Electronics Entrepreneurs

Ren Zhengfei is a Chinese engineer and entrepreneur. He is credited with founding Huawei, the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones and the largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world. He also serves as the CEO of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. In 2005, Ren Zhengfei was named in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world list.

American engineer Robert Noyce, who co-invented the integrated circuit, later gained the nickname the Mayor of Silicon Valley. The co-founder of Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor, Noyce is also said to have given Silicon Valley its name with his invention that included a silicon microchip. He was also a swimming champion.

American television personality Michael Teutul started working at his family company Orange County Iron Works at age 14. He worked as assistant general manager of Orange County Choppers, founded by his father Paul Teutul Sr., but was eventually forced out. Michael is known for his features in TV shows like American Chopper and American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior.   

Kiichiro Toyoda was a Japanese businessman and the creator of Toyota Motor Corporation. The son of Sakichi Toyoda, who founded Toyoda Loom Works, Kiichiro Toyoda is credited with changing the focus of his father's company from loom manufacture to an automobile manufacturing unit. Kiichiro Toyoda is also credited with overseeing Toyota's growth in its initial years.

Terry Gou is a Taiwanese billionaire businessman. He is the founder, chairman, and general manager of Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics. Beginning his career by working odd jobs, he became an entrepreneur as a young man and opened his first factory in 1988. He is also the main owner of HMD Global, a Finnish mobile manufacturer. 

A consumer electronics pioneer, entrepreneur Clive Sinclair began his business venture selling radio and amplifier kits. He went on to launch the word’s first pocket calculator and later also worked on products such as digital watches and pocket TV. He is a fan of poker and is a Mensa member.

Fusajiro Yamauchi was a Japanese entrepreneur best remembered for founding Nintendo. He also served as the first president of the company. Yamauchi started the company as a hanafuda card-making unit. Nintendo Koppai cards were the only exception in a time when the Japanese government had banned other playing cards due to their association with gambling.  

Akio Morita was a Japanese businessman best remembered as the co-founder of Sony Group Corporation along with Masaru Ibuka. He also served as the president of Sony from 1971 and later served as its chairman. Akio Morita was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Albert Medal.

Geoffrey Edelsten was an Australian businessman best remembered for founding Allied Medical Group. A physician by profession, Edelsten attracted media attention for his luxurious lifestyle and unconventional clinics. He also had a brief music career; he owned a record company named Hit Productions in the 1960s. Edelsten's controversial personal life, which involved brushes with the law, overshadowed his professional achievements.

Masaru Ibuka was a Japanese industrialist best remembered for co-founding Sony Group Corporation along with Akio Morita. From 1950 to 1971, Ibuka served as the company's president. When he retired in 1976, Morita was named chairman of Sony. Ibuka was the recipient of several prestigious awards such as the IEEE Founders Medal and the Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon.

Though Morris Chang initially aspired to be a writer, he was discouraged by his father from pursuing writing as a career option. The Stanford and MIT alumnus became an engineer instead. The IEEE Medal of Honor winner is known for establishing the world’s first silicon foundry, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. 

Best known for inventing an automatic refrigeration system used in long-haul trucks, Frederick McKinley Jones was orphaned at age 7. He quit school as a child and took up menial jobs. After briefly serving the army, he focused on inventing machine parts and ended up with over 60 patents.

Malaysian-Chinese businessman Lim Goh Tong is best known for transforming Genting Highlands in Malaysia to a bustling hub of gambling, with a world-class casino resort. His memoir, My Story – Lim Goh Tong, speaks about his struggle from being a machine trader to a successful entrepreneur.

Widely known as the God of Management in Japan, Kōnosuke Matsushita began his career as an errand boy and gradually set up his own consumer electric appliances manufacturing company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. He later founded the brand Panasonic. He had also penned several books on management.