#35,322
Madam C. J. Walker
Madam C. J. Walker American Entrepreneur 1867 – 1919
#37,115
Harvey S. Firestone
Harvey S. Firestone American Entrepreneur 1868 – 1938
#37,409
Jamsetji Tata
Jamsetji Tata British Entrepreneur 1839 – 1904
#37,685
Momofuku Ando
Momofuku Ando Japanese Business 1910 – 2007
#37,724
Savva Mamontov
Savva Mamontov Russian Industrialist 1841 – 1918
#38,007
Peter George Peterson
Peter George Peterson American Entrepreneur 1926 – 2018
#38,231
Friedrich Flick
Friedrich Flick German Business 1883 – 1972
#38,492
Masayoshi Son
Masayoshi Son Japanese Entrepreneur Born 1957
#38,654
Verghese Kurien
Verghese Kurien Indian Entrepreneur 1921 – 2012
#39,151
Milton S. Hershey
Milton S. Hershey American Entrepreneur 1857 – 1945
#39,690
Alexander Andreyevich Baranov
Alexander Andreyevich Baranov Russian Trader 1746 – 1819
#39,772
Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Shuttleworth South African Entrepreneur Born 1973
#42,147
Eugène Schneider
Eugène Schneider French Industrialist 1805 – 1875
#42,569
TB
Thomas Blake Glover British Business 1838 – 1911
#43,070
Evan Williams (Internet entrepreneur)
Evan Williams (Internet entrepreneur) American Entrepreneur Born 1972
#45,084
Kiichiro Toyoda
Kiichiro Toyoda Japanese Entrepreneur 1894 – 1952
#45,461
Axel Wenner-Gren
Axel Wenner-Gren Swedish Business 1881 – 1961
#45,582
Charles M. Schwab
Charles M. Schwab American Manufacturer 1862 – 1939
#45,623
YR
Yves Rocher French Entrepreneur 1930 – 2009
#45,631
Jim Thompson (designer)
Jim Thompson (designer) American Entrepreneur 1906 – 1967
#46,083
Dana White
Dana White American Entrepreneur Born 1969
#47,289
Josef Ackermann
Josef Ackermann Swiss Bank Born 1948
#47,375
Jean-Baptiste André Godin
Jean-Baptiste André Godin French Industrialist 1817 – 1888
#47,550
Cyrus West Field
Cyrus West Field American Entrepreneur 1819 – 1892
#47,861
Arthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness Irish Entrepreneur 1725 – 1803
#49,335
Konstanty Ostrogski
Konstanty Ostrogski Lithuanian Magnate 1460 – 1530
#50,131
H. L. Hunt
H. L. Hunt American Business 1889 – 1974
#52,490
Suleyman Kerimov
Suleyman Kerimov Russian Business Born 1966
#52,888
William Jardine (merchant)
William Jardine (merchant) British Entrepreneur 1784 – 1843
#52,896
Dietrich Mateschitz
Dietrich Mateschitz Austrian Entrepreneur Born 1944
#53,213

By the numbers

Inside Business People

1,865 notable people in this slice of the dataset.

Through the Centuries

One face per century — the leading figure from Business People born in each.

Notable Births by Decade

Notable births among Business People peaked in the 1940s with 164 people.

What Business People Are Known For

Disciplines inside this family, plus countries that over- and under-produce them.

Business is the largest group within Business People — 804 people, 43% of the family.

Business People over-index on china — 1.7× the global rate.

Business People under-produce russia — only 0.5× the global rate.

  1. Business804
  2. Entrepreneur545
  3. Bank141
  4. Merchant87
  5. Manager78
  6. Manufacturer60
  7. Industrialist34
  8. Chief Executive33
  1. China351.7×
  2. Canada741.6×
  3. Germany3581.5×
  1. Russia260.5×

City Hot Spots

Cities that over-produce Business People compared to the world average — multiplier shows how much more.