Chapter 7
BUSINESS LEGENDS

Arthur Andersen became the youngest CPA (age 23) in Illinois. He founded his accounting firm in 1913. It expanded internationally into a major business services professional practice.

Walter Annenberg worked for his father’s newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer and took over management of the business in 1942. He created other print media, including TV Guide in 1952 and Seventeen in 1954. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1969-1974. He established the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. In 1989, he established the Annenberg Foundation.

Elizabeth Arden was born in Canada and pursued a nursing career. In 1908, she moved to New York and took a job as an assistant to a beauty stylist. Soon, she had her own salon on Fifth Avenue. Arden incorporated under her name, hired chemists to develop a facial cream and established a wholesale network to distribute her product. As years went by, she added beauty services and retreats.

Mary Kay Ash was born in Hot Wells, Texas. Her mother was trained as a nurse and later became a manager of a restaurant in Houston. Ash attended Dow Elementary School and Reagan High School in Houston, graduating in 1934. Ash married and had three children. While her husband served in World War II, she sold books door-to-door. Ash worked for Stanley Home Products. Frustrated when passed over for a promotion in favor of a man that she had trained, Ash retired in 1963 and intended to write a book to assist women in business.

The book turned into a business plan for her company, and in 1963, Ash started Mary Kay Cosmetics, with a storefront operation in Dallas. The company went public in 1968 and went private again in 1985. At the time of Ash’s death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics had 800,000 representatives in 37 countries, with total annual sales over $200 million. Mary Kay Ash authored three books, all of which became best-sellers.

John Jacob Astor was a fur trader and real estate developer. He gained entry to ports and bought surrounding properties, combining all of his holdings in 1808 as the American Fur Company. He loaned money to the government to finance westward exploration. When he died in 1848, Astor left much of his wealth to establish the New York Public Library.

Warren Avis founded a rent car company in Ypsilanti, MI, in 1948. Avis became the second largest rental car company in the U.S. by 1956, inspiring the advertising slogan, “When you’re number two, you try harder.” It also operates Budget Car Rental, Zipcar and other companies.

George Fisher Baker founded the First National Bank of New York City in 1863. Baker became one of the central figures in American finance. In 1908, he founded First Security Corporation. Among his philanthropy was a $6 million gift to Harvard University for the establishment of the Graduate School of Business.

George Ballas was the inventor of the Weed Eater, a string trimmer company founded in 1971. The idea for the Weed Eater trimmer came to him from the spinning nylon bristles of an automatic car wash. He thought that he could devise a similar technique to protect the bark on trees that he was trimming around. His company was bought by Emerson Electric and merged with Poulan, which was later purchased by Electrolux.

Phineas Taylor Barnum edited a newspaper and sold tickets at a Philadelphia theatre. He was taken with a show where a woman presented herself as the former nurse of George Washington. The show was phony, but he was intrigued with how far the public imagination could go. Barnum was convinced that there was no limit to the gullibility of the public. He purchased a museum of curiosities, brought singer Jenny Lind to the U.S. and served as the mayor of Bridgeport, CT. In 1871, he debuted The Greatest Show on Earth, partnering with his competitor James A. Bailey in 1881. He stated, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” The consummate promoter, P.T. Barnum always presented shows that were worth more than the price of admission.

Bernard Baruch entered business in 1889 and became a successful speculator on Wall Street. In 1916, he was appointed an advisor to President Woodrow Wilson on matters of conserving raw materials during World War I and at the Versailles peace conference. Baruch continued serving on economic commissions and in 1946 represented the U.S. on the Atomic Energy Commission. He advised every U.S. president from Wilson to Kennedy.

Eddie Bauer founded his first shop in Seattle in 1920 (when he was 21 years old), opening in the back of a hunting and fishing store. He expanded the line and renamed it “Eddie Bauer’s Sport Shop.” He developed heavy wool garments for outdoorsmen. He received more than 20 patents for clothing and outdoor equipment. In 1945, Bauer offered his first mail-order catalog. His principal business became manufacturing of clothing and catalog sales. In 1971, the company was sold to General Mills, who shifted the focus to casual clothing and expanded to 61 stores. Cross-branding with Ford Motor Company ensued. The Spiegel catalog company purchased Eddie Bauer from General Mills in 1988. Eddie Bauer Home was launched in 1991, selling furniture, décor, linens and tableware.

Leon L. Bean earned his first money at age nine, selling steel traps. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and in 1911 invented the waterproof boot. He prepared a mail-order circular, and by 1917 had enough money to build a boot factory. By 1834, the catalog grew to 52 pages. By 1937, sales surpassed $1 million.

David Belasco was a Broadway impresario. He managed Madison Square Garden, then the Lyceum, then became an independent producer. He elevated actors and playwrights to stardom, with the skill to draw crowds to the theatre that bore his name. Belasco was associated with more than 300 plays, known as the “bishop of Broadway.”

Alexander Graham Bell trained as an instructor for the deaf. In 1874, he developed the “phonautograph,” a combination of telegraphs with an electrical speaking device. By 1876, he perfected a system capable of producing intelligible human speech. In 1877, he formed the Bell Telephone Company, producing the device for the marketplace. He founded the Volta Laboratory, developing the “photophone,” which transmitted speech by beams of light. Bell presided over the National Geographic Society, was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution and founded the Aerial Experiment Association.

Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, NM, and raised in Houston, TX, where he attended River Oaks Elementary School. As a child, Bezos spent summers at his grandfather’s South Texas ranch, where he developed talents in scientific pursuits. He graduated from Princeton University and founded Amazon.com in 1994. Bezos was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999. He founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight company, in 2000.

William E. Boeing bought a shipyard in Seattle, WA, in 1910 and converted the property into his first airplane factory. The first planes produced were seaplanes. In 1917, the name was formalized as the Boeing Airplane Company. Planes produced during World War I became surplus after the war and were commissioned into commercial aircraft market. In 1925, Boeing built planes for the federal government to use on mail runs. Larger planes were built for commercial airlines. Boeing started producing jets for the military in the 1940s. It produced the first commercial jet airliner in 1958, with roll-out of the 737 model in 1967 and the 747 model in 1968. Boeing manufactures and customizes planes for companies worldwide.

Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania and visited the Kentucky wilderness in 1767. He led expeditions for hunting and trapping, then colonized settlements. He was influential in extending the new U.S. beyond the Allegheny Mountains, a frontier legend that inspired exploring and settlements.

Gail Borden came to Texas in 1835. He co-founded the Telegraph and Texas Register newspaper. In 1836, it moved to Harrisburg (which became Houston). The newspaper covered the fight for Texas independence, including events at the Alamo and San Jacinto. Borden sold the newspaper and went into politics, writing early drafts of the Texas Constitution. In 1851, he opened a factory in Galveston to produce meat biscuits (dehydrated beef). In 1856, he received a patent for his process of condensing milk by vacuum. With the founding of a milk company in New York, the product improved and became successful. The milk is now called Eagle Brand.

Chef Boyardee is a line of canned Italian food products, introduced in 1928. Ettore Boiardi opened a restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1924. Customers began asking for his recipes. In 1928, he moved to Pennsylvania and opened a factory. The spelling was changed to help Americans pronounce his name.

Richard Branson started his first business in London in 1970, a student magazine that interviewed prominent personalities. He opened a retail record store ion 1971. Virgin Records was created in 1972, the name suggested to Branson because they were new at the record business. Virgin entered the airline industry, railroads, liquor, comic books, healthcare, energy and commercial space flight. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group comprises more than 400 companies.

Perry Brink founded an armored transportation service in Chicago, IL, in 1859, to guard money and valuables while in transit. Security services were added, for offices and homes, as well as logistics services. Brink’s is headquartered in Richmond, VA, and has 650 branch offices in 150 countries.

William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers founded Bristol-Myers in Clinton, NY, in 1887. They produced Sal Hepatica, a laxative mineral salt that became a best seller by 1903. Their Ipana toothpaste was the first to include a disinfectant, protecting against the infection of bleeding gums. In the 1930s, the company added Vitalis hair tonic for men and Mum deodorant. In 1959, Bristol-Myers purchased the Clairol Company, manufacturer of hair care products. In 1967, it acquired Mead-Johnson, producer of infant formulas. In the 1970s, the company introduced medicines. In 1989, Bristol-Myers merged with Squibb. In 1997, the company opened an expanded research campus in New Jersey.

Warren Buffett earned money as a child and showed early interest in the stock market and investing. He worked as an investment salesman, then as a securities analyst and stockbroker. He became a millionaire in 1962, due to partnerships. He took control of Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturing company. He invested in a department store, The Washington Post, Capital Cities/ABC, Coca-Cola and many other industries.

Andrew Carnegie immigrated from Scotland to the U.S. when he was 13. He worked in factories and hit riches when a farm of his hit oil. He began consolidating industries, including oil companies, railroads, steamships, ironworks and steel mills (monopolizing the industry in 1880). He retired to Scotland and contributed $350 million of his wealth to a foundation to support worthwhile causes, peace and technology.

George Washington Carver was born into a slave family. He evolved into a distinguished chemist and botanist. He improved agricultural methods, changing soil-depleting farms to peanuts and sweet potatoes. His research inspired an agricultural revolution in the South.

Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karin founded YouTube, a video sharing website, in San Bruno, CA, in 2005. The original office was above a restaurant, and the first video posted was Karin at the San Diego Zoo. More than 100 million views per day have been realized, with videos uploaded by individuals and companies.

Harry Cohn and two partners founded the CBC Film Sales Corporation in 1919. Cohn took over and renamed it Columbia Pictures in 1934. Some of his studios most memorable films included “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “It Happened One Night,” “Gilda,” Three Stooges comedies, “Born Yesterday,” “The Jolson Story” and “All the King’s Men.”

Samuel Colt worked in his father’s textile factory and went to sea in 1830. He conceived the idea of a repeating firearm, utilizing a revolving set of chambers, each brought into alignment with a single barrel. To finance his gun prototypes, Colt toured as a demonstrator of laughing gas. He received the patent in 1836 and opened a factory to manufacture his guns. His other inventions included an underwater mine system for harbor defense, telegraphy and submarine cable. The westward expansion created demand for his guns, and Colt’s firearms were essential in military service.

Christopher Columbus calculated that India was where the U.S. lies. He led expeditions to Iceland, the Madeiras and in 1492 took three ships from Spain to the New World. He discovered islands and established a colony. He returned to the Caribbean as the governor, followed by more exploratory voyages, including to Central America, an explorer of great vision and courage.

Ezra Cornell had a flair for things mechanical. He managed a flour mill and a plaster mill. He was associated with Samuel F.B. Morse, stringing together insulated wire along a series of poles, supervising the first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. He continued building telegraph lines, connecting major cities, a leader in unifying the Western Union Telegraph Company. With his wealth, he established a model farm, free public library and an agricultural college that evolved into Cornell University.

Stephen Covey is the author of such business classics as “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” “First Things First,” “Principle-Centered Leadership,” “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families,” “The Eighth Habit” and “The Leader in Me.” He was a prominent educator, businessman and speaker.

Philip B. Crosby has contributed to management theories and quality principles. He advocated four programs of doing things right the first time: the definition of quality being conformance to requirements, the system of quality being prevention, the performance standard being zero defects and the measurement of quality being the cost of non-conformance. He authored several books that are widely utilized by industry.

Jimmy Dean was a singer, recording artist and TV show host. His hit records included “Big Bad John,” “P.T. 109,” “Bumming Around,” “I.O.U.” and others. As an actor, he appeared on the “Daniel Boone” TV series and in the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever.” In 1969, he founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company. His appearance in the TV commercials gave power to the food line. In 1984, the company was acquired by Consolidated Foods, Sara Lee Corporation. He remained the spokesperson for the product until 2004.

John Deere moved from Vermont to Illinois in 1836, opening a shop as a general repairman. He developed a steel blade made into a plow. In 1842, he built a factory, producing 100 plows the first year and 400 the next. He bought out other interests and was producing 2,400 in 1849. The catalog of products broadened to other agricultural implements, including tractors, combines, field sprayers, cotton pickers, seed drills, forage harvesters, bicycles, drivetrains and diesel engines.

Lee De Forest was an electrical engineer and inventor. His first patent was for an electrolytic detector that made possible the use of headphones with wireless receivers. In 1906, he invented the triode electron tube, with potential for relaying radio signals. His audion process evolved into radio. In 1919, De Forest developed a sound system for motion pictures. He made important contributions to the electric phonograph, television, radar and diathermy. He made and lost four fortunes in his life and remained committed to the educational potential for radio and TV.

Michael Dell bought his first calculator at age seven and his first computer at age 15, an Apple II, which he disassembled to see how it worked. He sold newspaper subscriptions, thus amassing an understanding of demographic data. While a student at the University of Texas at Austin, Dell started rebuilding computers and selling upgrade kits. In 1984, he opened a company to sell personal computers directly. In 1996, he started selling computers over the Internet. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation support children’s issues, medical education and family economic stability.

John DeLorean was born in Detroit, MI, where his father worked in factories. He studied industrial engineering. He attended the Chrysler Institute, with a master’s degree in automotive engineering, working as an insurance salesman in order to improve his communication skills. He worked for Chrysler, then Packard and then General Motors as head of the Pontiac division. He was noted for birthing the Pontiac GTO, followed by the Firebird and the Grand Prix. After heading the Chevrolet division, he left GM in 1973 to found his own car company. The DeLorean hit the market in 1981.

William Edwards Deming was an electrical engineer and statistician who developed sampling techniques utilized by the U.S. Census Bureau. He championed the work of process control and worked with leaders of Japanese industry after World War II. He taught better design of products to achieve service, higher level of uniform product quality, improvement of product testing in the workplace and research centers, plus greater sales through side markets. Deming developed a system of quality management, encompassing four components: appreciating a system, understanding the variation, psychology and the theory of knowledge.

Walt Disney was one of the most creative pop culture figures of the 20^th Century. He is profiled in the chapter “Icons and Legends for Children.”

Peter Drucker was known as the “father of American business.” In 1959, he coined the term “knowledge worker.” In 1971 in California, he developed the nation’s first MBA program for working professionals. His writings predicted many 20th Century business happenings: privatization and decentralization, the ascendency of Japan to world economic power status, the importance of marketing and the emergence of an information society powered by life-long learning. Drucker published 40 books. He demanded that public and private organizations operate ethically and decried managers who reap bonuses by laying off employees, declaring, “This is morally and socially unforgivable, and we will pay a heavy price for it.” Other insights included: “A company should streamline bureaucracy. Managers should look for more efficient models for organizing work. Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not solving problems.” He was accorded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.

E.I. Dupont de Nemours was a French chemist who migrated to the U.S. in 1800. In 1802, a company was founded near Wilmington, Delaware, to produce a superior gunpowder, utilizing investment capital and machinery from France. The firm acquired several other chemical companies. Dupont established one of the first research laboratories in the U.S., working on cellulose chemistry, lacquers and other non-explosive products. Dupont partnered with the automobile industry and developed polymers, synthetic rubber, Teflon, nylon, Dacron, Orlon, Mylar, Lycra, Tyvek, Nomex and many others. In 1981, Dupont acquired Conoco Inc., major oil and gas producing company. In 1999, Dupont sold its shares in Conoco, which merged with Phillips Petroleum Company.

Amelia Earhart was an Army nurse during World War I and a social worker in Boston before settling into a career in aviation. In 1928, she was the first woman to fly the Atlantic. In 1930-31, she was vice president of Luddington Airlines, an early carrier. In 1935, she made the first solo flight from Hawaii to the U.S. In 1937, while attempting a round-the-world flight, her aircraft was lost. Earhart has a firm place in air flight legend.

George Eastman opened a photography business at age 16 to support his family in Rochester, NY. He began the manufacture of photographic dry plates in 1878 and got a patent for roll film in 1884. He founded Eastman Kodak Company in 1892. He devised transparent film in 1889, which became an essential ingredient in the motion picture industry. His wealth went to establish health and educational institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thomas Alva Edison was perhaps America’s most prolific inventor. He was home schooled and began inventing as a child. At age 21, he went to work in a stock brokerage firm and promptly made innovations to the ticker machines. He sold the rights to that process, setting himself up as a full-time inventor, wearing a chemist’s white coat in the laboratory. Over the next five years, he averaged one invention per month. Entire industries evolved from his ideas, inventions and innovations.

In 1877, at age 30, Edison invented the phonograph unintentionally. At the time, Edison was trying to devise a high-speed telegraph machine as a counterpart to the telephone that Alexander Graham Bell had invented a year before.

For his contributions to the telephone, Edison had already become quite wealthy. Edison thought he heard sounds and sought out to track down the phenomena. It occurred to him that he could devise a low-cost machine that would record voices. On a metal cylinder, a needle would move. Once that apparatus was completed, Edison shouted a child’s nursery rhyme into the mouthpiece, “Mary had a little lamb.” He admittedly was shocked when it reproduced his voice.

Edison received his patent on the cylinder style phonograph in 1878. From 1879-1887, Edison dropped the idea of developing the phonograph and concentrated his energies on developing the electric light.

Meantime, a young German immigrant named Emile Berliner developed the gramophone, which played discs. It was patented in 1887 and involved the making of a reverse metal matrix from the original acid-etched recording. He then used the negative master to stamp positive duplicates. The record player became a huge success.

In 1888, Edison took note of Berliner’s invention and retooled his cylinder technology for commercial recording. The first releases also recited poetry. The U.S. Marine Band recorded marches over and over again, as each consumer cylinder was a master. Only the wealthy could afford cylinders, priced in 1890 at $10 each. The machine on which they played sold for $200.

By the end of the 19th Century, Berliner’s record machine process was outdistancing Edison’s cylinder machine. This was similar to the manner in which VHS tapes out-distanced beta-max tapes in the early 1980s, becoming the dominant technology. By 1900, Edison had gotten into the commercial recording business but kept putting out cylinders until 1911, well past the time that Berliner’s phonograph record had become the industry standard. The cylinders had more disc space to contain longer performances, but the phonograph records were the preferred medium. In 1919, experimentation began on electrical recording and reproduction. Until then, the phonographs were cranked by hand. Those developments came from companies other than Edison.

On Nov. 1, 1929, the Edison Company announced that they would cease the production of phonographs and records. The announced reason was so that they could concentrate on the manufacture of radios and dictating machines, which is what Edison’s talking horn started out to be in the first place. Thomas Alva Edison was then 82 years old, and had long since ceased to be active in the business.

The two oldest record companies, Columbia (founded in 1898) and RCA Victor (founded in 1901) are still with us today. The two oldest record companies developed the next technologies as alternatives to the breakable 78RPM recordings. Though both companies started research and development in 1931, Columbia introduced the long-playing record (LP) in 1948, and RCA Victor introduced the 45RPM single in 1949.

The fortunes and electrical recording techniques of Columbia, RCA Victor, Brunswick and others had years earlier shoved Edison’s recording empire into nostalgia. One can still find Edison cylinders in antique shops. The genius (Thomas Alva Edison) died in 1931. By that time, the recording industry had left its infancy and was experiencing the growing pains of youth. Edison saw it all and fathered it all, the industry that he started back in 1877.

By the way, the compact disc (CD) is an updated version of Emile Berliner’s phonograph record, developed in 1877. CD’s were developed by Sony and Philips in the late 1970s. Both companies started the research independently of each other but, learning from Edison’s demise, combined as a joint effort in 1979. CDs had their first commercial releases in 1982. Both the original record and CD play at the same speed, 78RPM.

Albert Einstein was a German born physicist who formulated in 1905 and announced in 1915 his Theory of Relativity. The theory explains the behavior of objects in space and time, and it can be used to predict everything from the existence of black holes, to light bending due to gravity, to the behavior of the planet Mercury in its orbit.

In the 100 years since, relativity has many spin-off technologies and benefits to modern life: Global Positioning System, electromagnets, gold’s yellow color, gold’s ability to not corrode easily, mercury as a liquid, old TV sets with cathode ray tube screens, lighting systems and nuclear plants.

Marshall Field moved to Chicago in 1856 and worked as a traveling salesman and clerk for a wholesale house. He then partnered in and managed other stores, the result being Marshall Field and Company in 1881. It manufactured items and sold them under the company name. By 1895, the store was grossing $40 million per year. He donated to the University of Chicago and the 1893 Chicago Exposition. His descendants continued running the retail chain and owned three Chicago newspapers.

Malcolm Forbes took over the publishing of Forbes Magazine in 1957. The magazine was founded by his father B.C. Forbes in 1917. Malcolm was a proponent of capitalism and free market trade. The magazine diversified into real estate sales and a second publication, Egg, covering New York nightlife.

Henry Ford epitomized the American myth. He was born into a farming family in Michigan, was mechanically proficient as a child and became a machinist. In 1891, he moved to Detroit, as an engineer with the Edison company. Experiments with engines led in 1896 to his first automobile. In 1899, he founded Detroit Automobile Company. In 1903, he founded the Ford Motor Company, introducing the Model N. In 1908, he introduced the popularly priced Model T. In 1913, to meet growing production schedules, Ford introduced the continuously moving assembly line. In 1915, Ford doubled his workers’ pay. In 1941, Ford became the last automaker to unionize.

Benjamin Franklin was a printer, author, inventor, scientist, diplomat and statesman. His most notable scientific work was on the nature of electricity. His career of unparalleled diversity marks Franklin as one of history’s top legends.

Robert Fulton had a flair for all things mechanical. He was a gunsmith, designed a paddlewheel boat, was a jeweler painter and miniaturist. He designed a steamboat for use on the Hudson River, in 1806, steaming up the river from New York to Albany. Fulton oversaw the construction of other steamboats and the organization of passenger and freight lines.

John Kenneth Galbraith was an instructor at Harvard and professor of economics at Princeton University. He directed economic policy bureaus for the U.S. government. In the 1950’s, he published a series of landmark books, “American Capitalism,” “The Great Crash,” “The Affluent Society” and “The New Industrial State.” He traced the historical shift of economic power from landowners to capitalists to a managerial and technical elite structure that he saw as common to all industrial nations.

George Gallup was head of research for the Young and Rubicam Advertising Agency in New York. In 1935, he founded the American Institute of Public Opinion and originated the Gallup Polls as statistical surveys of public reactions to every potential issue in news and radio-TV programming. The polls were published regularly in hundreds of newspapers, to high fanfare. Gallup advocated the need for change in education that would stress discovery and self-learning. He wanted to create a more informed public that would make wiser choices.

Bill Gates was in the eighth grade when he bought a computer terminal and a block time for use by the school’s students. He wrote his first computer program on a GE system. He Wrote the school’s computer system to schedule classes. While studying at Harvard, he and Paul Allen established their own computer software company, Microsoft, with its first office in Albuquerque, NM. The company moved to Bellevue, WA, in 1979. Microsoft launch its retail version of Windows in 1985. He topped the Forbes list of wealthiest people several times. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has brought philanthropy, compassion and vision to countless global initiatives.

J. Paul Getty drilled his first oil site and made his first million in 1916. Getty diversified the holdings and grew the companies, incorporating into Getty Oil in 1967. Forbes Magazine said in 1957 that Getty was the richest man in America.

King C. Gillette founded his company as a razor manufacturer in Boston, MA, in 1901. The first safety razor with a disposable blade was introduced in 1903. The twist-to-open model was introduced ion 1934. The adjustable razor was introduced in 1958, the super razor in 1966 and Trac II in 1971, the Mach3 Turbo in 2001. One of the most memorable advertising campaigns was Gillette’s “Look Sharp, Feel Sharp, Be Sharp” in the 1950s and 1960s. The company merged into Procter & Gamble in 2005.

Adam Gimbel founded a general store in Vincennes, IN, in 1887, moving to Milwaukee, WI. He acquired a second store in Philadelphia, PA, then a third in New York City in 1910. Gimbel’s became the leading rival to Macy’s. Gimbel’s went public in 1922 and bought an upscale chain from Horace Saks, known as Saks Fifth Avenue. The Slinky toy made its debut at Gimbel’s, rolling down the escalator. The Gimbel’s chain closed in 1986.

George W. Goethels was an engineer employed on several civic works projects. In 1907, he was commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt to head construction of the Panama Canal. Goethels supervised 30,000 employees of various nations. The Canal opened in 1914 and stimulated global trade. Goethels consulted other public programs, including the Port of New York Authority.

Leonard Goldenson captained the rescue of the ABC network, the merger of the United Paramount Theatres with ABC and the steady building of the TV and radio networks to #1 status. His experiences are chronicled in the excellent autobiographical book, “Beating the Odds.”

Samuel Gompers was the most influential labor leader in American history. His American Federation of Labor provided response to the needs of industrialized workers, improving conditions without political agendas. He ran the AFL for 40 years, using strikes and boycotts in the mix with consensus negotiations.

Charles Goodyear ran a retail store, selling hardware and farm implements. In 1830, the India rubber industry came into being. Goodyear sought to manufacture rubber products of superior quality. About 1838, he acquired a patent for a process where sulfur could eliminate the stickiness of rubber. By 1844, he perfected the vulcanization process. Goodyear exhibited rubber goods at expositions in London and Paris in the 1850’s. After Goodyear’s death, the rubber industry grew and prospered.

Berry Gordy was an assembly line worker at Ford’s plant in Detroit, which inspired his musical career. He also wrote songs for friend Jackie Wilson. In 1959, Gordy founded his own record company, following Ford’s lead to create a mass production system for hit records. Hitsville USA produced the Motown Sound, which revolutionized pop music and radio listening in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Motown Sound featured a dynamic roster of artists, including Diana Ross & the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Mary Wells, Junior Walker & the All-Stars, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Temptations, Martha & the Vandellas, The Marvelettes and many more. Gordy hoped that his stable of stars would headline New York’s Copacabana Nightclub, and all achieved much more stellar fame, influence and respect. The Motown Sound inspired soul music, broadened the radio airplay configuration and inspired generations of soul superstars, songwriters and music producers.

Max Gotchman opened a chain of Army surplus stores in 1937 in San Antonio, TX, and Austin, TX. It evolved into Academy Super Surplus and later Academy Sports & Outdoors. It is the fourth largest chain of retail sporting goods stores.

Katherine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1967. She became the first female Fortune 500 CEO in 1972. She had Benjamin Bradlee as editor and sought financial counsel from Warren Buffett. Graham presided over the Post in the Watergate era. Coverage of the event was driven by the paper, and it affected every fabric of American life.

Merv Griffin started as a singer on the radio at age 19. Bandleader Freddy Martin heard him and hired Griffin to be the lead singer with the group for four years. Griffin’s biggest hit with the Martin band was “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts.” Griffin continued to sing and then got hired to host TV game shows. From 1958-19062, he hosted “Play Your Hunch” on NBC-TV. In 1965, he began hosting a TV talk show, which ran for 21 years. Griffin created and produced other shows, notably “Jeopardy,” “Dance Fever,” “Headline Chasers” and “Wheel of Fortune.” Griffin sold his TV production company for $250 million, which he later invested in hotels (Beverly Hilton and Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Paradise Island Resort and Casino).

William Randolph Hearst was born into a wealthy California family. He persuaded his father, who had acquired the San Francisco Examiner for a bad debt, to let him take over its operation. Hearst made the paper a success and then bought the New York Morning Journal. He instituted several circulation building features, including color comics, sensational crime reporting and society gossip. Hearst added newspapers, plus the magazines Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan to his publishing empire. He also owned radio stations, movie studios, a castle in Wales and real estate holdings in New York, California and Mexico.

Hugh Hefner studied psychology after a hitch in the Army. He worked as personnel manager, department store advertising copywriter and editor at Esquire Magazine. With $10,000 capital, he founded Playboy Magazine, which debuted in 1953 with Marilyn Monroe on the cover. Features on the good life were complimented by glorious nude photo spreads. In 1965, he purchased the Palmolive Building in Chicago and turned it into Playboy corporate headquarters. He built the Playboy mansion and a chain of nightclubs, all extending the philosophy and lifestyle of the magazine. In 1968, Playboy was the nation’s 12^th highest circulated magazine.

John D. Hertz began his career as a reporter for a newspaper in Chicago. In 1904, he took a job selling cars, although he could not drive. He saw a solution for the inventory of trade-in cars, as a taxicab company. He founded the Yellow Cab Company in Chicago in 1915, followed by a cab manufacturing company in 1920. He acquired a rental car business in 1924, renaming it the Hertz Drive-Ur-Self Corporation. In 1933, Hertz bought an interest in the Lehman Brothers investment bank. The Hertz Corporation went public in 1953.

George A. Hormel worked in a Chicago slaughterhouse and as a traveling buyer of wool and hyde materials. He settled in Austin, MN, and opened a meat packing company in 1891. With the introduction of refrigerated cars, Hormel grew the territories for his meat products. The company was incorporated in 1901. Hormel added dry sausages to the product line in 1915, chicken products in 1928, chili in 1936, Spam in 1937, Little Sizzlers sausages in 1961 and Cure 81 hams in 1963.

Howard Hughes was one of the most flamboyant and colorful entrepreneurs the world has ever known. Like his father, he enjoyed tinkering with mechanical things and as a youth built a shortwave radio set and started the Radio Relay League for amateurs. In 1919, Hughes was paralyzed for a short time by an unexplained illness, developing a lifetime phobic regard for his health.

On a visit to Harvard, his father took him on an airplane ride, an experience that stimulated a life-long love of aviation. Howard spent time with his uncle Rupert, a writer for Samuel Goldwyn’s movie studios, also sparking a future career interest. Howard was attending classes at Rice Institute when his father died in 1924, the elder Hughes died. At age 18, Howard received access to a large part of the family estate and dropped out of Rice. Through the decision by a Houston judge, who had been a friend of his father’s, Howard was granted legal adulthood on Dec. 26, 1924, and took control of the tool company.

After a summer of tinkering with a steam-powered car, Howard and wife Ella headed for Hollywood. Howard sought to make movies. He hired Noah Dietrich to head his movie subsidiary of the Hughes Tool and Lewis Milestone as director. Hughes worked next on his epic movie “Hell’s Angels,” a story about air warfare in World War I. He wrote the script and directed it himself. He acquired 87 World War I airplanes, hired ace pilots, took flying lessons and obtained a pilot’s license. During production, he crashed and injured his face. Since talkies had become popular, Hughes added dialogue scenes to “Hell’s Angels” that included actress Jean Harlow. Released in 1930, it was the most expensive movie to that date. It was a box-office smash, making Hughes accepted by the Hollywood establishment. He went on to produce “Scarface” (1932) and “The Outlaw” (1941).

In 1932, Hughes acquired a military plane and formed the Hughes Aircraft Company as a division of Hughes Tool Company. He personally test-flew experimental planes. He set a new land-speed record of 352 miles per hour with his H-1 (the Winged Bullet). He converted a special Lockheed 14 for an around-theworld flight, studying weather patterns. He invested in military aircraft. Hughes Aircraft won a contract to build a flying boat, the “Spruce Goose,” which he flew.

In 1948, Howard Hughes purchased the movie studio RKO, and in 1955 he sold it to the General Tire Company for profit. Hughes also invested in Trans World Airlines, and in 1956 pushed the company into the jet age by purchasing 63 jets. In 1953, he founded the Hughes Medical Institute in Delaware, designated as the main recipient of his will.

In 1967, Hughes began buying properties to build a business empire in Nevada. In 1970, he took over Air West. In 1972, he sold Hughes Tool Company stock to the public and renamed his holdings company Summa Corporation. This ended his role as a businessman and entrepreneur. In poor health, he went to Panama, Canada, London and Acapulco. He boarded a plane to check into a Houston hospital on April 5, 1976, but died on the way.

Joseph and William Hunt founded the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Company in Sebastopol, CA, in 1888. Focused on canning the products of California’s fruit and vegetable industries, they grew to shipping 100,000,000 cans per year in 1941. The company was taken over in 1943, and the focus was on canned tomato products. The Wesson Oil and Snowdrift companies merged with Hunt’s in 1968. The next merger was with McCall Corporation and Canada Dry. The conglomerate merged with Beatrice Foods in 1983. Hunt’s brands were sold to ConAgra Foods in 1990.

Colis P. Huntington was a peddler and opened a store in New York. In 1849, he moved to California, taking his store to sell to those participating in the Gold Rush. In 1860, he financed the survey for a railroad route across the Sierra Nevada Mountains. His Central Pacific Railroad Line was completed and joined with the Union Pacific in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah. In 1884, the lines merged with the Southern Pacific. He invested in other railroads and steamship companies.

Lee Iacocca began his career as an engineer at Ford Motor Company in 1946. He served in sales and marketing roles and was brought to the Dearborn headquarters and moved up the ranks. In 1960, he was named vice president and general manager of the Ford Division. He championed design and introduction of the Ford Mustang, Ford Escort and models of Lincoln and Mercury. He left Ford in 1978 and was recruited to Chrysler Corporation. Iacocca went to Congress and negotiated a bailout for Chrysler, working over the next years to turn the company around and repay the loan. New models released included the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant. In 1987, he engineered the acquisition of AMC, including the Jeep lines. He retired as chairman and CEO of Chrysler in 1992.

Steve Jobs was 13 when he called on Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard, asking for parts for an electronics school project. Hewlett gave him a job, working on the assembly line. While at Homestead High School, he met Steve Wozniak, a fellow electronics aficionado. Jobs worked at Atari and began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Wozniak in 1975. Wozniak invented the Apple I computer in 1976. Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer Corporation in the garage of Jobs’ home in Los Altos, CA. Apple II was introduced in 1977. Jobs became one of the youngest people to reach the Forbes list of America’s richest people. The Macintosh was introduced in 1984. Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT Inc. in 1985. Jobs funded a company in 1986 that later became Pixar. In 1997, Apple bought NeXT, and Jobs came back as CEO. He shepherded company innovations, such as iTunes, the iPhone, Mac OS X and the Apple Stores.

Jesse Jones established his own business, the South Texas Lumber Company. He expanded into real estate, commercial buildings and banking. Within a few years, he was the largest developer in the area and responsible for most of Houston’s major construction. He owned 100 buildings in Houston and built structures in Fort Worth, Dallas and New York City.

In 1908, he purchased part of the Houston Chronicle. In 1908, he organized and became chairman of the Texas Trust Company and was active in most of the banking and real estate activities of the city. By 1912, he was president of the National Bank of Commerce and was an original stockholder in Humble Oil & Refining Company. As chairman of the Houston harbor board, he raised money for the Houston Ship Channel.

During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson asked Jesse Jones to become the director general of military relief for the American Red Cross. He remained in this position until he returned to Houston in 1919. He became sole owner of the Houston Chronicle in 1926.

President Herbert Hoover appointed Jones to the board of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a new government entity established to combat the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Jones as chairman of the RFC, a position he held from 1933 until 1939. In this capacity, Jones became one of the most powerful men in America. He helped prevent the nationwide failure of farms, banks, railroads, and many other businesses. The RFC became the leading financial institution in America and the primary investor in the economy. The agency also facilitated a broadening of Texas industry from agriculture and oil into steel and chemicals. In 1940, Jones was offered the post of Secretary of Commerce.

Will Keith Kellogg started by selling brooms, then moved to Battle Creek, MI, to help his brother run a sanitarium. As part of the diet for patients, the Kellogg brothers pioneered in making flaked cereal. In 1897, Will and John founded the Sanitas Company, commercially producing whole grain cereals. In 1906, he founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, later becoming the Kellogg Company. In 1930, he formed the M.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Sebastian S. Kresge was a salesman whose territory included several of the Woolworth stores. He decided to open his own 5-cent and 10-cent store, in 1897 in Memphis, TN, with a second added in Detroit. In 1912, the S.S. Kresge Corporation was chartered, with 85 stores. In 1962, the chain opened the first Kmart store in Garden City, MI, expanded to department store status. In 1977, S.S. Kresge Corporation changed its name to Kmart Corporation.

Jack LaLanne became committed to nutrition, exercise and healthy lifestyle at an early age. In 1936, he opened the first health and fitness club in the U.S., located in Oakland, CA, providing exercise and weight training and giving nutritional advice. He designed the first leg extension machines. His health spa chain expanded to 200+ by the 1980s. He began his TV show in 1953, and it ran for 34 years. In 1959, LaLanne recorded the first fitness record album. He published several books and workout videos. This spawned many aspects of the fitness industry, including the workout programs by Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons and others.

William Hesketh Lever and James Darcy Lever were running a grocery store when they entered the soap industry, founding Lever Brothers in England in 1885. The first product was Sunlight Soap, later joined by Lux, Lifebuoy and Vim. Lever House was built in 1950 in New York City, serving as the American headquarters of the company.

John L. Lewis was born into a mining family in Iowa and, in 1919, became president of the United Mine Workers. In 1935, Lewis and other union leaders organized the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). As a labor organizer over a 50-year period, he was one of the most powerful men in the U.S.

John Edmund Liggett started working in his grandfather’s snuff shop in St. Louis, MO, in 1844. The company was J.E. Liggett and Brother in 1858, creating its own blended cigarettes in 1869. In 1873, Liggett partnered with George Smith Myers, incorporating as the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. Chewing tobacco was manufactured in 1875 and cigarettes introduced in 1883. Following Liggett’s death in 1897, L&M merged into the American Tobacco Company. Chesterfield was introduced in 1912, L&M filters in 1953, Lark in 1963, Eve in 1970.

Henry Luce was a reporter with the Chicago Daily News and the Baltimore News. In 1922, he and partner Britten Hadden formed Time Magazine, reworking articles from newspapers and including commentaries, forming the first news magazine. Luce carried on after Hadden’s 1929 death, steering time and adding other magazines to the empire: Fortune in 1930, Life in 1936 and Sports Illustrated in 1954. His wife, Clare Boothe Luce, wrote plays and served in Congress.

Roland Hussey Macy worked on a whaling ship and in 1843 opened the first dry goods store. The first Macy’s was established in Haverhill, MA, in 1851 to serve mill industry workers. In 1858, Macy moved the store to New York City, north of where the other dry goods stores were located. The store expanded into neighboring storefronts, offering more departments. After R.H. Macy died in 1877, ownership passed to family and other partners. In 1902, the flagship store moved to the corner of 34^th Street and Broadway, a department store expanded to a full block. The building and the Macy character were in the 1947 movie classic “Miracle on 34^th Street.” In 1978, the building was added to the roster of National Historic Landmarks. In 1983, Macy’s expanded beyond the New York area, merging in 1994 with Federated Stores and in 2006 acquiring the May Stores.

Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie and her husband A.L. Neiman founded a department store with women’s clothing in Dallas, TX, Neiman-Marcus, in 1907. The store premiered the first annual fashion show in the U.S. in 1927. Men’s clothing was added in 1929. Stanley Marcus joined the store in 1927 and became the CEO in 1950. He was responsible for massive expansion and innovations such as the Distinguished Service in Fashion Award, the first haute couture boutique to introduce weekly fashion shows, the first to host concurrent art exhibitions, the International Fortnight celebrations, his and hers gifts, holiday catalog and more. Stanley Marcus stood as a beacon for women’s fashions globally.

Louis B. Mayer was co-founder and head of production for MGM Studios. He was known as the King of Hollywood, reigning at MGM from 1924-1951. MGM was known for big, prestigious pictures, including “Wizard of Oz,” “The Great Ziegfeld,” “The Human Comedy,” “On the Town,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Tale of Two Cities,” “Ninotchka,” “The Philadelphia Story,” “National Velvet,” “An American in Paris,” “Singing in the Rain,” “The Women,” “Babes in Arms,” “Lassie Come Home,” “Boys Town,” “Captains Courageous,” “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hide,” “Waterloo Bridge” and many more.

Oscar Mayer was a German immigrant who worked at a meat market in Detroit, MI. In 1883, he and his brother leased a market and sold bratwurst and liverwurst. In 1904, the company began branding products for wider distribution. In 1919, the company opened a processing plant in Madison, WI. In 1981, the company was acquired by General Foods and later by Kraft Foods.

William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo were physicians in Minnesota. The brothers visited medical centers to keep abreast of medical and surgical techniques. As their proficiency advanced, so did their practice and reputation. A group practice began in 1889 evolved into the Mayo Clinic. In 1915, they established the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Cyrus McCornick invented the mechanical reaper in 1831 and began manufacturing that agricultural equipment in 1844.

John G. McCrory opened his first 5-cent and 10-cent store in Scottdale, PA, in 1882. One of his early investors was Sebastian S. Kresge, whose Kresge chain of stores evolved into Kmart. At its peak, McCrory’s operated 1,300 stores under its own name, as well as such names as J.J. Newberry, TG&Y, G.C. Murphy and H.L. Green.

Marshall McLuhan was a philosopher of communications theory. He coined the slogans “the medium is the message” and “the global village.” He predicted the worldwide web 30 years before it was invented.

Andrew Mellon operated a lumber company and entered the family banking business. Within 10 years, he ran the financial institution and started backing companies that became industrial giants (Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Union Steel). In 1902, the banking house became Mellon National Bank. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Mellon as Secretary of the Treasury. In 1932, President Herbert Hoover named him Ambassador to Great Britain. In 1937, he donated his art collection to the federal government, with funds to establish the National Gallery of Art.

Ward Melville created the Thom McAn brand of shoes, opening the first retail store in New York in 1922. The name was inspired by a Scottish golfer, Thomas McCann. By the late 1960s, Thom McAn was the largest shoe retailer, with 1,400 stores. The chain closed stores and began providing the shoes to other chains, notable K-Mart and Wal-Mart.

Karl Menninger, M.D., founded the Menninger Institute for psychiatric research in Topeka, KS, in 1920. In 1941, he founded the Menninger Foundation to provide clinics for research, professional education and diagnosis and treatment programs on the relation of psychiatry to law, religion, industry and education.

J.P. Morgan was the dean of American financiers. He founded his banking house in 1895, a syndicate to bail out the national treasury during a gold-reserve depletion crisis. Morgan bought out several steel companies and named the roll-up U.S. Steel in 1901. His financial empire also included railroads, International Harvester, General Electric, AT&T, marine companies and many others.

Philip Morris worked in his family’s tobacco shop in London, England. By 1854, he began making his own cigarettes. After Philip died in 1873, his brother Leopold Morris carried on the trade. Philip Morris Ltd. Was incorporated ion 1902. PM began advertising Marlboros in 1924. The company made its first cigarettes at a Richmond, VA, factory in 1929. The company made several acquisitions, including Miller Brewing Company, General Foods and Kraft Foods.

Samuel F.B. Morse was an artist and opened a studio in Boston, MA, in 1815. While on a voyage to Europe for art studies in 1832, a conversation on discoveries in electromagnetism inspired in him an invention for the transmission of information. While still onboard the ship, he drafted sketches for a telegraph. By 1838, Morse had a working model for translating letters into dots and dashes. In 1843, Congress appropriated funds to build the first telegraph line. In 1844, Morse tapped the first message, “What hath God wrought.”

Rupert Murdoch took charge of his family’s newspaper chain in Australia when he was 21. He bought newspapers in New Zealand and Canada, plus an Australian record company. In 1968, he bought the Sun newspaper and later Sky Television in the U.K. Murdock entered the U.S. media market in 1973, purchasing the San Antonio Express-News. He purchased the New York Post in 1976 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1985. Murdoch bought six TV stations owned by Metromedia, becoming the basis of the Fox Network in 1986.

Earl Nightingale started working in the radio industry, which led to his work as a motivational speaker. In 1956, he recorded “The Strangest Secret,” a record album, which became the first spoken word LP to go gold. In 1960, he recorded a condensed version of the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. He hosted “Our Changing World,” a syndicated radio program. He co-founded the Nightingale-Conant Corporation, with Lloyd Conant, to produce motivational records, cassette tapes and CDs. Nightingale is a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin were Ph.D. students and teamed on a research project at Stanford University in 1996. They studied search engines and how they ranked websites. They created Page Rank and incorporated their company Google in 1998. By 2011, the number of visitors to Google surpassed one billion per month.

William S. Paley took a chain of 16 radio stations and grew it into the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1927. Paley grasped the potential of radio, with great programming essential to advertising sales and revenue. He created a major news division that coincided with World War II. CBS was known as the “tiffany network” for its quality in every programming real. CBS excelled in phonograph records with its Columbia label, developing the LP in 1948. CBS expanded into television. In 1976, Paley founded the Museum of Broadcasting.

James Cash Penney began working for the Golden Rule chain of stores in the Midwest in 1898. The owners offered Penny a partnership in a store in Wyoming in 1902. He opened two more stores and bought out the owners in 1907. By 1913, there were 34 stores, he incorporated as J.C. Penny Company and moved the headquarters to Salt Lake City, UT. The number of stores reached 1,400 by 1929. Penney was involved in founding the University of Miami and created the James C. Penney Foundation in 1954.

Henry Ross Perot started worked from 1957-1962 as a salesman for IBM. He founded Electronic Data Systems in Dallas, TX, in 1962. EDS received contracts from corporations and government and went public in 1968, was acquired by General Motors in 1984. He founded Perot Systems Corporation in Plano, TX, in 1988, later acquired by Dell.

Tom Peters has served as a management consultant, as an Organizational Effectiveness practice leader. In 1982, he published “In Search of Excellence.” Other books have included “The Little Big Things,” “Thriving on Chaos,” “The Pursuit of Wow” and “Reimagine, Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age.”

Charles Alfred Pillsbury and his uncle founded the C.A. Pillsbury Company in 1872, processing grain and flour. By 1889, Pillsbury had five mills along the Mississippi River. In 1949, the Pillsbury Bake-Off began. In the 1950s, the company introduced packaged baking dough, with the popular advertising campaign “nothing says loving like something from the oven, and Pillsbury says it best.” In the 1960s, Pillsbury began manufacturing artificial sweetener, along with drink products.

Charles William Post worked in the agricultural machinery business, inventing and patenting a plow, harrow and hay stacking machine. In 1895, he founded the Postum Cereal Company. He introduced Grape-Nuts in 1897, corn flakes in 1904 and Post Toasties in 1908. Post also invested heavily in real estate development. Much of his wealth went to Long Island University, which named the C.W. Post Campus in his honor.

Ronald M. Popeil went to work in 1952 at his family’s manufacturing company in Chicago. He sold his father’s inventions to department stores, including the Chop-O-Matic and Veg-O-Matic. Since he could not carry enough demonstration equipment to all stores, young Ron filmed demonstrations. The next leap was to television, and the infomercial was born. He was known for using the phrases “slice and dice,” “set it and forget it”,” “slice a tomato so thin it only has one side” and “but wait there’s more.” In 1964, he formed his own company Ronco, to market his father’s products and those of others. Ronco got into the production of record albums, compilations of hits from other labels. In 1993, Ron Popeil was awarded the Nobel Prize in Consumer Engineering for redefining the industrial revolution with his devices.

William Procter (a candle maker) and James Gamble (a soap maker) moved from the U.K. to Cincinnati, OH. Procter & Gamble was founded in 1837. During the Civil War, P&G had contracts to provide candles and soap to the troops. In 1882, the floating soap Ivory was introduced. Other products created were Crisco oil in 1911, Tide detergent in 1946, Prell shampoo in 1947, Crest toothpaste in 1955, Downy fabric softener in 1960, Pampers in 1961 and Olestra in 1996. Through acquisitions, other products added to the P&G line included Charmin, Folgers Coffee, Pepto-Bismol, Old Spice aftershave, Noxzema creams, Max Factor cosmetics and Iams pet foods.

Joseph Pulitzer came to America in 1865, without any money. He went to work for newspapers and in 1880 bought the St. Louis Post Dispatch. His papers covered sensationalism and controversy. He bought the New York World, endowed the Columbia School of Journalism and created the Pulitzer Prize for excellence in drama, music, literature and newspapers.

George Pullman left school to work as a clerk and apprentice to a cabinetmaker. In 1855, he worked on streets and buildings in Chicago, earning money to realize his dream of becoming an inventor and designer. In 1858, he contracted with the Chicago and Alton Railroad to remodel day coaches into sleeping cars. In 1859, he moved to Colorado and operated a store, while developing plans for the Pullman cars. In 1864, he got patents for upper and lower berths and in 1867 became president of the Pullman Palace Car Company. He also owned Eagle Wire Works and was president of the Metropolitan Elevated Railroad in New York.

Walter Reed was a physician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He conducted research into fevers and epidemics. The hospital in Washington, D.C., is named in his honor.

Eliphalet Remington forged his first rifle barrel while working as a blacksmith. He founded a factory to make firearms in Ilion, NY, in 1816. The business expanded in 1856 to the manufacture of agricultural equipment. In 1873, Remington started production on the first typewriter and hence remained an industry leader in both firearms and typewriters.

Richard Joshua Reynolds started working on his family’s tobacco farm. In 1874, he started his own tobacco business at a railroad hub, Winston-Salem, NC. In 1913, Reynolds introduced the packaged cigarette, Camel. In 1919, nephew Richard Reynolds founded a company to supply tin foil for the packaging of cigarettes. It evolved into the Reynolds Aluminum Company, with Reynolds Wrap introduced in 1947. That company had bought the maker Eskimo Pies (foil wrapped) in 1924.

Anthony Robbins began his career by promoting seminars for Jim Rohn. Robbins launched his own work as a self-help coach and produced his first infomercial “Personal Power” in 1988. He incorporated neuro-linguistic programming, fie walking and board breaking into his motivational talks. He began the Leadership Academy in 1997, with other books including “Unlimited Power,” “Awaken the Giant Within” and “Money: Master the Game.” Robbins has inspired leadership education and the work of other speakers.

John D. Rockefeller went to work in a mercantile firm in Cleveland, OH, in 1855. In 1859, he founded his first business as a commodity trading operation. In 1863, he and partners organized a company to build an oil refinery. In 1870, through mergers, he formed Standard Oil of Ohio. By 1875, Rockefeller controlled large refineries in New York and Pennsylvania. By 1878, he dominated the entire industry, with the Standard Oil Trust formed in 1882. He established the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in 1901, the General Education Board in 1902, the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913 and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation in 1918. During the Depression, Rockefeller went out on the streets of New York, handing out dimes to the less fortunate.

George W. Romney grew up on a potato farm in Oakley, ID. He worked in wheat and sugar beet fields at age 11. He worked in construction in Salt Lake City, UT, at age 14, later serving as a Mormon missionary. He worked for a U.S. senator in Washington and operated a dairy bar in nearby Rosslyn, VA. He worked for Alcoa as a lobbyist. In 1937-38, Romney was president of the Washington Trade Association Executives. He moved to Detroit, MI, and managed the Automobile Manufacturers Association. In 1948, he joined Nash-Kelvinator and championed the development of the Rambler. Nash merged with the Hudson Motor Co. and became American Motors Corporation in 1954, with Romney as AMC’s first president and chairman. As the Big Three automakers introduced large gas guzzling cars, AMC specialized in smaller economy cars. Romney was dubbed “a folk hero of the American auto industry.” He stepped down from AMC to run for Governor of Michigan and was elected. Romney sought the Republican Presidential nomination but was defeated by Richard Nixon. Once Nixon became President of the U.S., he appointed Romney as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, holding the post until 1973. Romney then became chairman of the National Center for Voluntary Action, 1973-1990.

Harland Sanders began selling fried chicken in 1930 at his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, the location being a former Shell filling station. In 1936, he was bestowed the title of Kentucky colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon. The original recipe was finalized in 1940. Sanders was re-commissioned a colonel in 1950 and began to dress the part.

Sanders opened his first franchise in 1952 in South Salt Lake, Utah. Franchisee Pete Harman commissioned the renaming of the company to Kentucky Fried Chicken and introduced the bucket in 1957. This author met Sanders when he opened his fourth franchise in 1959 in Austin, Texas. The KFC chain grew, challenging the dominance of hamburgers in the fast-food industry. Sanders sold the company in 1964 but remained a spokesperson for the company until his death in 1979. The company changed hands and was acquired in 1988 by PepsiCo, which also operates Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

David Sarnoff moved from Russia to the U.S. when he was nine. He studied engineering and began work in 1906 on wireless communications services. In 1913, he joined the Marconi Radio Company as chief inspector and rose through the ranks to management. Marconi was merged with Radio Corporation of America in 1919. Sarnoff was elected general manager of RCA in 1921, executive vice president in 1929, president in 1930 and chairman of the board in 1947. RCA was the leading manufacturer of radio sets in the 1920s, and Sarnoff championed the founding of the National Broadcasting Company to provide programming. Then came television, and RCA pioneered in the manufacture of color TV sets.

Brothers Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger founded an oil well services company in France in 1926. The company recorded the first electrical resistivity well log in 1927. Schlumberger supplies the petroleum industry with such services as seismic acquisition and processing, formation evaluation, well testing and directional drilling, well cementing and stimulation, artificial lift, well completions, flow assurance and consulting and information management. The company is involved in the groundwater extraction and carbon capture and storage industries.

Howard Schultz began his career as a salesman for Xerox. In 1979, he became general manager for a coffee maker company. He visited a client of the coffee maker, a shop called Starbuck’s. He was impressed with the company’s knowledge of coffee and vowed to work further with them. Schultz later joined Starbuck’s as director of marketing. On a trip to Italy, he saw coffee shops on every corner, as meeting places of preferred destination. Schultz persuaded the Starbuck’s owners to broaden the menu and convert to the café concept. The owners decided to focus on Peet’s coffee and tea, selling Starbuck’s to Schultz. At one time, Schultz was owner of the Seattle Super Sonics basketball team.

Charles Schwab launched an investment newsletter in 1963. In 1971, his first incorporated to offer traditional brokerage services, as well as publishing the newsletter. Schwab opened his first branch office in 1975 and began offering seminars to clients in 1977. He opened the first 24-hour quotation service in 1980 and joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1981.

Richard W. Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck started in 1888 by reselling watches purchased in quantity. The company was renamed Sears, Roebuck and Company and began diversifying into non-watch lines. By 1894, their mail-order catalog had grown to 322 pages, including sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods, automobiles and more. By 1895, the company had $800,000 in sales and a 532 page catalog. In 1906, Sears opened its catalog plant and the Sears Merchandise Building Tower in Chicago. In 1933, Sears released the first of its Christmas catalogs. The first retail store opened in 1925, which spawned a national chain. Sears began diversifying, adding Allstate Insurance in 1931 and Homart Development Company in 1959 for the building and leasing of malls. Sears established such major brands as Kenmore, Silvertone, Craftsman, DieHard, Toughskins and Supertone.

Peter Senge holds degrees in Aerospace engineering and social systems modeling. He chairs the Society for Organizational Learning and wrote the book “The Fifth Discipline,” championing learning organizations.

Isaac M. Singer ran away from home at age 12 and became a machine shop apprentice. In 1851, he studied a sewing machine and in 11 days built an improved model that enabled uninterrupted sewing and made it possible to stitch anywhere on the material. By 1860, the Singer Sewing Machine Company became the leader in the industry. When Singer died in 1875, the sewing machine helped with domestic chores and built a major clothing industry.

Aaron Spelling was the longest running and most successful producer of TV series. Raised in Dallas, he went to Hollywood to be a scriptwriter. As an actor, he appeared on such shows as “I Love Lucy,” “Soldiers of Fortune,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “Gunsmoke.” He wrote screenplays for many shows and evolved into a producer. Spelling’s first shows were “Zane Gray Theatre,” “Johnny Ringo,” “The Dick Powell Show,” “Burke’s Law” and “Honey West.” Then came “The Love Boat,” “Mod Squad,” “Guns of Will Sonnett,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Fantasy Island,” “Dynasty,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Charmed” and many made-for-TV movies.

Edward R. Squibb taught anatomy in college and was a surgeon in the U.S. Navy. While at sea, he determined that many of the drugs supplied were of inferior quality. In 1851, he gained permission to establish a laboratory in the Brooklyn Naval hospital to produce chemicals and drugs for the armed forces. In 1859, he built a laboratory to commercialize the drugs. He drafted the model for the first pure food and drug laws in New York. In 1892, his sons entered the business. The company grew into one of the largest pharmaceutical houses.

John Studebaker taught his five sons to make wagons in Ohio. Sons Clement and Henry became blacksmiths in South Bend, IN, in 1852, making metal parts and complete wagons. They built wagons for settlers going westward, the military and fancy carriages. In 1875, brother Jacob started running the carriage factory. Studebaker designed the carriages pulled by the Budweiser Clydesdales in 1900. Next generations of Studebakers joined the company, which began making automobiles in 1902. An assembly line plant was built in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1941. Studebaker merged with Packard in 1950. In the 1960s, Studebaker diversified by manufacturing appliances, auto parts and missile components.

David Susskind began his career as a press agent for Warner Bros. studio, then as an agent for Music Corporation of America. He then formed Talent Associates, producing plays, movies and television shows. In 1958, he launched “Open End,” a talk show on the public TV station in New York. It was retitled “The David Susskind Show” in 1966, syndicated nationally and covered a wide range of topical subjects. Talent Associates produced such TV series as “Mr. Peepers” and “Get Smart,” such TV specials as “Death of a Salesman” and “The Glass Menagerie” and such movies as “Loving Couples” and “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Peter Thiel founded PayPal, an online funds transfer system, with Max Levchin in 1996. He was the first outside investor in Facebook in 2004. He launched Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund, in 2005.

Ted Turner was manager of an advertising agency in Macon, GA. Turner sold several radio stations and in 1967 bought a TV station in Atlanta, WJRJ, Channel 17. He changed the call letters to WTCG (“Watch This Channel Grow”). He ran off-network reruns and Atlanta Braves telecasts. In 1976, he struck a deal to beam his channel on cable systems nationally. Channel 17 became the Super Station and in 1978 changed its call letters to WTBS. In 1976, Turner bought the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks. He founded Cable News Network in 1980, Turner Network Television in 1988, the Cartoon Network in 1992 and Turner Classic Movies in 1994. Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner in 1996, that company merged with AOL in 2001.

William Underwood opened a food packing company in 1822. The original products were placed in glass jars, including pickled vegetables and mustards. By 1836, he shifted packing to cans coated with tin. These cans were valuable for settlers moving west and for military troops during the Civil War. Canned products expanded to include seafood, vegetables and meats, the most popular being Underwood Deviled Ham (developed in 1868).

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a pioneer capitalist. In 1810, at age 16, he operated a ferry for passengers and freight in New York. During the war of 1812, he was authorized to transport provisions to regiments around New York. It evolved into a fleet of carriers worldwide, which gave him the nickname Commodore. He then sought mail, freight and passenger service routes. By 1846, he was a millionaire. He invested in railroads, operating cross-country. In 1862, he purchased the New York and Harlem Railroad, using it to initiate streetcar service. By 1874, he controlled the New York Central, with the largest aggregate of miles of track (14,000). By 1877, his wealth was $100 million. His endowment went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

Sam Walton became the youngest Eagle Scout in Missouri’s history. He worked for J.C. Penny Co. as a management trainee, did military service in World War II and then took over management of a variety store. He established a chain of Ben Franklin stores, having 15 of them by 1962 and the Walton’s store in Bentonville, AR. The first Wal-Mart superstore was opened in 1962 in Rogers, AR. When he died in 1992, the chain included 1,960 Wal-Mart and Sam’s stores. In 1998, Walton was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20^th Century.

John Wanamaker started working as a delivery boy at age 14 and entered the men’s clothing business at 18. In 1861, with Nathan Brown, he founded Brown and Wanamaker, which became the leading men’s clothier in the U.S. within 10 years. In 1875, he opened a dry goods and clothing business, inviting other merchants to sublet from him. In 1896, he purchased A.T. Stewart in New York and broadened the department store chain. In 1918, Wanamaker’s stores piped music to each other, this innovation giving birth to commercial radio.

Montgomery Ward worked for various dry goods stores. While working for a St. Louis wholesale house, he became acquainted with the situations of farmers who found it difficult to find goods at fair prices. He figured a strategy to acquire goods wholesale and offer by mail at small markups, thus eliminating the expense of running a retail operation. In 1872, he opened a mail-order dry goods business in Chicago, the first one-page catalog offering 30 items. The business and the catalog continued to grow. In 1900, the company relocated to the Ward Tower in Chicago. His fortune was distributed to various charities, notably Northwestern University.

Fred Waring led a famous singing group, The Royal Pennsylvanians. His chorale appeared in concert and recorded throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Inventor Frederick Jacob Osius had a patent for an electric blender and went to Waring in 1937 for financial backing. Waring put the blender on the market, to great success. The Waring Blender became widely used in hospitals for specific diets of patients and was used by Dr. Jonas Salk in his work in developing the polio vaccine.

Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner founded Warner Bros. Pictures in Hollywood in 1923. Their first films were silent. They introduced sound to the movies with “Don Juan” in 1926 and “The Jazz Singer” in 1927. Memorable Warner Bros. films included “Casablanca,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Jezebel,” “The Maltese Falcon,” “The Wild Bunch,” “A Star is Born,” “Now Voyager,” “Hondo,” “Little Caesar,” “The Public Enemy,” “Key Largo,” “Captain Blood,” “Dirty Harry,” “The Big Sleep,” “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” and “Gold Diggers of 1933.”

Booker T. Washington was born on a plantation and, at age 16, walked 500 miles to enroll in the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. In 1881, he was asked to head the Tuskegee Institute, inspiring many blacks the virtues of hard work, perseverance, honesty and thrift. He counseled compliant productivity and championed many causes for human rights, education and work opportunities.

Lew Wasserman began working as an usher at a theatre in Cleveland, OH, then became a booking agent and serving six decades as an influential talent agent. He headed Music Corporation of America, representing actors, musicians and instituting the system of stars getting pieces of film profits. In 1962, he purchased Universal Pictures and Decca Records, running the combined company as MCA until 1990.

Thomas John Watson went to work at the National; Cash Register Company in 1899, serving as business manager and sales manager. In 1914, he formed Computer Tabulating Recording Company, which in 1924 became International Business Machines. He inspired constant reminder of duty to his employees, thus the IBM slogans “serve and sell,” “make things happen,” “be better than average” and “think.” His company inspired the Second Industrial Revolution, where computers and other cybernetic devices performed business tasks.

Noah Webster was teaching and grew dissatisfied with textbooks available to children. This led him to write “The American Spelling Book” in 1783, followed by a grammar book in 1784 and a reader in 1785. He lobbied for national copyright laws. In 1793, he founded a newspaper. After 20 years of work, his “American Dictionary of the English Language” was published in 1828. Five years later, he published an authorized English language version of the Bible. For generations, his speller was used to teach children to read.

Jack Welch earned degrees in chemical engineering and joined General Electric in 1960. He moved up the ladder and in 1981 became the company’s youngest chairman and CEO. He sought to streamline GE, fostering a small company environment in a large corporation. He championed quality programs, informality at work and accountability management. He has continued teaching and inspiring other leaders through programs, books and speeches. He instilled an organizational behavior called “boundarylessness,” which removes barrier between traditional functions and inspires good ideas from wherever they emanate.

George Westinghouse was granted the first patent at age 19, and there were 400 others. His early inventions were designed for usage on railroads, with the major development being the air brake in 1869. He founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company in 1872. The Westinghouse Electric Company was founded in 1886 to produce dynamos, transformers and motors for power systems. In 1893, Westinghouse supplied lighting for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Westinghouse products covered the consumer landscape in the 20^th Century.

Eli Whitney went to work in his father’s shop, repairing violins and manufacturing nails and hatpins. He met a woman and her plantation manager, learning from them to need in the South for a device to separate short staple upland cotton from its seeds. In 1793, he then built a hand-operated cotton gin, perfecting it to clean 50 pounds of cotton per day. His factory built the first milling machine. By 1795, U.S. exports of cotton were 40 times greater than what they had been before invention of the cotton gin.

Frank W. Woolworth went to work as a store clerk. In 1873, he convinced his boss that a bargain counter he had seen in another store would work well in theirs. Overstocked and damaged goods were priced five cents. In 1879, Woolworth began a store of his own in Utica, NY, with a variety of goods priced at a nickel. He opened another in Lancaster, PA, offering goods up to 10 cents. Other stores were opened in Buffalo, Erie and Scranton. He rolled those and other acquisitions into the F.W. Woolworth Company in 1912. The Woolworth Building was opened in New York in 1913, then the city’s tallest structure. By 1919, Woolworth had more than 1,000 stores. In the 1960s, the chain broadened into department stores, renamed Woolco.

Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect who designed more than 1,000 buildings in a career spanning 1888-1959. He advocated buildings designed around human lifestyles, using the terms “organic architecture” and “the architecture of democracy.” His commissions were worldwide, changing notions of spaces in which people live and work.

Darryl F. Zanuck co-founded 20^th Century-Fox Pictures in Hollywood in 1933. He remained as head of production for the studio until 1956, returning again in 1962. His legacy of great films included “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Gentleman’s Agreement,” “All About Eve,” “Miracle on 34^th Street,” “The Snake Pit,” “Tobacco Road,” “Laura,” “Twelve O’Clock High,” “The Ox-Bow Incident” and many more.

Florenz Ziegfeld was a showman who began his Ziegfeld Follies in New York in 1907 and produced annually for 24 years. The extravaganzas featured songs, sketches, dancing numbers and total showmanship. His stars included Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Nora Bayes, W.C. Fields, Ruth Etting and many more. Ziegfeld built his own theatre in 1927 and staged such Broadway musicals as “Rio Rita” and “Show Boat.”

Zig Ziglar worked as a salesman for several companies, moving to Dallas, TX, in 1968 to be training director for the Automotive Performance company. For the next 20 years, he presented motivational seminars worldwide. He was a prominent sales trainer and author, spawning an industry in motivational programs. His son Tom has continued the Ziglar legacy with motivational programs in all business settings.

Mark Zuckerberg wrote a program called Facemash, while a student at Harvard University in 2003. Facemash attracted 450 viewers during its first hours online, as a website for students to communicate with each other. It evolved into Facebook, opened to public access in 2006. By 2010, it had 500 million users, making it the largest social network site.

Business Narrative by the Author

From history, I’ve learned that there’s nothing more permanent than change. For everything that changes, many things remain the same. The art of living well is to meld the changeable dynamics with the constants and the traditions. The periodic reshuffling of priorities, opportunities and potential outcomes represents business planning at its best.

One learns three times more from failure than from success. By studying and reflecting upon the events of the past and the shortcomings of others, then we create strategies for meeting the challenges of the future.

In business, we must learn lessons from the corporate crises, the also-rans and the conditions which controlled the history. Some of those lessons that we could well learn came from these watershed events:

• The Civil War. This is a classic and tragic case of two sides fighting for causes and not fully understanding the other side’s motivations. The South saw slavery as an economic factor and the only system of labor management they had ever known. The North saw opportunities to champion humanity issues, underlying the threat of insurgence within our own nation. Neither side fully articulated its issues, nor sought to negotiate before hostilities broke out. This war caused severe rifts in U.S. society for another 100 years.
• America’s shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy.
• Prohibition. Take something away from consumers, and say that the action is in their best interest. They’ll want the commodity even more. The great lengths that people went to getting their liquor fixes enabled organized crime to gain major footholds in America. The legislation that created Prohibition was wrong, and that action by a few spawned the gangster era, which became big business in America. Congress finally recounted after untellable damage was done.
• The Great Depression. Economics are a series of ebbs and flows. Failure to anticipate and to prepare for the next drop and to expect that the good times will never cease is foolhardy. Failure to exercise crisis management after the crash and to restore stability in judicious ways caused the Depression to drag on. It was a World War that finally pulled America out of its greatest economic slump. Lessons from the Great Depression should have been applied during the high-riding days of technology stocks and a stock market that over-hyped so much. The dot.com bust and corporate debacles could have been avoided if lessons from the Great Depression had been learned, updated and utilized.
• Diversity in the workplace.
• Shift from an industrial to an information economy.
• Watergate, bringing about more accountability by the public sector.
• The Dot.Com Bust. Analogies from the Great Depression to the dot.com crash were many. Too many tech companies did not feel as though corporate protocols of the older companies applied to them. Shortcuts were taken. The media unfairly crowned superficial darlings, such as Enron. Regulators had relaxed standards. Common practice in investment communities was to over-hype stock potential, without seeing who was truly at the switches of these companies. Had the scandals not triggered public outcry when they did, this chain of events could have led to another Great Depression.
• Corporate scandals, bringing about reforms, ethics and higher corporate accountability.

Two early titans of American business, Cornelius Vanderbilt (left) and John D. Rockefeller (right).

Pictured is Alexander Graham Bell (left), working with Thomas Watson in 1887 on telephone inventions.

Pictured is David Sarnoff in 1912, working as a telegraph operator in Massachusetts. He went on to run the NBC radio and TV network for many years.

Howard Hughes was an industrialist, aviator and movie studio owner.

Pictured are two giants in the restaurant chain industry. At left is Ray Kroc of McDonald’s. At right is Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Stanley Marcus is pictured with models in a high-fashion show.

When he was an executive with Ford, Lee Iacocca championed the design and production of the Mustang.