Famous 18th Century Businessmen

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 1 
Cornelius Vanderbilt
(Business Tycoon & Philanthropist)
Cornelius Vanderbilt
6
Birthdate: May 27, 1794
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Staten Island
Died: January 4, 1877

Cornelius Vanderbilt was an American business magnate credited with vastly expanding and improving America's transportation infrastructure. For his contributions to the country's railroad industry, Vanderbilt was made an inductee of the North America Railway Hall of Fame in 1999. He is also remembered for providing an initial $1 million endowment to Vanderbilt University, which was named in his honor.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild
3
Birthdate: February 23, 1744
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Frankfurt, Germany
Died: September 19, 1812
The Founding Father of International Finance, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, started what is known as the Rothschild dynasty, which shaped the trajectory of banking and finance in Europe. He had started off as a rare coins dealer and later expanded his banking business through his five sons.
 3 
John Jacob Astor
(Entrepreneur)
John Jacob Astor
3
Birthdate: July 17, 1763
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Walldorf, Germany
Died: March 29, 1848
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 4 
Johns Hopkins
(Entrepreneur & Philanthropist)
Johns Hopkins
3
Birthdate: May 19, 1795
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States
Died: December 24, 1873
 5 
Timothy Dexter
(Businessman)
Timothy Dexter
4
Birthdate: January 22, 1747
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Malden, Massachusetts, United States
Died: October 23, 1806
 6 
Nathan Meyer Rothschild
(English-German Businessman, Banker, and Financier)
Nathan Meyer Rothschild
3
Birthdate: September 16, 1777
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Free City of Frankfurt Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire
Died: July 28, 1836
 7 
Matthew Boulton
(English Businessperson and Engineer)
Matthew Boulton
4
Birthdate: September 3, 1728
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Birmingham, England
Died: August 17, 1809

British manufacturer and engineer Matthew Boulton is best remembered as the financier of Scottish engineer James Watt’s pathbreaking steam engine. His Soho Manufactory initially produced metal parts, and he later stepped into John Roebuck’s shoes to partner with Watt, after Roebuck went bankrupt. He also established the Soho Mint.

 8 
Frederick Trump
(Businessman)
Frederick Trump
3
Birthdate: March 14, 1869
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Kallstadt, Germany
Died: May 30, 1918
 9 
George Peabody
(Entrepreneur & Philanthropist)
George Peabody
3
Birthdate: February 18, 1795
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Danvers
Died: November 4, 1869
 10 
Robert Morris
(One of the Founding Fathers of the United States)
Robert Morris
3
Birthdate: January 20, 1734
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Toxteth, Liverpool, England
Died: May 8, 1806

Robert Morris was an English-born merchant best remembered as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was also one of the signers of the United States Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and the Declaration of Independence. From 1789 to 1795, Robert Morris served as the United States Senator from Pennsylvania.

 11 
Samuel Wilson
(Meat-packer)
Samuel Wilson
3
Birthdate: September 13, 1766
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Arlington, Massachusetts Menotomy, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Died: July 31, 1854
 12 
Elihu Yale
(President of the British East India Company Settlement in Fort St. George, at Madras, India)
Elihu Yale
3
Birthdate: April 5, 1649
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died: July 8, 1721

Born in Massachusetts, Elihu Yale moved with his family to Britain at age 3. An East India Company official, he had been the President of Madras and later started a diamond business in London. He later turned into a generous philanthropist and became the main benefactor of what is now Yale University.

 13 
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont
(French-American Chemist and Industrialist)
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont
3
Birthdate: June 24, 1771
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: October 31, 1834

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont was the founder of the American gunpowder company E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and the patriarch of the famous du Pont family of businessmen. Born in France, du Pont had escaped to the U.S. with his family during the French Revolution. 

 14 
James Mayer de Rothschild
(French Banker and Art Collector)
James Mayer de Rothschild
2
Birthdate: May 15, 1792
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Frankfurt
Died: November 15, 1868

German-French banker and the youngest child of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, James Mayer de Rothschild. He took over the reins of his family banking firm after the death of his brother Nathan and headed the French Rothschild banking family. The Légion d'honneur winner later also invested in a vineyard.

 15 
Haym Salomon
(Businessman and Principal Financier During the American Revolutionary War)
Haym Salomon
2
Birthdate: April 7, 1740
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Leszno, Poland
Died: January 6, 1785

Polish-American businessman Haym Salomon not only contributed to the establishment of the Philadelphia synagogue Mikveh Israel, but also lent huge amounts of interest-free money to soldiers and other borrowers during the American Revolutionary War. The financier eventually died in poverty, with the American government owing thousands of dollars to him.

 16 
Peter Cooper
(Industrialist & Inventors)
Peter Cooper
2
Birthdate: February 12, 1791
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: New York City
Died: April 4, 1883
 17 
Samuel Slater
(Industrialist)
Samuel Slater
3
Birthdate: June 9, 1768
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Belper, United Kingdom
Died: April 21, 1835
 18 
Jean-Baptiste Say
(French Economist and Businessman Best Known for 'Say’s Law' Which He Popularized)
Jean-Baptiste Say
2
Birthdate: January 5, 1767
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Lyon, France
Died: November 15, 1832

French economist Jean-Baptiste Say supported free trade and competition. Scholars of economics know him for his law of markets, which states that supply creates its own demand. He had experimented with many jobs, from being a journalist to owning a cotton mill, and eventually became an economics professor.

 19 
Thomas Hutchinson
(Businessman)
Thomas Hutchinson
2
Birthdate: September 9, 1711
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: British America
Died: June 3, 1780
 20 
Moses Montefiore
(Financier)
Moses Montefiore
2
Birthdate: October 24, 1784
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Livorno, Italy
Died: July 28, 1885
 21 
Stephen Girard
(American Banker and Philanthropist)
Stephen Girard
3
Birthdate: May 20, 1750
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Bordeaux, France
Died: December 26, 1831
 22 
Joseph Marie Jacquard
(Inventor)
Joseph Marie Jacquard
2
Birthdate: July 7, 1752
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Lyon, France
Died: August 7, 1834
 23 
Henri de Saint-Simon
(French Political, Economic and Socialist Theorist and and One of the Chief Founders of Christian Socialism)
Henri de Saint-Simon
2
Birthdate: October 17, 1760
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: May 19, 1825

Henri de Saint-Simon was a French political, economic, and socialist theorist and businessman. His ideology was the inspiration behind the political and economic movement known as Saint-Simonianism. He left a major influence in the fields of politics, economics, sociology, and philosophy of science. His ideas also inspired and influenced the concept of utopian socialism.  

 24 
Thomas Mifflin
(Politician)
Thomas Mifflin
2
Birthdate: January 10, 1744
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: January 20, 1800
 25 
Amschel Mayer Rothschild
(German Jewish banker)
Amschel Mayer Rothschild
2
Birthdate: June 12, 1773
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Frankfurt
Died: December 6, 1855
 26 
Eliza Lucas
(American Businesswomen, Scientist and Writer)
Eliza Lucas
2
Birthdate: December 28, 1722
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda
Died: May 27, 1793

Eliza Lucas was an agronomist who redefined agriculture in colonial South Carolina by developing indigo as one of the region's most prominent cash crops. The processing of indigo as dye influenced the colony's economy greatly before the Revolutionary War. She was the first woman to be be inducted into the South Carolina's Business Hall of Fame in the 20th century.

 27 
Matthias W. Baldwin
(Inventor)
Matthias W. Baldwin
2
Birthdate: December 10, 1795
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Elizabethtown, New Jersey, United States
Died: September 7, 1866
 28 
John Macarthur
(Former Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales)
John Macarthur
2
Birthdate: 1767 AD
Birthplace: Plymouth, England
Died: April 11, 1834
 29 
Madame Clicquot Ponsardin
(Businessperson)
Madame Clicquot Ponsardin
2
Birthdate: December 16, 1777
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Reims, France
Died: July 29, 1866

Madame Clicquot Ponsardin was a French businesswoman and Champagne producer. Clicquot is best remembered for taking over her husband's business and turning the company into a world-famous Champagne house. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, the company which still bears her name, is credited with inventing a novel technique called riddling which is still used today to make better Champagne.

 30 
Anson Jones
(Politician)
Anson Jones
2
Birthdate: January 20, 1798
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Great Barrington
Died: January 9, 1858
 31 
Richard Hennessy
(Military personnel and Founder of Hennessy)
Richard Hennessy
1
Birthdate: 1724 AD
Birthplace: Cork, Ireland
Died: October 8, 1800
 32 
William Henry Ashley
(Miner)
William Henry Ashley
2
Birthdate: 1778 AD
Birthplace: Powhatan County, Virginia, United States
Died: March 26, 1838
 33 
Simon Cameron
(Politician)
Simon Cameron
2
Birthdate: March 8, 1799
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Maytown, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: June 26, 1889
 34 
James Lick
(Real Estate Investor)
James Lick
3
Birthdate: August 25, 1796
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: October 1, 1876
 35 
Carl Mayer von Rothschild
(German Banker)
Carl Mayer von Rothschild
2
Birthdate: April 24, 1788
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire
Died: March 10, 1855
 36 
John Wilkinson
(Pioneer in cast iron manufacturing)
John Wilkinson
2
Birthdate: 1728 AD
Birthplace: Bridgefoot
Died: July 14, 1808
 37 
Henry E. Steinway
(Piano Manufacturer)
Henry E. Steinway
1
Birthdate: February 15, 1797
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Wolfshagen, Germany
Died: February 7, 1871
 38 
James McGill
(Scottish Canadian Businessman and Philanthropist, Best Known for Being the Founder of 'McGill University')
James McGill
4
Birthdate: October 6, 1744
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
Died: December 19, 1813

James McGill was a Scottish Canadian politician, philanthropist, and businessman best remembered for founding McGill University in Montreal, Canada. One of the most important members of the Château Clique, McGill was also one of the founding members of the famous gentleman's dining club, The Beaver Club.

 39 
John Walter
(Publisher)
John Walter
1
Birthdate: January 1, 1738
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: London, England
Died: November 16, 1812
 40 
Francis Lewis
(Member of the United States House of Representatives)
Francis Lewis
1
Birthdate: March 21, 1713
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Llandaff
Died: December 31, 1802
 41 
John Slidell
(Politician)
John Slidell
2
Birthdate: 1793 AD
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: July 9, 1871
 42 
Daniel Drew
(Businessman)
Daniel Drew
1
Birthdate: July 29, 1797
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Carmel Hamlet, New York, United States
Died: September 18, 1879
 43 
James Gadsden
(Diplomat)
James Gadsden
1
Birthdate: May 15, 1788
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Died: December 26, 1858
 44 
John Molson
(Entrepreneur)
John Molson
0
Birthdate: December 28, 1763
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Moulton, England
Died: January 11, 1836
 45 
Henry Deringer
(Gunsmith)
Henry Deringer
2
Birthdate: October 26, 1786
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Easton, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: February 28, 1868
 46 
Philip Livingston
(Politician)
Philip Livingston
2
Birthdate: January 15, 1716
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Albany, New York, United States
Died: June 12, 1778
 47 
John Galt
(Novelist)
John Galt
7
Birthdate: May 2, 1779
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland
Died: April 11, 1839

John Galt was a Scottish entrepreneur, novelist, and social and political commentator. Often referred to as the first English-language political novelist, Galt wrote extensively on issues pertaining to the Industrial Revolution. John Galt is also known as the father of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, who went on to become one of the fathers of the Canadian Confederation.

 48 
Carter Braxton
(Merchant)
Carter Braxton
1
Birthdate: September 10, 1736
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: King and Queen County, Virginia, United States
Died: October 10, 1797
 49 
Louise Juta
(Bookseller)
Louise Juta
1
Birthdate: November 14, 1821
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Trier, Germany
Died: July 3, 1893
 50 
Samuel Cunard
(Magnate)
Samuel Cunard
1
Birthdate: November 21, 1787
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada
Died: April 28, 1865