Very few people have the opportunity, vision and drive to influence a whole generation. Those that do have the opportunity very rarely take their opportunity to do just that because it is a major responsibility. This may be why some young entrepreneurs become disillusioned, but there is reassurance out there in the form of one man that grasped his opportunity with both hands. Russell Simmons is that man. The founder of Def Jam Records is undoubtedly a hip-hop pioneer and gave so much to his generation as well as future generations.

Growing Up

Russell Simmons was born on October 4, 1957 in Queens, New York and grew up in one of the roughest areas of the city. As such, he did fall in with a bad crowd and spent some of his formative years as a hustler on the streets. One thing he did have from his childhood though was a love of music and a drive to promote it as best as he could. He did get an education though and actually made the decision to go to City College of New York in Harlem in 1978. He studied sociology by day and promoted hip-hop gigs by night. However, the latter got the better of the former and he dropped out to follow his one true love.

The entrepreneur began promoting local music acts in New York and would wax lyrical about their talent if asked. It was while he was working the music scene that he met a college student by the name of Rick Rubin. Rubin and Simmons began to think that there was a better way to get the music of the likes of Kurtis Blow, Public Enemy, Run DMC and LL Cool J heard, and they founded Def Jam Records together in 1984. They soon found that their music was played on the radio on a regular basis and began to produce the albums of the stars mentioned above.

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Walt Disney is a world famous name. It is well known as a result of animated cartoons and films that have been released over a period in excess of a hundred years. However, it is easy to forget that the name of Walt Disney was actually the name of a creative and innovative entrepreneur. Walt Disney the man is hardly forgotten but his entrepreneurial achievements tend to fall by the wayside when the success of the company is examined. As a result, let us take a look at the man himself.

The Early Years Of The Man

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois but spent little of his childhood there. His parents financially struggled and so took the opportunity to move to Marceline, Missouri when it presented itself. His father’s brother had bought farmland and needed help to tend it. As the young entrepreneur was left to his own devices and had little interaction with children of his own age in the rural setting, he began to find ways and means to entertain himself and drawing was undoubtedly his favorite pastime. When Disney was 10 years old when his family moved again to Kansas City. There he attended school and met a friend named Walter Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer’s family introduced the young entrepreneur to the theater and movies, which captured his attention and set him on the path to becoming a worldwide legend.

The Early Years Of Disney

Walt Disney embarked on his drawing career in 1919. He would draw for newspapers and movie theaters to create advertisements before joining the Kansas City Film Ad Company. It was there where he was introduced to animation, although he did not stay long before opening his own animations company. Although his animation career started off slowly with short cartoons at the local movie theater, his work soon became popular.

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Robert L Johnson is one of the most recognisable African American faces in the United States today. As an entrepreneur and a billionaire, Robert Johnson has worked hard to get to where he is today. As the creator and founder of Black Entertainment Television, Johnson has made a massive impact on the visibility of African American issues in the public eye. As such, the entrepreneur is one of the most esteemed figures in the world of the rich and successful today.

Humble Beginnings

Robert Johnson was born on April 8, 1946 in Hickory, Mississippi, the ninth of ten children. His parents moved after Mississippi soon after Johnson was born and so he spent the vast majority of his early year in Freeport, Illinois. The budding entrepreneur always excelled at his studies, so much so that he was accepted into the University of Illinois for a degree in history and then for his Master’s degree at Princeton. He graduated in 1972. Johnson always had aspirations that elevated him above his peers. He was proud of being an African American and vowed to use his own talents to promote pride as far as possible.

Robert Johnson In The Media

The entrepreneur liked the idea of using the media to communicate with his peers because it could reach a far wider audience than would be possible through any other medium. His business skills enabled him to get funding for his fledgling business and also enabled him to turn his dreams into a reality. In 1980, Black Entertainment Television was launched and purposely targeted Black Americans all over the country. It appeared on cable for two hours every week to begin with but popular demand soon mounted so the station broadcast daily and then all day. It was soon attracting the attention of people all over the country and its popularity grew in no time at all.

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Giorgio Armani is a household name that the vast majority of people in the First World will know, even if they cannot put a face to the name. The brand is highly impressive and has been cemented over a number of years, but what about the man? Giorgio Armani is undoubtedly one of the most impressive fashion designers and entrepreneurs that ever lived. When you read his story you will undoubtedly be impressed by the way the man rose to the top of his profession the hard way, which is why he is an inspiration to everyone.

The Regular Armani

Giorgio Armani was born in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna in Italy on July 11, 1934. Little is known of his early life but his family must have been relatively wealthy because he originally studied medicine, which was a profession for the wealthy in the 1940s and 1950s. He attended medical college for two years before he decided that blood and gore was not for him. As such, he began working as a photographer and developed a love for the art before he was required to enlist for national service in 1957.

When the entrepreneur returned, he got a job in a department store, which he enjoyed. He was actually a window dresser. His flair and style for dressing the model began to get him noticed and also made up his mind that his future lay in designing clothes rather than working for someone else. With no formal training, the bussing entrepreneur decided that the only way to go was working from the bottom up, which is exactly what he did!

The Apprentice Turned Designer

Armani had gathered knowledge about marketing and merchandising as well as getting an eye for what looked good and what did not. Armed with this and a burning desire to succeed, he managed to impress Nino Cerruti, a successful designer, who then hired him as an apprentice.

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Jim Sinegal may not have a prominent name as far as consumers are concerned, but he most definitely does in the world of business. As the co-founder of Costco, Jim Sinegal has offered millions of people discounts for a number of years now. He has offered consumers a winning formula and thus is most definitely an entrepreneur that every aspiring entrepreneur can learn from in the future. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, and all of the reasons why can be found in his life story!

The Young Sinegal

James Sinegal was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1936. His birth date and the fact that he grew up in one of the biggest cities in the United States ensured that both World War II and the Korean War affected him. He freely admits to admiring the returning soldiers, although he was not old enough to enlist or be drafted into military service for either war. As such, he followed their example and developed character traits that would stand him in good stead later on in life.

Jim Sinegal learned qualities like respect and pride from watching the soldiers with his friends. Although he showed this early interest in the qualities needed of a business leader, he did not show much interest in school. This was evident in the fact that he was advised to complete an Associates program before he would be allowed to enrol at San Diego State University. That is exactly what he did. The entrepreneur found the focus he needed to achieve his degree and successfully completed it.

The Business Philosophy

It was at San Diego that Jim Sinegal learned to develop the business skills he needed to prosper when he eventually needed them, but he also found another important thing there. That is, he met Sol Price. Price was another aspiring entrepreneur. He had already founded Fed-Mart, where Sinegal worked, and also Price Club.

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Jennifer Lopez has one of the most recognisable faces in the world. As an artist in the entertainment industry she has had immeasurable success over the years, with numerous number one singles and albums all over the world and several film credits to her name. However, she is not given the credit she deserves for her entrepreneurial skills. Jennifer Lopez has certainly capitalised on her fame at every turn and has amassed a befitting fortune in the process. As such, she is an inspiration to people everywhere.

Growing Up In The Bronx

Jennifer Lopez was born in The Bronx, New York on July 24, 1969 to Puerto Rican parents. As one of the ethnic minorities that characterised the area at that time, it is no wonder that her parents struggled to make ends meet. Lopez and her siblings were often forced to go without as a result of the family’s desire to keep a roof above their heads. As such, Lopez was taught the value of money from an early age and developed an overwhelming urge to escape poverty.

Jennifer Lopez attended Preston High School and showed an early interest in the arts, which was nurtured by her teachers. After graduating from the all girls school, Lopez began to take acting and dance classes, all of which she financed herself by working several jobs to pay for them. Despite repeated auditions to be a dancer, she was rejected for almost all of them until she was finally selected as a dancer for her first music video in 1990. This was hardly the start the entrepreneur wanted but it paved her way into the music industry. 

The Show Business Years

Ambitious and determined to make it out of The Bronx, the budding entrepreneur danced in various videos and on shows for some years until she began to get roles in films in 1995. She had bit parts in various movies, including Money Train and Jack before landing a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s Selena.

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When considering the people that could be described as the greatest entrepreneurs of the 19h Century, Asa Candler is one man that has to rank high on the list. Asa Candler may not be a household name today, but his brand and legacy live on and no doubt will continue to do so beyond our lifetimes. The reason for this is that he was the man that introduced Coca Cola to the world. The brand is today recognised in every country of the world, but in 1887 it was still a recipe that was yet to be marketed. If it were not for Asa Candler, Coca Cola may not be the global brand it is today.

Early Beginnings

Born on December 30, 1851 in Villa Rica, Georgia, Asa Candler was not born into an entrepreneurial family, although he did have a privileged upbringing. As one of eleven siblings, he was taught to work hard and live by the rules of God. His parents were highly religious and his father was also an extremely successful merchant. As such, Asa Candler vowed to be just as successful as he grew up. This laid the foundations for his entrepreneurial ventures later in life. Although little is known of his education and childhood, Candler’s father instilled inspiration and business skills in his son that were to go a long way.

Early Business Ventures

Asa Candler began his journey as an entrepreneur in Atlanta, Georgia where he was a prescriptionist, or pharmacist as he would be called today. He manufactured patent medicines and was undoubtedly successful at it. In fact, Candler was amongst the most respected people in his community, so much so that individuals looking to market their inventions, tonics and medications, routinely approached him. This is how he was first introduced to a certain headache tonic that was to make him famous and rich in his time and legendary following his death on March 12, 1929.

The Coca Cola Company

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Jenna Jameson is not your average, run of the mill entrepreneur. In fact, she has taken an extremely unconventional path to wealth. Born Jennifer Marie Massoli on April 9, 1974, Jameson is one of the pornography industry’s leading moneymakers today as a result of her porn empire, entitled Club Jenna. However, her rise to entrepreneurial greatness has not been without its heartaches along the way. As such, Jenna Jameson has proven that, despite the odds being stacked against you, anyone can pull through and succeed.

The Early Years

Jenna Jameson’s childhood and her aspirations even from a young age were anything but conventional and probably set her on the path to pornography indirectly. Her father was a police officer, which is a noble profession in itself, but her mother was a Las Vegas showgirl. Despite the fact that she died when Jameson was a year old, Judith Massoli inspired her little girl to dance for a living.

Jenna Jameson’s entrepreneurial aspirations did get off to a bad start. Her family had little in terms of money because the cancer treatment her mother had sent them spiralling into bankruptcy. Jameson vowed that she would eventually rise above it and earn millions. She also struggled as a dancer, instead choosing a career as a $2000 a night stripper from the tender age of 17. Just two years later, in 1993, she starred in her first pornographic film. Numerous sexually explicit films followed and Jameson quickly made a name for herself on the porn scene. However, not satisfied with that, the budding entrepreneur vowed to do anything it took to be the biggest name in the business, and it did not take her long to achieve it.

The Birth Of Club Jenna

In 2000, Jenna Jameson had certainly made a name for herself and was earning in excess of $50,000 per DVD shoot.

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In early 2008, the Forbes Rich List noted that two people had amassed a personal fortune exceeding that of Bill Gates, the long-term head of the list. One of those men was Carlos Slim Helu. The entrepreneur made it to number two with $68 billion as a result of his amazing business acumen and his impressive list of achievements, thus making him the richest man in Latin America. His extensive business record literally speaks for itself and, as such, he can provide an excellent blueprint for young aspiring entrepreneur to follow. Luck, it seems, has nothing to do with it!

The Young Slim

Carlos Slim Helu was born in Mexico City on January 28, 1940. His father had previously moved to the area from Lebanon but displayed an amazing determination to succeed in the land that he had decided to call home. Not long after heading over to Mexico, Julian Slim opened La Estrella del Oriente, which was a dry goods store. It was relatively successful and allowed him to bring his family up in comfort. With the proceeds of the store, Slim went on to invest in real estate and found himself doing better than he ever believed that he could. Carlos Slim Helu certainly had an inspirational role model to look up to, which may explain why he was determined to do well in business.

Aside from these humble beginnings, very little is known about the childhood of Carlos Slim Helu. The entrepreneur was relatively sheltered. However, he did enjoy a great education at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He graduated with a degree in engineering and found that he had a talent for understanding complex technology. This was later used to establish his niche in the telecom industry.

Grupo Carso

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Today, many men and women use safety razors to get rid of excess hair on their bodies but just under a hundred years ago that was just not possible. Blades were forged and extremely dangerous to use if you were not skilled enough. However, one man effectively revolutionized modern grooming techniques – King Gillette. Without King Gillette’s vision and drive to market his unique and innovative ideas, we may still be living in the grooming dark ages. As such, the entrepreneur can certainly be held as an example of how forward thinking is a firm foundation for a business.

The Young Gillette

King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on January 5, 1855. Little is known about his early childhood, other than the fact that he moved to Chicago with his family while he was still a young child. He was definitely there by 1871 because the Great Chicago Fire decimated his family’s business that very year. The young entrepreneur was forced to work as a result of the fire as he needed to support his family.

King Gillette’s first job was as a traveling salesman but he viewed that for what it was – a stop gap until he had an idea and the resources to ensure that nothing would ever put his family’s livelihood in jeopardy again. It was during this time that he noticed the amount of maintenance his grooming tools needed. Continuously replacing his expensive razor blade was time consuming and troublesome. After realizing that this was the case, the entrepreneur had the idea to make it a whole lot easier to shave.

An Entrepreneur Is Born

Gillette soon formulated a plan to replace the old style razors. He wanted to make them more affordable for the common man but reap high profits in the process, and the entrepreneur did just that. The blade itself was simply a thin sheet of steel and was incredibly cheap to mass-produce.

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Steve Jobs is not really a household name, unlike his counterparts in the Information Technology industry. However, that is not to say that one cannot learn entrepreneurial skills from scrutinising his work because it is entirely possible to do so. In fact, despite his relative lack of fame, the achievements and investments that this entrepreneur has in his portfolio are nothing short of amazing.

Who Is Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955 and had a pretty unspectacular early life. He did fairly well at school but only lasted one semester at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He had no interest in studying, only in computers. His love of computer technology came from the Hewlett-Packard Company headquarters in Palo Alto, literally! He attended lectures after school there on a regular basis, even working there in the summer with friend Steve Wozniak.

In 1974, Jobs began to work for Atari before backpacking in India for some time. When he returned to Atari, Jobs was asked to create a circuit board. He asked Steve Wozniak to help out and a great partnership was born.

The Apple Years

The first years after the creation of Apple in 1976, were a little rough for the entrepreneur. Wozniak largely took care of the internal components of the Apple computer but Jobs was responsible for the business side of the operation. The entrepreneur’s business sense was amazing considering his lack of experience. This was to become invaluable when Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984. It was a huge success but Jobs was forced to leave the company two years later by CEO John Sculley after a series of rows that left Apple going in the wrong direction.

Steve Jobs branched out on his own and formed NeXT Computer.

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There are very few British entrepreneurs who are better known than Richard Branson. He is a world-renowned figure as a result of his sheer determination to use one brand to establish a presence in numerous industries and consumer driven sectors since the 1970s, which is extremely impressive given that he was once almost bankrupt. The entrepreneur is a prime example of what can be done if you put your mind to it and also that you can achieve entrepreneurial success in a number of guises rather than having to stick to one or interrelated industries. As a result, a lot can be learned from his path to success.

Early Entrepreneurial Offerings

Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born in Blackheath, South London on July 18, 1950 to a landed and titled family. It is fair to say that his upbringing was rather privileged as a result of that, which is mirrored in his education. The entrepreneur was a private school boy, attending both Bishopsgate School and Stowe School during his childhood. He could not have had a better education because it was the best that money could buy but Branson was unfortunately dyslexic and so struggled academically. However, his attitude seemed to suggest than he did not need an education to be successful in business.

The entrepreneur already had two businesses under his belt by the age of 15. He grew and sold Christmas trees and bred budgerigars. Despite the fact that both ventures failed, they had taught him all he needed to know about business in order to leave school at 16 and head to London to explore the world of business there. It was that year that Branson launched Student magazine, which was successful and made him the money he needed to embark upon his own entrepreneurial brand.

The Virgin Years

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If you ask the common man or woman on the street to name a film director then eight answers out of ten would always be the same man – Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg is one of the giants of the film industry as a result of a string of hit movies that he has made since the 1970s. He also has the major honour of being the highest grossing filmmaker of all time with a total that stands at the $8 billion mark. As such, the entrepreneur is an amazing example of what can be done in any given industry with a little perseverance and talent. Moreover, he has proved that major success is possible in an industry that is characterised by its fierce competition.

Early Life And Career

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 18, 1946, Steven Spielberg was born into a Jewish family that was extremely closely knit. As such, he had the freedom to enjoy his childhood without the burden that many of his generation of entrepreneurs did. He was making films from an early age and was amazingly making films that surpassed 30 minutes by the age of 13. In fact, it only took him until the age of 16 to make his first feature length independent film. His budget was $400 and he made a $100 profit!

After his move to California, Steven Spielberg tried to enrol in college to study film but was repeatedly rejected. Instead, he obtained an internship at Universal Studios where the entrepreneur learned how to use the editing suite. Although he did eventually get into college, Spielberg was hired by Universal Studios to be a television director and was the youngest director ever to work there. Spielberg knew that his opportunity would eventually come, and so it did a few years later when he was offered the opportunity to direct Jaws.

The Big Time

Jaws was a massive hit at the box office and catapulted the budding entrepreneur into the big time.

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Some modern entrepreneurs have an impressive formal education, but in years gone by those wanting to make the big money leagues had to learn the hard way. They had to learn via sheer hard work and they started at the bottom before climbing the ladder of success. A prime example of that old school philosophy was one of the greatest American fashion designers that ever lived, Calvin Klein. Today, Calvin Klein is a household name as a result of his success on the catwalk, but life was not always that way for the entrepreneur.

The Humble Beginnings Of Calvin Klein

Calvin Richard Klein was born in The Bronx, New York on November 19, 1942. His parents were Jewish-Hungarian immigrants and struggled to make ends meet. However, they had high hopes for their creative son, who won scholarships to both the High School of Industrial Art and then the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Although Klein showed promise, he failed to graduate after dropping out. With no contacts and no money, the future entrepreneur was forced to take a job at a suit manufacturer in 1962 and learned everything he needed to know about his trade there.

His apprenticeship in the world of fashion lasted five years, during which time he went from fashion store to fashion store until he had saved enough money to open his own fashion shop. It was then he met Baron de Gunzberg, the man that launched Calvin Richard Klein’s career into orbit.

New York Fashion

Calvin Klein’s work had attracted the attention of the Baron, who was the star of the New York fashion circle at that time, in 1968. It was through him that Klein began to meet the cream of the fashion crop and build a reputation as a fashion force. Klein’s style was undoubtedly minimalist and this trait ensured that his work was a hit.

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Larry Page and Sergey Brin are famous entrepreneurs that fulfilled the lifelong dream of many individuals all over the world by creating something from scratch that effectively made them billionaires. In fact, they did not just create any old thing but the company that revolutionized our use of the Internet. They founded Google Inc and the Google search engine. Both Page and Brin are still in their thirties and are worth around $18.7 billion each as of February 2008. Their entrepreneurial skills are an inspiration to millions, who all dream of doing the same thing.

Google Founders – The Early Years

Both Larry Page and Sergey Brin come from an extremely academic background. Larry Page, who was born on March 26, 1973, is the son of an influential and esteemed computer science professor, Doctor Carl Page. His mother also taught computer science at Michigan State University. As such, it was perhaps inevitable that he would also dedicate his academic career and his life to the sciences. He achieved a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan before moving on to Stanford University, which is where he met Sergey Brin.

Sergey Brin, on the other hand, serves as a different sort of inspiration. Larry Page proved that anything was possible in the entrepreneurial world with a good education, but Sergey Brin became an entrepreneur despite extremely humble beginnings. He was born in the Soviet Union in August 21, 1973 to a mother and father that were both mathematicians. Feeling that they could not give their children the life they deserved, Michael and Evgenia Brin moved to the United States in 1979. He followed the same academic path as his family but moved into computer science at the University of Maryland before enrolling in Stanford University.

The Making Of Google

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Henry Ford is one of the most prolific American entrepreneurs to ever have lived. Not only was he successful in his own right, but he also shaped the modern model of industry by improving his business practices and manufacturing lines. He is officially known as the founder of the assembly line today and made mass production of goods much easier and more cost effective. As a result, he is certainly an entrepreneur that individuals in the modern world can aspire to be. He was innovative, hard working and ambitious, three qualities that are essential to improve your station in the modern world.

Humble Beginnings

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Detroit, Michigan. His parents tended a farm so the entrepreneur grew up working the land alongside his father. However, he did have an interesting hobby that was to act as a sign of things to come even at that age. He was an expert at taking watches to pieces and then reassembling them. Ford was absolutely fascinated by the mechanics of it. He had already resolved that he would not take over the family farm because he absolutely hated working the land. As such, he worked hard to achieve an apprenticeship with a machinist in Detroit.

Henry Ford moved from company to company, forming a great career as a machinist and later as an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company, where he was promoted in 1893 to Chief Engineer. The position was extremely well paid and gave the entrepreneur the money and time he needed to be able to do what he loved – designing engines. He had discovered this passion a little earlier when he worked for a steam engine company but he wanted to experiment with engines that ran on gasoline. He did just that when he created a Ford Quadricycle in 1893. Effectively, the entrepreneur had just made his first car.

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Coco Chanel was a female entrepreneur living in a world that was dominated by men in the early 20th Century. She was undoubtedly light years ahead of her time and helped women everywhere by giving them the inspiration and drive to break out of traditional female roles within the home and branch out on their own. Chanel was one of the first women to buck the male conventions of business, and as such will go down in history as an important figure in women’s history, but what exactly did she do?

The Early Coco

Gabrielle Bonheaur Chanel was born on August 19, 1883 in a poorhouse in Auvergne, France. Her mother worked there to try and feed the family. However, Chanel only knew her mother for some six years before she died and was left in the care of equally poor relatives. Chanel was determined not to spend her life working her fingers to the bone as her mother had and began making different entrepreneurial plans at the age of 18.

Coco, as she became known during a brief spell as a café singer, realised that the only way for a woman to make it on her own was to make connections, which she happily did through two wealthy men, a French military man and an English industrialist. She had affairs with both and seemed to capture their hearts, but it was their wallets that they gladly opened to give her the start she so desperately wanted on her way to becoming an entrepreneur.

Coco Fashion In 1910

With the support of both men and their contacts, Chanel was able to open a millinery shop in Paris in 1910. It soon became popular with the ladies that followed fashion. However, this success was not enough for Chanel, who soon became one of the most popular designers in Paris. In fact, many experts argue today that it was Chanel and her entrepreneurial aspirations that made fashion as big an industry as it is today.

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If you are looking for an entrepreneur to aspire to be like or an individual with a lifestyle that you would absolutely love to lead then you now need to look no further. Larry Ellison fills all the criteria as laid out above. Not only is he one of the most powerful and richest men in the world but he has also got to where he wanted to go the hard way. In fact, sheer hard work enabled him to overcome his poor early start in life.

Larry Ellison’s Early Life

Lawrence Joseph Ellison was born in New York on August 17, 1944. At the time, his father had abandoned his mother, who was herself an unmarried Jew. Larry Ellison did not actually meet her until the age of 48 though because an aunt and uncle adopted him at birth. They lived in Chicago, which is where the entrepreneur grew up. His adoptive parents were not poor but they lost their fortune in the Depression. As he grew up, this made sure that Ellison was determined not to follow in their footsteps.

Larry Ellison was always a gifted student when he put his mind to it but, unless a subject interested him, he paid little attention. As such, he managed to get to the University of Illinois but left after just two years. A year later, he enrolled in the University of Chicago but quit after having his first taste of computer programming. He was hooked and knew exactly what he wanted to do for a living.

The Entrepreneurial Path

Larry Ellison moved to California shortly after dropping out of university and worked hard at several companies in order to eventually get a job at the Ampex Corporation in the early 1970s. It was there that he first designed the program that would ultimately make him a billionaire. He worked on a project that aimed to complete a comprehensive database for the CIA and during the process, the entrepreneur invented Oracle.

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Oprah Winfrey is one of the most recognisable faces on TV today. She has been such for some time, but recently the entrepreneur was recognised as one of the most powerful women in the world. Given her humble beginnings, her likeable personality and her philanthropic interests, she is certainly a beloved figure in America. However, she is also an esteemed entrepreneur who could certainly provide an amazing example for budding entrepreneurs, male and female alike, from all over the world.

Humble Beginnings

Oprah’s past is well documented as she has been extremely candid about her childhood and the motivation she has derived from those dark days. Her mother and father were both teenagers when she was born on January 29, 1954 in an impoverished part of Mississippi. Living hand to mouth, Oprah Winfrey grew up in abject poverty. She also experienced a horrendous rape at the tender age of 9. However, she was not to escape the area until the age of 14, when she was sent to Tennessee to live with her father after giving birth to an infant who lived only a few days.

It was in Tennessee that the entrepreneur received her first break. Determined that his daughter would do better than her mother had, her father made her education a priority. Although she attended Tennessee State University, Oprah already had a spot as an anchor on the local news at the age of 19. It was to be the first of many such roles that would ultimately lead to the conception of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah As A Media Mogul

In January 1984, The Oprah Winfrey Show hit the airwaves and quickly became a massive hit amongst old and young alike. Oprah soon became a household name in Chicago, where the show was originally aired, and then on a national level when it went nationwide in 1986. This makes it one of the longest running shows on TV at the moment.

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Puff Daddy used to be one of the figures in entertainment that nobody would want their children to look up to. Involved in crime and guns, he was not as much of an inspiration as an example of what not to grow up to be. However, Sean Combs, the man behind Puffy, became that inspiration when he turned his life around and became an esteemed entrepreneur with a string of business interests to his name. He is the archetypal bad boy turned good today, but with one major difference, his entrepreneurial skills all come from the desire to make a better life for his children than he had. As such he is truly an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to escape a poor childhood.

Humble Beginnings

Sean Combs was born in Harlem on November 4, 1969.  He grew up in the projects and had a lifestyle that could only be described as poor. His father was shot dead when Combs was just 3 years old as a result of his drug gang connections, thus leaving his mother to bring Combs up single-handed. She did the best she could, but Combs was determined not to live in poverty his entire life and set about changing it for the better.

Sean Combs began to show his entrepreneurial skills at Howard University, where he was better known as a party promoter than a student. It was this that led him to the job of intern at Uptown Records. Although he learned the ropes of the music business there, he was fired in 1993 because he made an enemy of the boss. Upon leaving, he created his own record label – Bad Boy Records. Little did he know that it was the moment that would lead to so much more and begin his quest as an entrepreneur. 

The Bad Boy Entrepreneur

Bad Boy Records quickly became one of the hottest labels in rap.

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