5 Business leaders you should know

In today’s world we are constantly seeing a rise in “self made” entrepreneurs and great business success stories. In fact some of the most well known businesses we know started out as simple start-ups or concepts. It takes a special sort of individual to be able to turn a great idea into a fully functioning business. In this article we will take a closer look at some of the most intriguing and ingenious business ideas and the people that made them possible.

Steve Jobs (Apple)

Known as the “Father of the Digital Revolution” Steve Jobs is one of the most recognised names in the technology industry. Until his passing in late 2011 he was considered to be the man who had brought the Apple Company back from the brink of bankruptcy to the forefront of the technology market. Apple currently is seen as the market leader in the technology industry and its ingenious and creative flair is often attributed to Jobs’s ethos. The dramatic turnaround was down to Jobs regaining control and putting the company in a new direction, with him at the helm the business saw the launch of its iconic i range, including products such as the iphone, itunes and the ipad. Steve Jobs helped to enrich the technology industry and until his death he was considered one of the most visionary innovators of our time.

Richard Branson (Virgin)

With a net worth of around the £4.6 billion mark Richard Branson has created a business empire that has spanned the globe. The Virgin Group has over 400 companies worldwide and has entered many public sectors including travel, entertainment and more recently space travel. Its founder Richard Branson has been seen as a leading entrepreneur that many aspire to be like. Branson’s businesses are vast and what we have seen is someone who is not afraid to take risks and look for new opportunities, this is most evident in his ambitious attempt to create the first public space tourism company. The company is already offering places available to book on its first trip to space on its website. This business leader is someone who will literally reach for the stars.

Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)

Facebook is the world’s most popular social media networking site today it has over “727 million daily active users on average” and is recognised as a pioneer in the social media revolution that has hit us in recent years. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the main co founders of the social networking giant and is considered by many to be the driving force behind the company’s success. Becoming a billionaire at the age of 23 Zuckerberg has become a huge business success story known by millions. From starting the company in his Harvard dorm room with his mates to the top of the social media industry he is a modern day success story that many idolise.

Howard Schultz (Starbucks)

Coffee is big business throughout the world and the most recognisable coffee brand is without a doubt Starbucks. Starbucks is the largest coffee shop in the world with over twenty thousand stores worldwide. Howard Schultz started out as the director of marketing for the company during its early days. After a while he brought the company and rapidly started expanding across America. Soon the brand was the most recognised in the world and Shultz has gained acclaim for this feat. Howard Schultz is a prime example of how a business can grow and expand from simple beginnings to a market leader simply through spotting a gap in the market and being tenacious.

Jeff Bezos (Amazon)

Most people have used the online marketplace Amazon at some point it’s a great way to buy and sell virtually any product. Paving the way for E commerce Princeton graduate Jeff Bezos caught onto the internet business trade during its infancy stage. The company was originally set up in 1994 as an online book store and rapidly expanded seeing opportunity for development in various marketplaces. Today Jeff’s net worth is around the 27 billion dollars mark and the company has become one of the most recognised online traders in the world.