Hugh Hefner is a name that the majority of adults have heard of and can easily put a face to the name. This is largely because Hugh Hefner is undoubtedly the king of porn and has been for quite some years. Although his route to becoming an entrepreneur was anything but conventional, the empire he has built up is undoubtedly one of the most impressive ever seen! As such, he is an entrepreneur that many individuals could learn a little something from.

The Pre-Playboy Years

Hugh Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926. His early life was a relatively happy time. His family was relatively wealthy and Hefner enjoyed a carefree childhood. However, as he was old enough to enlist when America entered World War II, Hefner enlisted to serve during the final few months of the battle. It was not until he got back from his service duties that he began to develop his business skills and, more importantly, the concept behind his business.

The entrepreneur claims to have had an epiphany of what he was to do with his life when he was in full time education at the University of Illinois. He graduated in 1949 after less than three years of majoring in psychology. During that period, Hefner was also honing his skills of editing and publishing by gaining a role editing Shaft magazine and submitting cartoons to various publications. Although it was an auspicious start given the role that he would eventually play in a certain magazine’s rise to notoriety, it gave him the entrepreneurial drive to start his very own magazine.

The Sexual Revolution

Sex was still very much a taboo in the 1950s, but it was also an untapped market as a result of that. Hugh Hefner undoubtedly spotted that the tide of public opinion was turning, society was changing and there was a huge gap in the market.

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Modern entrepreneurs have one thing in common for the most part – they use the Internet to great effect. Many may use it for marketing purposes, some use it to build their business but some actually start Internet business revolutions and experience tremendous success. Elon Musk is one example of that. He is the creator of PayPal and so is responsible for a quick and easy pay system that has revolutionized the way people can conduct the finances of business and pleasure online. However, his entrepreneurial ventures do not end there. As such, his methods provide a great template for other budding entrepreneurs to follow.

Childhood And Technology

Elon Musk was born in South Africa on June 28, 1971. His father was an engineer in South Africa and exhibited an obsession with his work. As such, Musk also picked that obsession up and began tinkering with technology and computers in his spare time. The entrepreneur invested in his first computer at the age of 10 and set about learning the inner workings of it, including the programming. He used the knowledge he gained from it to teach himself how to program. Just two years later, he had created and sold his very first piece of software.

Elon Musk left South Africa in 1988. Although he was still just 17 and leaving without his parents, the entrepreneur knew that he had to head to North America to make a living from his love of technology. He initially attended Queen’s University in Ontario as his mother was Canadian and thus he was able to live there legally. However, he soon obtained a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania, or more specifically the Wharton School, to study economics. When he graduated with a degree in economics and also one in physics, Musk knew exactly what he wanted to do in the world of business.

Entrepreneurial Empire

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There are few names that are as huge in the film industry today as George Lucas. The entrepreneur has had a massive impact on film since the 1970s and has undoubtedly influenced this generation of potential film directors and producers. In some ways, George Lucas actually revolutionized the industry in the 1980s because he was part of the blockbuster innovation along with Steven Spielberg. The entrepreneur’s story is certainly a fascinating one.

The Young George Lucas

George Walton Lucas Jr was born on May 14, 1944 in Modesto, California as one of four children. His father was a traveling salesman so the family got by, but Lucas often found himself frustrated. He did not like school and really did not care whether he got good grades or not, which may go some way to explaining why he often barely passed. He was undoubtedly more creative than academic, which ensured that he did not always see eye to eye with his father. However, he had no intention of pursuing the course of an artist until he almost died in a serious car accident in his senior year of high school. The entrepreneur’s perception and attitude towards life undoubtedly changed and he decided to attend Modesto Junior College to study social sciences.

George Lucas discovered film and photography while at college and started making his own films as a direct result. He began with an 8mm camera and soon found it to be his calling. As such, he moved from Modesto to study film at the University of Southern California. Animation, cinematography and editing all captured his imagination and the entrepreneur resolved to become a film director after graduation. His cause was helped by the fact that he won several awards for a short film he produced called THX-1138: 4EB.

Into The Film Business

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There are a few names that are synonymous with the candy that is sold in various retail outlets today, and many of them have been around for years. Hershey is one of them but would have never came into being if it were not for the dream of a humble farm boy from Pennsylvania. Milton Hershey fell into the candy trade by accident but is now king of it, despite the fact that he died over 60 years ago. The entrepreneur has earned legendary status and you can read on to find out how and why.

The Chocolate King Is Born

Milton Snavely Hershey was born on September 13, 1957 in Derry Church, Pennsylvania. His parents lived in a farming community and made a living off the land. However, during the entrepreneur’s early childhood, the family moved a lot. An unsettled Hershey barely managed to attend school and make friends before they were on the move again. As a direct result, he left school after completing the fourth grade, which was early even by the standards of the time.

Milton Hershey was determined to settle down and make a living but his first foray into the world of work was hardly a success. He began an apprenticeship with a printer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but absolutely hated the business. He persevered for a few weeks before deciding to move on to pastures new. Remaining in the town, the entrepreneur managed to get another apprenticeship but this time with a candy maker. Finding that he loved it, he stayed for four years and then put his knowledge to good use by setting up his own candy business.

The Beginnings Of Hershey Foods

Milton Hershey’s first few ventures into the candy industry were nothing short of a disaster. He did not make any money at all from his first three business ventures and moved home to Lancaster in 1883.

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Vincent Kennedy McMahon is undoubtedly one of the most successful entertainment entrepreneurs of the late 20th and early 21st Century. McMahon is famous worldwide for his alter ego “Mr. McMahon” in World Wrestling Entertainment today, but the way in which he built up the WWE is simply astonishing. Before he took over his father’s wrestling territory, the business was characterised by several companies working within set boundaries. Now, however, the wrestling world is united owing to the actions of the most powerful billionaire to ever work within the business.

Humble Beginnings

Vince McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina on August 24, 1945. His childhood was anything but spectacular as his mother and father split up before McMahon was old enough to know a family life. As such, the entrepreneur knew what it meant to be poor. This reportedly spurred him on and gave him the determination to succeed in later life. McMahon attended East Carolina University and graduated with a business degree. However, his earliest foray into the business world was as a travelling salesman owing to the fact that he had to prove his business acumen to his father.

McMahon met his father Vince McMahon Sr. at the age of 12. McMahon Sr. was heavily involved in the business that his own father had begun to build up as a wrestling promoter. Although McMahon Sr. was only slightly successful, Vince McMahon Jr. reported that he was determined to get into the business after just a taste. It was apparently in his blood and also provided a great launch pad for his entrepreneurial ventures.

A Wrestling Superstar

Vince McMahon’s first role in the world of wrestling came in 1971. His father assigned him a territory in Maine under the World Wide Wrestling Federation brand.

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In terms of the most powerful women in the retail industry over the past twenty years or so, Anita Roddick is one entrepreneur that has to rank up there with the best of them. The founder of The Body Shop revolutionized the way that consumers viewed the cosmetics and body care products that they bought and has made the world a better place as a direct result of it. Anita Roddick was one of the most forward thinking women of her generation and made a name for herself as a result of that quality. Although her life was sadly cut short on September 10, 2007, her legacy will live on.

Humble Beginnings

Roddick, or Anita Lucia Perilli as she was known then, was born on October 23, 1942 in Littlehampton, Sussex in the UK. Her family were Italian immigrants and had left Naples shortly before World War II broke out. As such, they had little money and worked hard to make ends meet. However, the entrepreneur showed a thirst for knowledge at school and managed to achieve a place at Bath Spa University to train as a teacher. After graduation though, Roddick decided that she wanted to see the world rather than remaining in the UK.

The entrepreneur traveled far and wide for a few years before returning home, which is when she met her husband, Gordon Roddick. Roddick had money and set about building a business empire to help support his new family. The couple opened a hotel and a restaurant but Gordon often had to work away a lot, so the budding entrepreneur decided to open her own business in order to make enough money to support the family in his absence. The Body Shop was born.

The Body Shop

The Body Shop initially stocked 15 products and opened in Brighton in 1976.

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There are a few figures in American history that have legendary status and only a handful of those are businessmen. The businessmen on the legends list all made a lot of money but they revolutionized the American way of life, making it much easier for the public to live their lives. As such, John D. Rockefeller is in good company. He is most definitely one of the entrepreneurs on the list and most definitely deserves the status that he currently has.

Early Life

John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. His parents were anything but well off, largely thanks to his father’s ability to follow hare-brained schemes that never quite worked out. He was described as lazy and would do anything to get out of working as a salesman. As a result, the entrepreneur’s upbringing was anything but stable until the family moved to Owego, New York where he was first schooled. However, after the family had moved to Strongsville near Cleveland in 1853, Rockefeller had decided to go into business on his own and work hard to get away from the hardship of his early existence.

At the age of 16, the entrepreneur left school and got a job of assistant bookkeeper for a commission firm. However, he was not happy to continue indefinitely in that position. As such, he resolved to open his own business as soon as he possibly could, and the opportunity arose in 1859 when he founded Clark & Rockefeller with partner Maurice Clark.

Moving Into Business

Rockefeller and Clark enjoyed a great amount of success with their business. The entrepreneurs had the foresight to build an oil refinery in the industrial area of Cleveland. This 1863 development saw them pair up with Clark’s two brothers and Samuel Andrews.

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Americans are obsessed with Top Ten lists as well as with money.  What better way to satisfy their cravings than to combine the two?  While fortunes may rise and fall from one year to the next, the list of the ten richest Americans—as measured by Forbes magazine—has remained fairly stable for quite some time.  No matter what sort of business may have caused them to reach this state of extreme financial well being—technology, retail sales, manufacturing, or energy—the common denominator is entrepreneurship.  Other than inheriting money from your relatives, there is no better way to accumulate personal wealth than by starting a business, making it successful, and watching it grow beyond all expectations.  Here are the rankings for 2009:

1) Bill Gates — $40.0 billion
As one of the founders of the personal computer age, the Gates story has been retold so many times that it has almost become a cliché.  At the age of thirteen he was already programming computers, and he continued his interest in technology while a student at Harvard.  Before this, most computers were mainframe dinosaurs whose memory banks took up entire rooms.  Prior to graduation, Gates left college to found Microsoft along with Paul Allen (who was on the Top Ten list as recently as 2006), which eventually struck a terrific deal with IBM.  Gates convinced the computer giant to allow him to keep the licensing rights for the MS-DOS operating system Microsoft had designed to run IBM’s first foray into personal computing.  Every PC loaded with MS-DOS—in other words, every PC on the market—put a licensing fee into the Gates coffers.  This generated millions of dollars a year for the company and its owners.  Once the Windows operating system came to the market, the riches poured in at an even faster rate.

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