List of entrepreneurs
This is a list of entrepreneurs by century. An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative. This list includes notable entrepreneurs.
Pre-18th-century entrepreneurs
- Regina Basilier, Swedish-German banker, trader and investor
- Birgitta Durell, Dutch-Swedish manufacturer-industrialist
- Louis De Geer, Walloon-born Dutch-Swedish businessman and industrialist; active mainly in the Dutch Republic and Sweden
- Isaac Le Maire, Walloon-born Dutch businessman and investor; active mainly in the Dutch Republic
- Johan Palmstruch, Latvian-born Dutch-Swedish businessman, investor, and financial innovator; active mainly in the Dutch Republic and Sweden
- Pierre-Paul Riquet, French entrepreneur, creator of the Canal du Midi
18th-century entrepreneurs
- Anna Elisabeth Baer 1878–1955, Finland
- Samuel Crompton 1753–1827, Great Britain
- Caroline Gother 1761–1836, Sweden
- Johns Hopkins 1795–1873, U.S.
- Anna Lohe 1654–1731, Sweden
- Thomas Newcomen 1664–1729, Great Britain
- Charlotta Richardy 1751–1831, Sweden
- Brigitta Sahlgren 1694–1771, Sweden
- James Watt 1736–1819, Great Britain
- Josiah Wedgwood 1730–1795, Great Britain
- Robert Wood Johnson I 1845–1910, U.S.
19th-century entrepreneurs
- John Jacob Astor, U.S.
- Augusta Björkenstam, Sweden
- George Cadbury, UK
- Andrew Carnegie, Pittsburgh, U.S. and Scotland
- James Buchanan Duke, U.S.
- Thomas Alva Edison, U.S.
- Charles T. Hinde, U.S.
- Quah Beng Kee, Penang, Malaysia
- Pryce Pryce-Jones, UK
- Biddy Mason, California, U.S.
- J. P. Morgan, U.S.
- Antoinette Nording, Sweden
- John D. Rockefeller, U.S.
- Joseph Rowntree, UK
- Joseph Seligman, U.S.
- Eugene Sharrer, Nyasaland
- Claus Spreckels, Germany
- Leland Stanford, California, U.S.
- Levi Strauss, U.S./Germany
- Jamsetji Tata, India
- Nikola Tesla, U.S., Yugoslavia
- Alessandro Torlonia, Italy
- Richard Trevithick, Great Britain
- Cornelius Vanderbilt, U.S.
- George Westinghouse, U.S.
20th-century entrepreneurs
- Agha Hasan Abedi, Pakistan
- Paul Allen, U.S.
- Dhirubhai Ambani, India
- Mary Kay Ash, U.S.
- Bang Si-hyuk, South Korea
- Otto Beisheim, Germany
- William Boeing, U.S.
- Warren Buffett, U.S.
- Richard Branson, UK
- Coco Chanel, France
- Jack Cohen, UK
- Michael Dell, U.S.
- Oscar Deutsch, UK
- Richard M. DeVos, Sr., U.S.
- Walt Disney, U.S.
- James Dyson, UK
- Larry Ellison, U.S.
- Fan Hongwei, China
- Enzo Ferrari, Italy
- Henry Ford, U.S.
- Bill Gates U.S.
- Henry Hu, Hong Kong
- Howard Hughes, U.S.
- John James, U.K.
- Steve Jobs, U.S.
- Dean Kamen, U.S.
- Ingvar Kamprad, Sweden
- Vinod Khosla, U.S.
- Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italy
- Estée Lauder, U.S.
- Jorge Loring Martinez, Spain
- Vijay Mallya, India
- Jim Marshall, UK
- Terry Matthews, Canada
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, India
- Vince McMahon, U.S.
- Sunil Mittal, India
- N. R. Narayana Murthy, India
- Nian Guangjiu, China
- Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, Nigeria
- Qin Yinglin, China
- Anita Roddick, UK
- Michael J. Saylor, U.S.
- Magnús Scheving, Iceland
- Carlos Slim, Mexico
- Alan Sugar, UK
- J. R. D. Tata, France/India
- Ted Turner, U.S.
- Madam C.J. Walker, U.S.
- Sam M. Walton, US
- Oprah Winfrey, U.S.
- Steve Wozniak, U.S.
- George Lucas, U.S.
- Zhong Huijuan, China
21st-century entrepreneurs
- Brian Acton, U.S.
- Ritesh Agarwal, India
- Bhavish Aggarwal, India
- Charles T. Akre, U.S.
- Folorunso Alakija, Nigeria
- Rod Aldridge, UK
- Pierre Andurand, France
- Trishneet Arora, India
- Sachin Bansal, India
- Eike Batista, Brazil
- Steve Baxter, Australia
- David Benaron, U.S.
- Jeff Bezos, U.S.
- Constantin Bisanz, U.S.
- Joe Blackman, UK/U.S.
- Ryan Blair, U.S.
- Sara Blakely, U.S.
- Hernán Botbol, Argentina
- Sergey Brin, U.S.
- Tory Burch, U.S.
- Malcolm CasSelle, U.S./China
- Lee Chambers (psychologist), UK
- Sean "Diddy" Combs, U.S.
- Simon Cowell, UK
- Nancy Cruickshank, UK
- Mark Cuban, U.S.
- Nick D'Aloisio, UK
- Aliko Dangote, Nigeria
- Jack Dorsey, U.S.
- Helmy Eltoukhy, U.S.
- Shawn Fanning, U.S.
- Rihanna, Barbados
- Dylan Field, U.S.
- Jon Fisher, U.S.
- Simon Fuller, UK
- Roland Fomundam, Cameroon
- Peter Gilgan, Canada
- Vishal Gondal, India
- Reid Hoffman, U.S.
- Alex Hofmann, U.S.
- Bri Holt, U.S.
- Drew Houston, U.S.
- Arianna Huffington, U.S.
- Steve Huffman, U.S.
- Jessica Huie, UK
- Mohammed Ibrahim, Sudan
- Daymond John, U.S.
- Lisa S. Jones, U.S.
- Elle Kaplan, U.S.
- David Karp, U.S.
- Sal Khan, U.S.
- Jan Koum, U.S.
- Dominik Mate Kovacs, U.S.
- Prescott Lee, U.S.
- Jeremy Levitt, Australia
- Jack Ma, China
- Ana Maiques, Spain
- Fadi Makki, Middle East
- Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe
- Rudy A. Mazzocchi, U.S.
- Javier Moll, Spain/Australia
- Dave Morin, U.S.
- Rupert Murdoch, UK/U.S.
- Elon Musk, U.S./South Africa
- Carrie Rose, UK
- Andrew Nisbet, UK
- Alexis Ohanian, U.S.
- Larry Page, U.S.
- Sean Parker, U.S.
- Melanie Perkins, Australia
- Stefano Pessina, Italy
- Michelle Phan, U.S.
- Manny Phesto, U.S.
- Azim Premji, India
- Kelsey Ramsden, Canada
- Burton Rocks, U.S.
- Kevin Rose, U.S.
- Vijay Shekhar Sharma, India
- Param Singh, UK
- Masayoshi Son, Japan
- Lane Sutton, U.S.
- Kevin Systrom, U.S.
- Motoaki Tanigo, Japan
- Rodrigo Teijeiro, Argentina/Brazil
- Tânia Tomé, Mozambique
- Wang Jianlin, China
- Emily Weiss, U.S.
- Anne Wojcicki, U.S.
- Wu Yajun, China
- Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan
- Mark Zuckerberg, U.S.