Libra Entrepreneurs

Ray Kroc was the man who helped expand McDonald's into a global franchise, eventually turning it into the most successful fast food corporation. Not surprisingly, he was mentioned in Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century list. He was also the owner of the popular baseball team San Diego Padres.

Peter Thiel is a German-American venture capitalist and entrepreneur. As the co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel redefined the way online payments and online money transfers work in the United States and most Asian countries. He also played a major role in the development of Facebook as its first outside investor.

Businessman Jerry Jones is best known for being the owner of the National Football League (NFL)'s Dallas Cowboys since 1989. An alumnus of the University of Arkansas, he launched many businesses as a young man and suffered a series of failures before finally finding financial success. Besides his business ventures, he has appeared in a few TV programs.

Russell Simmons is a controversial American businessman who co-founded the hip-hop music label, 'Def Jam Recordings', and established the clothing line 'Phat Fashions'. He is noted for Harriet Tubman Sex Tape which generated a lot of heat in 2013. Simmons who calls himself a Christian yogi is accused of sexual assaults on several women. He has adopted veganism and advocates non-violence.

Automobile executive Lee Iacocca became known for developing the Ford Mustang and Pinto cars while working for the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s. In his later career, he served as the president, CEO, and chairman of Chrysler. Revered for his brilliant leadership skills, he was named the 18th-greatest American CEO of all time by Portfolio Magazine. 

Netflix co-founder, CEO, and chairman Reed Hastings is also a Facebook director since 2011. He has previously served the California State Board of Education and the board of Microsoft. The Stanford alumnus is a Giving Pledge member, actively donates for children’s education and scholarships, and supports charter schools.

Virgil Abloh is not just a designer but also a qualified architect. He has been a DJ, too. Apart from heading Louis Vuitton's menswear collection as its artistic director, he also became the first Black designer to lead a major fashion brand. He has also launched the luxury streetwear label Off-White.

The second son of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton, Barron Hilton was initially a skilled photographer and had even learned to fly planes. A sports enthusiast, he had also been the AFL president. A philanthropist, too, he left 97% of his wealth to his own charitable foundation.

William Penn was a writer and one of the earliest members of the Quakers. He is credited with founding the Province of Pennsylvania. He also oversaw the planning and development of the city of Philadelphia. Penn has several universities and schools named in his honor, including the William Penn University in Iowa. 

What began as amateur math tutorials for his cousin later became Sal Khan’s dream project, the online education platform Khan Academy, which now has over 42 million users worldwide. Named to Time 100 in 2012, the American-born Bengali former hedge fund analyst is an MIT and Harvard alumnus.

Alice Walton is an heiress to the fortune of the popular American multinational retail corporation, Walmart. She is currently the second richest woman in the world. She is credited with founding the now-defunct investment bank The Llama Company. She also played a key role in the establishment of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport by providing $15 million for its construction.

Michelle Malkin is an American blogger, author, political commentator, and businesswoman. Her weekly syndicated column gets featured in several websites and newspapers. Apart from writing four books and contributing to TV channels, such as Fox News, Michelle Malkin is also credited with founding the conservative websites Hot Air and Twitchy.

Anita Roddick was a British businesswoman and human rights activist. She was also a passionate crusader for environmental issues. She founded the British version of The Body Shop, now The Body Shop International Limited. Her company was among the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals in some products. She was also involved with Greenpeace.  

Jerry Heller was a music manager and businessman best known for his management of West Coast rap and gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A and Eazy-E. A prominent figure in the 1960s and 1970s, he played a key role in the emergence of West Coast rap music. He was a controversial figure and was accused of financial impropriety, which he denied.

Maurizio Gucci was an Italian businessman. The grandson of Guccio Gucci, Maurizio served as the chairman of the Gucci group in the early-1990s. At the age of 46, Maurizio was shot dead by a hitman hired by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani. The murder inspired Sara Forden's book The House of Gucci, which has been adapted into a biographical crime film.

First gaining media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian didn’t take long to become a celebrity in her own right. She came into the limelight in the early 2000s owing to a leaked sex tape and quickly became a social media celebrity with millions of followers across platforms.

Tech magnate Garrett Camp made headlines in 2020 when he quit his position of board director of Uber, a company co-founded by him, to focus on its product strategy. Camp has also formed companies such as StumbleUpon and the start-up incubator Expa Labs, and is part of The Giving Pledge.

Best known as the founder of the Design Museum in London, British designer and restaurateur Terence Conran had begun a furniture studio while still a student. He later launched popular interior and furniture design firms such as the Conran Design Group and Habitat. He has also penned several books.

Inventor and entrepreneur George Westinghouse was mostly responsible for introducing the U.S. to alternating current (AC). Initially part of the army and the navy, the talented engineer began his journey of inventions with the rotary steam engine and went on to invent several products, such as air brakes.

Haim Saban is an Israeli-American investor, media proprietor, and film producer. He is credited with founding Saban Entertainment which produces children's television programs like Power Rangers. For his achievements in the TV industry, Saban was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Also a philanthropist, Haim Saban donated $14 million for the completion of a children's hospital.