MOST FAMOUS ENTRERENEURS

INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURS

LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS

THOMAS EDISON

INGVAR KAMPRAD

WILLIAM HARLEY AND ARTHUR DAVIDSON

MAGGIE LENA WALKER

HENRY SY

TONY TAN CAKTIONG

SOCORRO RAMOS

STEPHEN WOZNIAK AND STEVE JOBS

RUSSELL SIMMONS

P.T. BARNUM

DINAH MOHAJER

EDGAR SIA

JOHN GOKONGWEI JR.

CRESIDA TUERES

MARIANO QUE

CECILIO KWOK PEDRO

ALFREDO M. YAO

JOSE MAGSAYSAY

MILAGROS, CLARITA AND DORIS LEELIN

Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847. He was deemed a troublesome student at school, but his mother saw brilliance in him and educated him at home.


At age 12, he sold newspapers on trains and printed his own newspapers. In 1869, he settled in Newark, New Jersey, and built a personal laboratory to pursue inventing full-time.


Edison invented the phonograph and the first commercially viable incandescent bulb. In 1876, he established the first-ever industrial research laboratory. He activated the electrical power distribution system at the Pearl Street plant in Lower Manhattan in 1882. The Pearl Street Station provided electricity to light more than 10,000 bulbs.


Edison invented the Kinetoscope, a precursor to the movie projector. He had a long and fruitful friendship with Henry Ford. In 1912, he designed a car battery for the self-starting Model T car. The Great Train Robbery is one of his most famous creations.


https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/americon-lp-thomas-edison/lesson-plan/

Students will learn about Thomas Edison's remarkable business of innovation and some of his 1,093 patented devices. Edison created the first organized industrial research laboratory where he and a team of scientists and innovators brought to life electricity, the light bulb, car batteries, movies, music players, and other innovations.

P.T. Barnum (1810-1891)was the biggest entrepreneur of his day, more popular than Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, combined. He vastly expanded the concept of the "circus". His three-ring Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, founded in 1871, folded just this year.


In 1842, Phineas Taylor Barnum opened the world's first museum. He cleaned up and modernized the American theater -- previously avoided by polite society as a "den of evil". Barnum promoted this country's first rockstar tour (1850 to 1852), featuring "Swedish nightingale" Jenny Lind. The Greatest Showman is released today.


https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306269

In The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman plays P.T. Barnum, the man who popularized the "freak show" and brought people with physical anomalies out of the shadows. He was an entrepreneur, a lecturer, a legislator and a fervent abolitionist.

Co-founders of The Harley-Davidson Motor Company Founded: 1901


Harley-Davidson was founded by William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, two boyhood friends, in 1901. Their dream was to build a motorized bicycle that would enable people to travel reliably and as fast as technology of the time would allow. Ironically, what would become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers was born out of pure laziness.


They produced their first three motorcycles in a shed in the backyard of the Davidson family home. By 1909, they had doubled the size of their factory, hired 35 employees and increased production to 1,000 machines per year.


Harley-Davidson was founded by Arthur Harley, inventor of the V-Twin engine. In 1910, annual production rose to 3,200 machines; by 1920, it reached 28,189 bikes annually. The step-starter broke the motorcycle from the parentage of the bicycle. By 1928, more than 22,000 motorcycles were being produced per year. The stock market crash of 1929 sent motorcycle sales into a tailspin. Production climbed back to almost 10,000 units per year by 1933.


https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197640

Harley-Davidson sponsored a racing team dubbed "The Wrecking Crew" in 1915. Known for their death-defying "board track" racing, these daredevils competed on wooden tracks with banked turns of up to 60 degrees. They later switched to dirt tracks, which proved to be just as popular, though less dangerous.

Maggie Lena Walker was one of the foremost female business leaders in the United States. She gained national prominence when she became the first woman to own a bank in the U.S. Walker's entrepreneurial skills transformed black business practices while also inspiring other women to enter the field.


Walker was born to enslaved parents on July 15, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. After the Civil War, her mother worked as a laundress and her father as a butler. Walker's father was killed and she had to help her mother financially by working. She joined an African American benevolent organization when she was 14.


In 1915, Walker's husband was killed by her son, after he mistook him for a burglar. By 1924, the Penny Savings Bank had spread to other parts of Virginia and included more than 50,000 members. Although limited in movement, Walker remained a leader in the Richmond African American community. For much of her life Walker served as board member of the Virginia Industrial School for Girls.

Walker was the first woman of any race to charter a bank in the United States. The Penny Savings Bank was a powerful representation of black self-help in the segregated South. Walker worked to appeal to children by passing out banks which encouraged them to save their money.

Kamprad was born on 30th March 1926 in Pjätteryd, Sweden. He grew up on a farm called Elmtaryd situated in a small village of Agunnaryd. As a young boy he started to get involved in small business deals. He had a very good business sense and taught himself many business tricks.


Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 at his Uncle Ernst's kitchen table. At first the business was mail-order and included only small household goods such as picture frames, wallets, nylon stockings, pens and wallets. Five years later he expanded to include furniture. The first consumer retail warehouse was opened in 1965 in Stockholm. Within 2 decades the store had expanded worldwide to 114 outlets in 25 countries. Most of these stores are owned by a privately operated INGKA Foundation which is a charitable organization.


https://www.famous-entrepreneurs.com/ingvar-kamprad

Ingvar Feodor Kamprad is the creator of the famous and one of the largest furniture retail companies of the world 'IKEA'. He is one of world's wealthiest people and most successful entrepreneurs.

Steven Paul Jobs was adopted as an infant and raised by a couple in Los Altos, Calif. He entered Reed College in Portland, Ore. in 1972, but he dropped out after one semester to work for Atari, a maker of video games. Stephen Gary Wozniak was born on Aug. 11, 1959 in San Jose, Calif., and worked for Hewlett-Packard until 1973. He and Jobs were very involved with a local organization called the Homebrew Computer Club.


They were the first single-board computers with onboard Read Only Memory, or ROM, and a video interface. In 1977, they introduced the Apple II, which included color graphics and housed its electronics inside a plastic case. The company secured $600,000 venture funding under the management of Mike Markkula, who signed on as Apple's chairman.


Jobs left Apple in 1985 amid a power struggle with then-president and CEO John Sculley. In 1989, Jobs started a new computer products company, NeXT, which he hoped would compete with Apple. Jobs returned to Apple as chairman and CEO in 1997 and revitalized the company with the introduction of the iPod, iPhone, and MacBook.


Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000 and is a past recipient of the Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy, and Employment. Jobs was granted the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 1987 and Entrepreneur of the Decade by Inc. Magazine in 1989. He resigned as Apple's CEO in 2011 and was replaced by Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook. Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer in October 2011.


https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/steve-jobs-and-steve-wozniak

Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. Their invention of the first true personal computer changed people's ideas of what a computer could look like. Apple continues to be one of the most popular brands of personal computing devices in the world.

Russell Simmons didn't invent rap, but he did play a leading role in the music's success. He is credited with moving rap from the inner city to the mainstream of American pop culture. Unlike Motown founder Berry Gordy, Simmons has parlayed his success into other businesses.


He founded Def Jam with Rick Rubin, a fellow NYU student who wanted to promote rap music. Rubin was a production genius who loved loud, rebellious music; Simmons was enthusiastic and canny businessman.


Run DMC and Def Jam signed the first all-white rap act, the Beastie Boys. The group's bratty lyrics and rock 'n' roll-based riffs brought in an even wider white audience. Every record the label released through 1990 went gold.


The key to Simmons success has been his keen sense of promotion. At a time when the record industry was looking for the next one-hit-disco-wonder, Simmons actively sought out artists. There's every indication that Simmons can and will go on to create a diversified conglomerate like Virgin.


https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197696

Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin founded the Def Jam record label in 1983 with $8,000 of their own money. In 1999, Simmons sold the label to Seagram's Universal Music for an estimated $120 million.

Dineh Mohajer's company Hard Candy had more than $10 million in sales in 1996 and anticipates gross revenues of $25 million this year. "No one was making the funky shades I wanted," she says. The shades she wanted were pastels in yellow and mint green to ultradark blues and browns.


The nail-polish industry took in $267 million in 1996, according to information resources Inc. Nail polish has become a fashion accessory much like the right sunglasses, earrings or belt. These new paints are not intended to beautify less-than-perfect features, but instead are a means of self-expression.


Lerner hopes the success of Urban Decay will help her to attract a buyout from an industry leader and launch a range of new products. She is already developing another computer venture while working on Urban Decay. "I've seen these companies come and go," says Mottus. "Their long-term success is going to depend on whether they can establish a solid brand name".


A new crop of start-ups are eager to fill any chinks in these companies' armor. Ripe, whose colors and glitters are supposed to be layered; Daisy, whose nail glitters Sharon Segal says are "awesome" Tough Sentence, whose polishes have scents ranging from chocolate to cloves, roses and even peanut butter.


http://www.madcapmedia.com/portfolio/projects/samples/io/contents9707/nails.html

A new crop of start-ups are eager to fill any chinks in these companies' armor. Ripe, whose colors and glitters are supposed to be layered; Daisy, whose nail glitters Sharon Segal says are "awesome" Tough Sentence, whose polishes have scents ranging from chocolate to cloves, roses and even peanut butter.

Henry Sy was not born with a golden spoon, in fact he belong to a poor family in Quanzhou, China. Sy, migrated in the Philippines when he was twelve and started working for his father's small sari-sari store located in Quiapo, Manila. Sy focused on trading shoes on the onset which lead him to discover local supplier (Philippine made) and explore in importing shoes.


He started out selling shoes in the streets of Manila under the heat of the sun and the cold of the rain. His wife Felicidad is a lace vendor which gave him an idea to bring in other goods into his Shoe Mart.

His very first branch was opened in Carriedo, Manila which became so popular and successful that leads Sy to open up two more branches. After opening branches, he ventured into building supermalls. SM North in Quezon City is the very first Supermall of SM, it was opened 1985.

In 1967, Henry Sy started in banking as he bought Acme Savings Bank which he later changed its name to Banco De Oro. Today, SMDC has 31 projects and was able to deliver complete unit turn over of 50,000. The very first project was launched last 2003 in Paranaque City, Chateau Elysee.

In year 2001, the very first SM Mall was opened in China. Now has 6 branches in the following region: Chengdu, Xiamen, Suzhou, Zibo,Chongqing and Jinjiang. This global step for SMDC was a strong testament of the company's commitment on developing world class project.

As a young girl, Nanay Coring helped her grandmother sell fruits at the local market. After finishing high school, her family did not have enough money to send her to college. She then worked as a salesgirl at a bookstore where she met her would be husband, Jose.


They opened a stall shop in Escolta. They named it National Bookstore, after their cash register. In the 1940s, a strict censorship on books was implemented. Nanay Coring had to put the books away and resort to selling soap, candies, and slippers. After the war, the whole of Escolta was burned down. This did not dampen Nanay Coring and Jose’s souls. They opened another small store. This time, they sold the books they had previously put away and whisky.


They also ventured into postcards and greeting cards. The store now manufactures its own school supplies – Best Buy. It has teamed up with Kobo, a Canadian based e-book seller.


https://primer.com.ph/business/2016/01/06/socorro-ramos-the-woman-behind-national-bookstore/

National Bookstore is one of the most visited shops in the Philippines. Started as a school supplies and textbook store, it now has over 150 branches nationwide. All thanks to the hardwork and perseverance of Socorro Ramos, also known as Nanay Coring.

Known to be the man behind the country's famous bee, Tony Tan Caktiong is another rags-to-riches story. From owning a small ice cream franchise, to heading some of the Philippines' most famous food chains. Was from a poor family in China who immigrated to the Philippines in hope for a better life.


At the age of 22, Caktiong decided to invest P350,000 in an ice cream parlor franchise. As their business becomes more and more successful, they started to hire more people to help them manage it. They decided to rebrand and change their name to "Jollibee" as it represents hardworking and happy.


McDonald's came into the picture not many years later, but they failed to take over Jollibees' popularity. Today, they have established food chains in China and Taiwan which suit the tastes of the people there.


https://primer.com.ph/business/2017/03/07/success-story-tony-tan-caktiong-of-jollibee-group/

As of 2016, Tony Tan Caktiong ranked 6th in Forbes' Philippines' 50 Richest. He was also awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur in 2004.

Edgar "Injap" Sia II is the founder of Mang Inasal, one of the Philippines' first fast-food barbecue chains. The 40-year-old is the country's youngest billionaire at 40 years old. His nickname comes from his lineage as his father is half Chinese and his mother is half Japanese.


He studied Architecture at the University of San Agustin, but dropped out at 19 to start a laundry business and open up his own photo-developing center. In 2003, he came up with the idea of opening up a chicken barbecue fast-food restaurant.


Edgar Sr. wanted his son's name shortened to "Mng Inasal", citing feng shui and companies like Jollibee and Chowking. His father nearly gave in, until he came across Banco de Oro, which had 10 letters and was successful in the fast food business. Edgar Jr. was born at a mall in Iloilo City.


Jollibee Foods Corporation and its owner Tony Tan Caktiong acquired 70 percent of Mang Inasal's stake for Php 3 billion in 2010. Double Dragon Properties is a real estate company that wants to develop 100 community shopping complexes.


https://primer.com.ph/business/2017/07/17/success-story-of-injap-sia-youngest-billionaire-in-ph/

Injap is the CEO of Injap Investments, Inc., which holds a joint venture in Double Dragon Properties with Tony Tan Caktiong's Honeystar Holdings Corporation. He's also the owner of People's Hotel, a 5-storey businessman's hotel in Iloilo City. They also acquired Deco's La Paz Batchoy in 2007, the country's oldest LaPaz batchoy restaurant.

John Gokongwei Jr was born with a silver spoon in the Philippines and went on to build a multi-billion-peso empire spanning food and real estate to banking and aviation. Born of a wealthy Filipino-Chinese clan, he effortlessly built one of the biggest conglomerates in the country from humble beginnings as a child.


At 15, he became a market vendor making money to send to his family in China. After World War Two, he and his siblings started an international trading business. San Miguel Corporation, one of the largest corporations in the Philippines, was one of his customers. Forbes ranked John Gokongwei as the Philippines' 3rd richest, with a net worth of almost P296 billion. He founded Universal Robina Corporation (URC), named after his eldest daughter Robina. URC produces some of the most popular snacks today, like Chippy, Chiz Curls and Magic Flakes.


https://www.rappler.com/business/244577-how-john-gokongwei-jr-built-empire-selling-peanuts/

John Gokongwei Jr was once one of the richest men in the Philippines. Born into a wealthy family, he had to start from scratch after his family lost what they had. Here's a look back at his journey from humble beginnings to becoming a multi-millionaire.

In 1971, Mrs. Creside Tueres started a small over-the-counter pizza shop in Greenhills Commercial Center. Mrs. Tueres isn't a newbie when it comes to food, cooking is her passion. She also has a natural talent for entrepreneurship.


By 1994 Greenwich expanded rapidly that it easily reached 50 branches. Jollibee Foods Corporation's Tony Tan Caktiong saw a great potential and made a deal to acquire 80% of Greenwich shareholding.


Greenwich's logo went through a lot of innovation, from its all green logo before to its two vibrant colors of vivid rose and brilliant green today. In 1994 it opened its first store in Ever Gotesco Commonwealth Shopping Mall. Jollibee Foods Corporation offered them a P6M to P10M franchise package. In 1995, new packaging desings were released to the public, one of those is the Greenwich Special Pizza with 7 toppings.


https://metrocebu.news/cresida-tueres-the-woman-behind-phs-famous-pizza-greenwich/

Through the years of success and giving Filipinos quality Pizza and Pasta, Greenwich now has over 300 stores nationwide.

After World War II, Filipino pharmacist Mariano Que saw an opportunity to help his countrymen by selling tablets of sulfathiazole. After making a profit, he was able purchase other medicines and a pushcart so he can sell his medicines to the public. His company may not have been the first drugstore, but his pioneering spirit paved the way for all the rest that followed.


It's the first to use a central computerized and temperature-controlled warehouse, 24-hour service, and pharmacy counseling. More than 70 years later, Mercury Drug is still at the forefront of Philippine pharmaceutical services.


Que founded the Mercury Drug Foundation (MDFI) as a way of giving back to Filipinos for their support throughout the company's 70-year existence.


https://primer.com.ph/business/2017/04/21/story-of-filipino-success-mariano-que-founder-of-mercury-drug/

Mercury Drug has been synonymous with quality pharmaceuticals and it owes its success to one man who recently left us: its founder, the late Mariano Que. Other well-known pharmacies in the Philippines include Generika, The Generics Pharmacy, Watsons, and Mercury Drug.

He founded a company that made aluminum toothpaste tubes, but the business failed after environmental concerns led his clients to switch to plastic-laminated tubes in the late 1970s and 80s.


He put up Lamoiyan Corporation and manufactured toothpaste that was priced 50% lower than his competitors. He introduced toothpaste targeted for children that featured characters from Sesame Street, such as Cookie Monster and Grover from the TV show. His toothpaste has since made it to other Asian markets such as China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.


Cecilio’s greatest accomplishment was not limited to manufacturing. More than 180 hearing-impaired students have received college education through the foundation. The organization's programs have provided free housing for more than 30 deaf–mute staffs and helped them find employment.


https://tycoon.ph/top-10-successful-entrepreneurs-philippines-story/2/

Cecilio's life isn't your usual rags-to-riches tale; rather, it shows the entrepreneurial spirit of defying apparently insurmountable difficulties.

In 1992, Joseph Magsaysay and his partners started a business selling flavored french fries. He dropped out of college to work in a hamburger chain to help his mother with the household finances. Potato Corner went on to become one of the leading brands in the fast food industry.


They started off in their mother's kitchen and soon had their first Potato Corner kiosk in one of Manila's biggest shopping malls.


As Potato Corner grew, Mr. Magsaysay had to decide between his full-time job at the hamburger chain and Potato Corner. Being a risk-taker, he chose Potato Corner and left his stable job as a district manager. By learning through experience and experimenting with a franchising business model, he and his partners were able to open 120 Potato Corner stores by 1997.


Mr. Magsaysay was the general manager of Potato Corner donut chain, a chain of donut shops in Manila, Philippines, during the Asian Financial Crisis. Potato Corner's stores dropped from 120 to less than 40 and he rationalized operations and cut costs to preserve cash flow. He also transformed the company's culture into a more open and collaborative environment by boosting morale and fostering camaraderie among employees and management.


https://www.bworldonline.com/corner-of-success/

Potato Corner bounced back under Mr. Magsaysay's leadership and became a staple fast-food kiosk in malls and schools. From the remaining 40 kiosks, they have opened over 1,000 stores in 11 foreign markets today. He credits the company's success to its easy-to-get franchise model which makes business ownership accessible, creating a whole community of budding entrepreneurs.

Alfredo M. Yao was born on November 23, 1943 to the simplest of families. The eldest among his siblings, he had to sacrifice a lot at an early age. He lost his father and became the family breadwinner at the age of 12. Started a printing business at age 17 with a Php 3,000 loan from what is today known as the Development Bank of the Philippines.


Yao Zuying learned about doypacks, a new way of packaging, from his cousin who worked for a printing press. He would soon corner the market on juice drinks, thanks to the convenience of his doypack packaging. In 1979, he started Solemar Commercial Press, named after his mother, which later became Solemar International Juice Company.


Yao was also the Chairman of Macay Holdings, Inc., the parent company of ARC Refreshments Corporation, which handles a couple of popular beverage brands including RC Cola, and the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Philippine Business Bank. He's still at the helm of Zest-O Group as its chairman but that didn't stop him from diversifying into other businesses. Some of the companies under the umbrella of the Yao Group include Solmac Marketing, Harman Foods, Amchem Marketing, Uni-Ipel Industries and Summit Hotel & Spa Boracay.


https://primer.com.ph/business/2017/06/19/success-story-of-alfredo-yao-the-juice-king/

Alfredoo Yao is the founder of Zest-O, a juice brand that can be found in almost every school lunchbox in the Philippines. With his determination to make something out of nothing, he was able to achieve beyond what he could ever imagine. Alfredo Yao's advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs: Work hard and never lose hope.

Franklin Go is overall chairman of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2013 International Conference. All would-be entrepreneurs and existing businesspeople who want to try franchising are invited to this event. Goldilocks Bakery has 394 stores and sales of P7.9 billion in 2012.


With only two cake displays and ten employees, Milagros, Clarita, and Doris Leelin started Goldilocks at a 70-sq-m building space in Makati. With the help of their sister-in-law Doris, the Leelins opened their first branch.


Goldilocks became known internationally because of their unique Filipino desserts, snacks, and bread. In 1976, they opened their first branch in Los Angeles, then in San Francisco, Northern California, San Jose, and Las Vegas. Today, Goldilocks has 12 stores in the US, 2 in Canada, and 6 in Thailand.


https://vulcanpost.com/633821/goldilocks-filipino-baking-business/

Goldilocks was founded by sisters Milagros Leelin Yee, Clarita Leelin Go and their sister-in-law, Doris Wilson.