64 articles
John Catsimatidis
John Catsimatidis (born 1948, Nisyros, Greece) is a Greek American billionaire who owns Gristedes supermarkets, United Refining, and Red Apple Media's 77 WABC; 2013 NYC mayoral candidate and Cats Roundtable radio host.
John Mackey (businessman)
John Mackey (born 1954) is the American co-founder and longtime CEO of Whole Foods Market, which he started via SaferWay in Austin in 1978, led through its 2017 $13.7 billion Amazon sale, and left in 2022; author of Conscious Capitalism.
John Paul DeJoria
John Paul DeJoria (born 1944, Los Angeles) is an American self-made billionaire who co-founded John Paul Mitchell Systems hair care in 1980 with $700 and Patrón Tequila in 1989, sold to Bacardi for $5.1 billion in 2018, and signs his motto 'success unshared is failure' to his philanthropy.
Josh Ostrovsky
Josh Ostrovsky, known as The Fat Jew or The Fat Jewish (@thefatjewish), is an American Instagram personality, author of Money Pizza Respect, and co-founder of White Girl Rosé and Babe Wine, sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Karl Albrecht
Karl Hans Albrecht (1920–2014), German entrepreneur who with brother Theo turned their mother's Essen grocery shop into the Aldi discount empire; after the 1961 split he led Aldi Süd, expanding it internationally, and died Germany's richest person.
Lucio Tan
Lucio Tan (陈永栽, Chen Yongzai), born in Fujian, is a Chinese-Filipino billionaire who founded Fortune Tobacco in 1966, acquired Philippine Airlines, and survived two decades of Marcos-era sequestration litigation.
M. A. Yusuff Ali
M. A. Yusuff Ali (Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader), born 1955 in Nattika, Kerala, is the Indian-born chairman and managing director of LuLu Group International and chairman of Lulu Retail, the largest pan-GCC retailer, which listed on the Abu Dhabi exchange in 2024.
Manjit Minhas
Manjit Minhas is a Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded Minhas Breweries, Distillery and Winery in 1999 and has been an investor on CBC's Dragons' Den since 2015.
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, born Margarita Bogdanova (1962, Leningrad), is a Swiss businesswoman, widow of Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who chairs Louis Dreyfus Holding B.V., controls the Louis-Dreyfus agribusiness group, and founded the Louis Dreyfus Foundation; distinct from actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Marjorie Merriweather Post
Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887–1973), American businesswoman and philanthropist, heir to Postum Cereal who built General Foods, and collector whose Hillwood Estate houses the largest Imperial Russian art collection outside Russia.
Mark R. Hughes
Mark R. Hughes (Mark Reynolds Hughes, 1956–2000) founded Herbalife in February 1980 in Los Angeles and built a multilevel-selling nutrition company; he died at 44, and his name marks a UCLA lab, a distributor bonus, and a family trust.
Mars family
Mars family, owners of Mars, Incorporated (M&M's, Snickers, Pedigree), founded 1911 by Frank C. Mars in Tacoma, Washington. Five-generation, wholly family-owned fortune; Forbes 2024 ranked it America's second-richest family at $117 billion.
Milton S. Hershey
Milton Snavely Hershey (1857-1945), American confectioner and philanthropist, founded the Lancaster Caramel Company, Hershey Chocolate Company, and the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, and endowed the Milton Hershey School with his entire fortune.
Momofuku Ando
Momofuku Ando (安藤百福), born Wu Baifu, was a Taiwanese-born Japanese entrepreneur who founded Nissin and invented instant noodles, launching Chicken Ramen in 1958 and Cup Noodles in 1971.
Muhtar Kent
Muhtar Kent (Ahmet Muhtar Kent), Turkish-American executive born 1953 in New York; Coca-Cola CEO 2008-2017 and chairman 2009-2019, earlier led Coca-Cola Turkey, Eastern Europe, and Efes Beverage Group; not the Turkish muhtar (neighborhood headman) institution.
Nell Newman
Nell Newman (Elinor Theresa Newman, born 1959), daughter of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, co-founded Newman's Own Organics: The Second Generation in 1993; organic pretzels first product, independent 2001, over $50 million in royalties to charity, tenure ended 2014.
Nelson Peltz
Nelson Peltz, founder of Trian Fund Management, is an American activist investor known for the Snapple turnaround, proxy fights at Heinz, Wendy's, P&G, and Disney, and board seats including Unilever.
Rande Gerber
Rande Gerber (born 1962) is an American entrepreneur and former model, founder of the Gerber Group nightlife company and co-founder, with George Clooney and Mike Meldman, of Casamigos Tequila, sold to Diageo in 2017 for up to $1 billion; married to Cindy Crawford.
Richard Montañez
Richard Montañez, former PepsiCo vice president of multicultural sales, claims he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos as a Frito-Lay janitor; Frito-Lay and a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation dispute the claim, and his 2024 lawsuit was struck under anti-SLAPP with leave to amend.
Robert Kuok (郭鹤年)
Robert Kuok (郭鹤年, born 1923, Johor Bahru) is a Malaysian tycoon, founder of the Kuok Group, the "Sugar King of Asia," and creator of the Shangri-La hotel chain, with holdings in Wilmar, Kerry Properties, and former owner of the South China Morning Post.
Rohan Oza
Rohan Oza (born 1972, Zambia) is a consumer-brand investor, co-founder of CAVU Consumer Partners, and Shark Tank guest shark who built Vitaminwater and Smartwater at Glacéau, sold Bai for $1.7 billion, and led Poppi's $1.95 billion sale to PepsiCo in 2025.
Ronald Burkle
Ronald (Ron) Burkle, American billionaire investor, founder of The Yucaipa Companies (1986); supermarket buyouts (Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Dominick's, Pathmark), Clinton fundraiser, stakes in Soho House, Penguins, Uber, Airbnb; net worth about $3.3-3.9 billion in 2026.
Sarah Willingham
Sarah Willingham (born 1973), British entrepreneur and Dragons' Den investor; grew Bombay Bicycle Club into the UK's largest Indian restaurant chain, co-founded London Cocktail Club and Nightcap PLC.
Stefan Persson (magnate)
Stefan Persson (born 1947, Stockholm) is a Swedish retail magnate, H&M CEO 1982-1998 and chairman 1998-2020, son of founder Erling Persson. Owner via Ramsbury Invest; Sweden's richest person, about 18.6-23.6 billion USD.
Stewart Resnick
Stewart Resnick is an American billionaire businessman, chairman, president, and co-owner with wife Lynda of The Wonderful Company (Wonderful Pistachios, POM Wonderful, FIJI Water, Teleflora), a $6 billion firm, and a philanthropist behind a $750 million Caltech sustainability gift.
V. G. Siddhartha
V. G. Siddhartha (Veerappa Siddhartha Hegde) was an Indian coffee planter who founded Café Coffee Day, India's largest coffee chain, and chaired Coffee Day Enterprises; he died in July 2019 amid group debt after selling the Mindtree stake to Larsen & Toubro.
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya, born 1955, Indian businessman, former United Breweries Group chairman and founder of defunct Kingfisher Airlines; left India in 2016 owing banks over $1 billion, declared a fugitive economic offender in 2019, with Rs 14,131.6 crore in assets recovered.
Vittal Mallya
Vittal Mallya (1924–1983), Telugu విఠల్ మాల్య, was an Indian entrepreneur who took over United Breweries in 1947 at age 22 and built a Rs 500 crore conglomerate in beer, spirits, foods, and pharma, later led by his son Vijay Mallya.
Wally Amos
Wally Amos (Wallace Amos Jr., 1936–2024), American entrepreneur, first Black talent agent at William Morris (signed Simon & Garfunkel), founder of Famous Amos cookies in 1975; lost the brand, later founded Uncle Wally's Muffin Co. and literacy advocacy.
Weston family
The Weston family of Canada, founders of George Weston Limited (1882), controls Loblaw and Choice Properties through private holding company Wittington Investments; a British branch built Associated British Foods and Primark.