Being an entrepreneur has become much more than just a job description. Today, our entrepreneurs are some of the biggest movers and shakers and influencers in our society. They capture our newsreels and our attention and have a profound impact on the world around them, even if they don’t want to. This year, we have named 50 of these individuals as our top entrepreneurs for 2022. Find out their stories and how they rose to the top below:
- Grant Cardone
Grant Cardone is a globally renowned entrepreneur, real estate investor, sales trainer, author, and motivational speaker. He is now a big business tycoon with various skills that have increased his value. Also, he is the popular Social Media Influencer too, as he has millions of fans following on his YouTube channel and also on other social media handles. He holds brilliant knowledge in business, sales, real estate, and financial issues. But he has traveled a long way to become what he is now. He did hard work with dedication, faced all the odds and his struggle took him to the pedestal of success.
- Tai Lopez
Tai Lopez has 2.9 million followers on Instagram, 6.2 million fans on Facebook, 1m subscribers on YouTube, and 1.2m followers on Twitter. He is an investor, partner, and advisor to over 20 multi-million dollar businesses. Through his popular book club and podcasts, The Tai Lopez Show shares advice on how to achieve health, wealth, love, and happiness with 1.4 million people in 40 countries. The Tai Lopez Show, gets around 800,000 downloads per month. Tai also owns the largest book shipping club in the world, Mentor Box, and was voted the Number 1 Social Media Influencer by Entrepreneur Magazine.
- Daymond John
Daymond John, founder and CEO of clothing label FUBU, was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Caribbean parents. Growing up in Queens, New York, John’s entrepreneurial talents were exhibited at an early age; he sold everything from pencils to reconditioned cars.Upon graduating from high school, John worked as a waiter at Red Lobster before getting his start in the clothing industry. In 1992, from his mother’s basement in Queens, John began making hats to sell at concerts and neighborhood festivals. Encouraged by his early success, John recruited his childhood friends, Alexander Martin, Carl Brown, and Keith Perrin, to work with him; they began sewing tie-top hats. John set up shop at his mother’s house, taking out a $100,000 mortgage. This was the beginning of FUBU, an acronym for For Us, By Us. FUBU’s collection later expanded to include hockey jerseys, t-shirts, and baseball caps, all embroidered with the FUBU label.
- Adam Jablin
Adam Jablin is a #1 bestselling author, certified recovery mentor, life coach and KeyNote speaker. Adam Is the creator of the Hero Project, a high-level coaching program that has helped thousands of people break free from addictions, faulty dependencies, fears, doubt, and anxiety. Adam not only created the transformative program; he also went through his own fight with alcoholism. and addictions – and has been clean and sober since July 14th, 2006. Jablin had a spiritual experience that shifted his entire life. From there, Jablin was committed to helping others, starting with those in Granrecovery and then those in business. Day after day, month after month, year after year Jablin’s enthusiasm for helping people grew, until THE HERO PROJECT was born. Now, Adam uses all his experiences to help others become the hero of their own life. Jablin works with celebrities, professional athletes, influencers, entrepreneurs, entertainers and politicians to Wake Up & recover who they really are. Recently Jablin has been on National Broadcast Television with Fox, CNBC, TNT, BET, CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS News. He also offers a free online program called THE HERO 7.
- Christoffer Groves
Christoffer Groves is a successful serial entrepreneur, who is leading the way in the lending industry. Always having a passion for entrepreneurship, even starting businesses from the young age of 16, it’s no surprise that Chris started his own business and a successful one. After working as a real estate agent, appraiser, and broker he learned the ins and outs of the industry. There were aspects he didn’t like, but he took the liberty upon himself to make a solution. This is when he and his wife started Groves Capital Inc., a family owned mortgage company, with the lowest rates in the industry. His greatest accomplishments have been growing from 2 people to 415 in less than 3 years on his own, creating a family feel where everyone works together to help others become successful, and much more. In 2022 Chris plans to provide the best platform he can for each of his partners to help them grow and thrive, all while keeping his company standards to 5 stars.
- Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran, Founder of The Corcoran Group & Shark and Executive Producer on ABC’s “Shark Tank”Barbara Corcoran’s credits include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country: She borrowed $1,000 and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. The Corcoran Group, the largest and best-known brand in the brokerage business, building the largest and best-known brand in the business.
- Anna Yako
To say that Anna Yako is multi-talented would be an understatement. Anna is an investor, real estate owner, in the Mental Health and Medical Management Industry, full-time mom and a boss! Every week, Anna goes on the radio to talk about mental health and has produced a podcast called Ladies of Mental Health to ensure that people who are experiencing a mental health crisis have a resource that they can use. However, this is still not the end of all that Anna does! She is also a public speaker, is writing a book, and much more. Anna’s story begins with social media and her getting popular for her talks about self love and women’s mental health through those channels. During the pandemic, she found that people really needed an outlet and a source that they could trust to talk about mental health and she was that person! Anna loves that she gets to empower women while fulfilling her dreams of talking about mental health. She never lets failure define her and is getting her message out there as much as possible because she is unafraid to speak her mind when it matters. To find out more about Anna, you can follow her on Instagram here and Tiktok here. For updates and news on her book release dates, visit her website here.
- Brandon Peña
Brandon Ivan Peña is an incredible Entrepreneur, Business Consultant and motivational speaker. Having an accent he felt that his success would be limited, but with hard work and dedication he proved himself wrong. Now, Brandon is a well known and influential Business consultant, Founder of 787 Coffee, Hacienda Iluminada and a spanish motivational brand called ‘brandON’. Some of his greatest accomplishments include being one of the first latinos to be invited to a Facebook Conference, growing one of the world’s best coffees, attending and speaking in some of the best conferences in the world:Digital Shanghai, Social Media Week, SXSW, and much more. Brandon always knew he wanted to be a business owner, being able to build his own business, hear customers feedback, and be innovative. In 2022, Brandon wants to continue to impact customers, and switch over his coffee production into the United States. He also wants to keep his purpose the same, focusing on the wellbeing of his team. He knows that if his farmers, baristas, crews, editors, and office staff are well, his customers will be welcomed and appreciated.
- Robert Sylo
Robert Syslo Jr is the Founder of Syslo Ventures, a full service creative agency that provides advertising on different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, etc. From video production, to promotion training, marketing services, documentary film production, website development & design, and much more, Syslo Ventures provides it all. Robert is passionate about design, video production, and communication, and has dedicated his life to creating unique content for his clients that is hard hitting, impactful, and ethical. He sees social platforms as a great way to connect and enforce the attitude of a brand, and showcase it throughout the world. Through its innovative and unique approach to marketing, Syslo Ventures has remained above the competition. In fact, Robert makes his clients’ success his #1 priority, and works to seek out the solutions to attack any problems they may be presented with in their industry. Today, Robert continues to expand his brand through diverse social platforms to over 10,000,000 people.
- Verónica Xolalpa
Veronica Xolalpa’s family came to the United States to find a better life for themselves. During her life, Veronica constantly saw how much people struggled due to bad credit and misunderstanding of the financial system. Veronica decided she needed to do something to change this and made it her life’s work to educate others on the importance of good credit and understanding their finances, particularly in the latino communities around the United States. What differentiates Veronica from others in the business is that she chooses never to sneak in additional fees or paybacks to herself at the expense of the clients she is helping. Instead, she offers low fees and access to accounts 24 hours a day. This is because, for Veronica, her true reward is seeing the lives around her changed for the better because people are able to afford houses, loans, and much more. Veronica plans to work with even more employers, high schools and college to offer free programs on maintaining good credit. Check out her instagram here and her website here.
- Jorge Palmero
Jorge Palmero has taken the e-commerce world by storm and his success has only continued to grow in 2022 with his clientele growing by 10 fold. An Oxford graduate and a former employee for a Venezuelan Oil company, he started this company with his wife and son in law. Many of his original customers are now referring new customers to his business as a testament to his hardwork and success. Jorge’s business has grown so much in the past few months that he has had to open up 7 new warehouses and add two new divisions to the company. However, this isn’t even all that Jorge does! He is currently working to develop his own real estate business that is taking him to the international stage. Beginning in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru, they have big hopes for their new adventure. To find out more about Jorge, follow him on instagram here.
- Rosana Viviani
Rosana Viviani’s life has changed drastically in a relatively short period of time. After immigrating to the United States, she found herself working a full time job, married, and happy, but all that changed when she went through a bad divorce and she was suddenly barely making ends meet in a country that wasn’t hers. However, Rosana’s mindset and positive attitude were able to keep her afloat despite all of this. Now, she is one of the managing directors for LVLUP Partners, LLC, which is a business that is focused on changing people’s lives through an array of services. They offer services such as teaching clients how to make an income through automated Amazon and Facebook stores, education on financial growth, credit repair, and social media growth on platforms like Instagram and much more. Much of Rosana’s business focuses on how to brand and rebrand for the ever changing times. Having entirely turned her life, Rosana is excited to keep helping people for years to come. To find out more about how you can get involved, you can follow Rosana on instagram here.
- Lyrian Cavazos
Lyrian Cavazos is the mom entrepreneur behind Heaven Bloom, a distinct clothing brand that offers a variety of girl clothing products including dresses, rompers, crop tops and more. They constantly update their collection to provide more diverse products. Lyrian launched Heaven Bloom, while she was dealing with the biggest challenge of her life, spending one of her pregnancies in the hospital while her son recovered from a very lethal cancer at just 15 months old. Back then, the only moments she had time for her pregnancy were those in which she sat down and created headbands for her daughter-to-be. Soon after, she launched Heaven Bloom to share with the world the girls clothing and accessories she had designed.
- Shawnte McKinnon
If you have ever wanted to start a business, but are unsure how to make a plan to begin, look no further than Shawnte McKinnon and her company, McKinnon Strategic Consulting Group. This firm provides tailored solutions for entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and corporations with a focus on strategies around the operations, accounting, and financials of organizations to strengthen the core of the client’s business. Shawnte has been able to pull businesses running in a four year deficit to a six digit surplus within only six months of working with the group! Meeting virtually with her clients has helped her overcome the difficulties that Covid presented, and she is excited to continue to assist entrepreneurs and corporations alike on their quest for business success. To find out more about Shawnte, follow her on Instagram here.
15. Sheka Jonson
Sheka Johnson is a business consulting and coaching expert. She was motivated to start High Status Consulting after realizing the wealth gap among people of color, especially women of color. She believes it is important to educate and assist individuals about finance and investments. With High Status, Sheka helps people obtain the information they need to make a difference in their business and families. Sheka has been an entrepreneur since she was 19, and has been able to launch and scale multiple seven figure businesses. She now shares her expertise through High Status so others can build and sustain generational wealth.
16. Raul Luna
Raul Luna, in addition to being a successful real estate entrepreneur, is teaching people how to invest in real estate without using their own money or credit. Closing multiple deals for months, Raul kept constantly being asked how he was able to do it all. Raul made the decision to start formally helping people and opened up the Raul Luna Academy. Not only did people start closing deals, but they were directly using the techniques that Raul was teaching. Raul is not just teaching his techniques to others, he is also using them himself or as he says “teaching what they preach.” Raul is actively discussing what works for him in his own day to day work in the real estate industry. In the next few months, Raul is excited to keep impacting the lives of millions of people. In addition, they are looking forward to having their annual conference, which allows them to reach thousands of people. To find out more about Raul, follow him on instagram here and check out his website here.
17. Nelson Perdomo
Nelson Perdomo is a real estate entrepreneur who, because of his effective and tested strategies for real estate marketing, is often referred to as the real estate marketing guru. More than 10 years ago, Nelson began to study professional marketing in different areas such as branding development, social media, and sales funnels. But when he had to sell his own property, he was forced to learn more about the real estate industry and realized that the industry was lacking in marketing strategy. That is why he decided to create the first and only real estate marketing university in the Spanish-speaking world. University Marketing Inmobiliario (also known as UMIN) already teaches more than 3,400 people about how to succeed in the industry. In addition to this, Nelson also is a co-founder of Mi Segunda Casa, which mixes the use of technology with fractional ownership investment to offer customers a more accessible experience when looking to purchase a second property in Colombia, and soon in all Latin America.
18. Mariana Barcon
Mariana Barcon is an international makeup artist from Mexico City, Mexico, who is the first Mexican woman to be the lead makeup artist in New York Fashion Week. The lead makeup is in charge of proposing makeup to all designers based on trends, and is responsible for the execution of all makeup during the catwalk and the event. For NYFW, Mariana will lead a team of 30 makeup artists in the preparation for 14 shows. Besides her historic participation in NYFW, Mariana also provides her makeup services for people getting ready to go to social events, weddings, photoshoots, and more. She also teaches self-makeup and professional makeup courses. Despite the high level of competition in the fashion industry, Mariana has been able to grow as an international makeup artist who is now a reference for many others.
19. Ken Wentworth
Ken Wentworth is an entrepreneur, speaker and bestselling author who has always had an entrepreneur spirit. Now he works with business owners to help them operate more profitably and more efficiently, turning problems into profits. He is also the author of “Pathway to Profits”, “How to Be a Cash Flow Pro”, and “Don’t Fake the Funk”, books that have been incredibly successful and have quickly become bestsellers. In addition, Ken hosts an amazing radio show called “Mr. Biz Radio”, where he teaches business owners everything they need to know to make it as an entrepreneur. It is also a multi-faceted show that includes entertaining and knowledge.
Plus, he recently launched a streaming channel, “Mr. Biz Network”, that offers a different kind of insider look into the business world while being easily accessible since it is available on 100+ streaming platforms.
20. Paul Getter
Paul Getter is a self-proclaimed digital marketing nerd, and it’s safe to say that the title fits him perfectly. He is one of the entrepreneurs that overcame a lot of challenges growing up to prove that he could build a good life for himself. Paul ventured into the marketing world after losing his job and without any prior knowledge on the subject. His dedication and passion are what drove him to learn digital marketing, and within a few years, he has become one of the most reputable entrepreneurs in the industry. His level of expertise in digital marketing and his passion for helping others is what makes Paul Getter one of the top 20 entrepreneurs to look out for in 2022. He has built a strong network with most people still seeking his assistance with digital marketing. He has already helped many people take their businesses to the next level. His agency is among the top internet marketing agencies in the world , spending an average of over $250 million a year on paid traffic for his clients. He’s known as the marketer behind many of the biggest names online. Some call him “Kingmaker” because the brands he touches turn to gold.
21. Greg Scheinman
Greg Scheinman is a performance coach for midlife men and an advisor to brands. He is the creator of The Midlife Male Podcast & Newsletter, and the author of “The Midlife Male: A No-Bullshit Guide to Living Better, Longer, Happier, Healthier, and Wealthier and Having More Fun in Your 40s and 50s.” Greg is an entrepreneur, former big business executive, writer, fitness enthusiast, husband, dad, and performance coach. Through his services, Greg helps men maximize middle age. He also advises, consults and invests in brands that help men the most.
22. Aldo Lopez
Aldo Lopez is the CEO and Founder of BNEFIT Corporation, a Crowdfunding for cryptocurrency education that will be launching this upcoming April. Being how cryptocurrency has become the new global tendency, Aldo has come up with this business in order to help anyone across the world who wants to learn how to capitalize on crypto. Having been in the business world for over 36 years and helping over 10,000 families throughout his career, Aldo Lopez brings vast knowledge to the table. He has always been passionate about helping others, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to help people have access to cryptocurrency education despite their social status, race, or nationality. This year, his goal is to impact one million people through his knowledge of investments and cryptocurrency. BNEFIT will be the first crowdfunding of its type, based on bitcoins and cryptocurrency, allowing access to any individual who wants to gain the knowledge.
23. Elena Cardone
Elena Cardone started her career in Hollywood and soon became a successful model and actress of TV and film fame. A lifelong competitive sport shooter, and now wife, mother, author, businesswoman, empire builder, event producer, mentor, public speaker, and visionary.She is the author of the best-selling book “Build an Empire: How to Have it All.” She is the executive producer of the massively successful events that include 10X Ladies, Operation 10X Badass, Build an Empire Mastermind and her own show, “Women in Power.”
24. Carl Wu
A Blackstone managing director turned entrepreneur, Carl Wu has staked his ambitions on the future of China’s fledgling private health care industry. As CEO and founder of New Frontier Group, based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and president of New Frontier Health, an NYSE-traded company, he led the $1.44 billion acquisition of United Family, China’s largest private hospital group, through a SPAC in 2019. New Frontier’s growing portfolio of hospitals are located in China’s largest cities and are known for their premium service. In all, the company, which also runs rehabilitation centers, home health and telemedicine services, and a health insurance brokerage, reaches several million people a year. Wu is betting that China’s growing affluence and aging population will fuel demand for high-quality health care for decades to come.
25. Nick Molnar
Nick Molnar is the co-founder of Afterpay. As a young serial-entrepreneur, Nick’s vision for Afterpay was to create a global payment solution that would allow consumers to pay for things they want and need over time, using their own money. As a millennial himself, he recognized that his generation has an aversion to credit cards and compounding debt.Nick launched Afterpay with his co-founder, Anthony Eisen, in Australia in October 2014 and listed the company on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2016. The company expanded into the U.S. in May 2018 and soon after, expanded into Canada, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. As of June 2021, Afterpay had more than 20 million customer accounts in the United States alone and was offered by more than 100,000 merchants globally.
26. Jeremy Joyce
Jeremy Joyce inherited his love of food from his mother, who as far as he remembers was always making things from scratch. On Saturdays, when the rest of his family was sleeping in, Joyce was in the kitchen early, learning to cook alongside his mom. Fast-forward to 2021, and Joyce has now dedicated himself to food through his company Black People Eats, which highlights the best food served at Black-owned restaurants in different cities. The brand, which Joyce started in 2017, has more than 100,000 Instagram followers and also includes YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok accounts. The company’s mission: to help users find the best appetizers, meals, and desserts served at Black-owned restaurants. Joyce, who until January worked at Northern Trust Corporation in Chicago, recently took to running Black People Eats full-time and is currently working on rolling out a social media show.
27. Chris Bell
Chris Bell is leading one of the fastest-growing unicorns in one of the hottest areas of e-commerce right now: rolling up all the burgeoning online retailers that sell on Amazon, Mercado Libre, and other marketplaces and giving them the firepower to get much bigger. Bell’s Boston-based Perch, which is only 22 months old, has quickly grown its portfolio to include more than 75 brands—from athleisure to teeth whiteners—and recently landed $775 million in funding led by SoftBank to help finance its next phase of development. Bell, a veteran of Bain & Co. and online furniture company Wayfair, says that Perch’s business model is predicated on offering these up-by-your-bootstraps brands the technology and global operations expertise that will vastly improve marketing, manufacturing, and order fulfillment.
28. Kevin O’Leary
Kevin O’Leary, nicknamed “Mr. Wonderful”, is a Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, author, politician, and television presenter. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows, including the business news programmes SqueezePlay and The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, as well as the reality television shows Dragons’ Den and Redemption Inc. In 2008, he appeared on Discovery Channel’s Project Earth. Since 2009, he has appeared on Shark Tank, the American version of Dragons’ Den.
29. Mei Mei Hu
Mei Mei Hu doesn’t have the typical pedigree of a pharmaceutical executive—especially not one who has embarked on the lofty, risk-filled quest of developing an Alzheimer’s vaccine. She’s not a scientist by training but rather a former McKinsey consultant with a Harvard Law degree who caught the drug development bug. Hu is also a female executive in an industry in which the C-suite is a notorious boys’ club. (Her mother is a renowned scientist and biotech entrepreneur, so maybe it runs in the family.) But Hu’s outsider sensibilities may prove a major asset as her company, United Neuroscience, seeks to succeed where countless other drug companies have failed.
30. Evan Sharp
Evan Sharp is the co-founder of Pinterest, where he leads all design efforts. A former architect, Evan finds inspiration from pinning interesting maps, science facts, architecture, vacation plans, and fonts for his design projects. Before Pinterest,Evan worked at Facebook as a product designer. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from theUniversity of Chicago and studied architecture at Columbia University.
31. Sara Blakely
Sara Blakely is an American inventor and entrepreneur who created Spanx, a brand of body-slimming women’s undergarments, and in 2012 became the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire.he ultimately found a hosiery factory willing to produce her footless hose, wrote her own patent application, and chose a playfully endearing product name, “Spanx,” and logo, a young blonde woman modeled on herself. Rather than invest in advertising, Blakely traveled across the United States, meeting and modeling for the boards of stores such as Neiman Marcus.
32. Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel is a self-made businesswoman, TV producer, multiple New York Times bestselling author, and mother. She is the Founder & CEO of Skinnygirl, a lifestyle brand offering practical solutions to women, including the launch of the Skinnygirl Jeanswear Collection, which sold out on HSN within its first few hours.
33. Warren Buffet
Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world, and known as an incredible investor and businessman.Buffett started out in the business world at a very young age, and was in fact only 11 years old when he bought his first stock. He’s come a long way since then and has achieved a lot within his lifetime. Although, this book, arguably one of the best entrepreneur biographies, goes into more detail than just his achievements in the exciting world of business, but more about the man himself. His opinions, his work, struggles, achievements and wisdom are all revealed in ‘The Snowball’.
34. Mark Zuckerberg
In full Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, he is an American computer programmer who was co-founder and CEO (2004– ) of Facebook, a social networking Web site.
After attending Phillips Exeter Academy, Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard University in 2002. On February 4, 2004, he launched thefacebook.com (renamed Facebook in 2005), a directory in which fellow Harvard students entered their own information and photos into a template that he had devised. Facebook quickly became popular as registered users could create profiles, upload photos and other media, and keep in touch with friends.In 2008 Zuckerberg’s new worth was estimated at about $1.5 billion. After Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO) of stock in 2012, Zuckerberg’s net worth was estimated at more than $19 billion.
35. Garret Camp
Camp is a native Canadian entrepreneur who is famous for his ground-breaking technology ventures. His best-known companies include Uber and StumbleUpon (now Mix), both of which he co-founded. Camp is currently chairman of Mix and a founding partner of business incubator Expa, through which he funds start-ups. One of his latest projects is Eco, originally intended to be a cryptocurrency but now a personal finance/investment app. He has launched several companies, but he’s best-known as the co-founder of Uber. In 2008, he and friend Travis Kalanick were attending a conference in Paris and trying, one winter night, to find a taxi. “What if you could request a ride from your phone?” the two chilled entrepreneurs asked each other. From there, the pair developed a smartphone app that let people tap a button and get a ride from a fleet of circulating cars. The first Uber ride took place in San Francisco in 2010.
36. Nicola Kilner
Nicola Kilner is the co-founder and CEO of Deciem, “the abnormal beauty company” known for flouting beauty-industry conventions and creating cult favorites in the process. Earlier this year, the brand launched something fans have long been asking for: the calming signature scent of Deciem brick-and-mortars bottled.
37. Brian Chesky
Chesky is an American entrepreneur who started Airbnb—an online service for booking accommodations for travelers—along with his partners. He also serves as the CEO of Airbnb, and was listed in Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2015’. Chesky began his journey as an entrepreneur during his college days when he used to run a hockey team. When his hockey team was canceled at the last moment, he and his teammates began rebranding their team. They transformed the team and brought a new mascot as the team’s logo which helped to revitalize it. On a similar note, he got the idea for Airbnb in 2007 when he faced some financial difficulties. Chesky and his roommates needed cash so they decided to rent their apartment. Ultimately, this led to the birth of Airbnb which grew gradually and gave better opportunities to travelers looking for a place to stay. There are many reasons for his success and one of the most important reasons is the fact that he gave more importance to his customers and the services they needed rather than the ideas of the developers.
38. Nick Molnar
Afterpay Co-Founder and CEO Nick Molnar has raised the profile of ‘FinTech’ immensely over the last 12 months and at the tender age of only 27, he is one to watch for years to come. With his retail experience and out of the box thinking, Nick brings a refreshing addition to the retail space; an industry that is still tied to traditional financial models and practices.
39. Megan Quinn
USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book. Her books, equally sweet and steamy, cater to many audiences — the lovesick, the skeptical and the heartbroken. She seduces readers into believing that their happy ending lurks just beyond that next sunset. The USA Today bestselling author is a romance writing machine, with almost 40 books to her name. She first reached the masses through the self-publishing platform Kindle Direct Publishing but is now a hybrid author, one who publishes traditionally and independently.
40. Akila Raman
Raman is COO of the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs and specializes in risk management. She runs operational strategy for the global investment bank, and is currently focused on international expansion and growth in new products like Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance. Akila earned an A.B. in Politics and a Certificate in Finance from Princeton University in 2004. She joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst and since then has brought important Debt IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) to the market. She has helped the firm’s most important clients mitigate interest rate and foreign currency risk with particular focus on hedging risk associated with mergers/acquisitions and debt issuance. She has expertise in natural resources companies in sectors such as energy, power, and metals, and has also prioritized using technology and automation to streamline workflow.
41. Rohan Seth
Rohan Seth is a Stanford graduate who helped create Google’s user location platform before founding early tech start-up Memry Labs. After Memry Labs was acquired by Opendoor, Rohan stayed on and led product growth from April 2017 to December 2019. Rohan is also the Co-Founder of Lydian Accelerator, a passionate project he co-founded with his wife after their newborn daughter Lydia Niru Seth was born in December 2018 with a genetic mutation that can cause severe lifelong disabilities. In order to save Lydia and millions of others who suffer from such a disease, the proud parents of Lydia have decided to open-source their baby – seeking donations as the treatment is most effective in the early stages and the research is expensive.
42. Arianna Simpson
Arianna Simpson is a San Francisco-based investor with a focus on cryptocurrencies. She holds a bachelor’s in International Politics and Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania Schreyer Honors College. She worked as an advisor and board member and became a partner at Andreessen Horowitz in 2020. Prior to joining Andreessen Horowitz, Arianna founded Autonomous Partners, an investment fund focused on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. She also helped launch Crystal Towers Capital, an early-stage fund investing primarily in YC companies, in 2015. Arianna previously spent time working in sales and product roles at Facebook and BitGo, an enterprise security company for bitcoin and other digital currencies. She grew up in Milan, Italy.
43. Tim Stokely
Tim Stokely is an accomplished British tech entrepreneur and the founder of OnlyFans. A lifelong entrepreneur, Tim’s work is rooted in influencer marketing and social communities. After founding several early internet platforms, Tim launched OnlyFans in 2016 allowing creators to share personalized content with their audience. Tim Stokley’s net worth is estimated at $120 million. Worldwide there are 660,00 creator accounts with 50million users and OnlyFans boasts it has paid creators more than £956m. This would mean Mr Stokely has seen the company draw in revenues of more than more than £1.2bn.
44. Robert Pera
Pera is the founder of Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. a global communications technology company that Pera took public in 2011. In October 2012, Pera also became the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. He founded Ubiquiti Networks in March 2005 using $30,000 of personal savings and credit card debt. Ubiquiti’s early products utilized existing Wi-Fi technology to wirelessly deliver the Internet to underserved areas (e.g., rural areas and emerging markets) lacking the infrastructure to access the Internet through traditional avenues such as phone lines and cable lines. The company has since successfully branched out into other product lines such as wireless access points, security cameras and traditional networking equipment
45. Bryony Winn
Bryony Winn is president of Anthem Health Solutions, where she is dedicated to using her platform to champion and advance health equity, maternal health, and whole health across the healthcare system. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring that the 45 million consumers in Anthem’s family of health plans have access to high quality, affordable care. Bryony’s experience includes helping develop a portfolio-optimization strategy for a government agency, identifying the projects and processes to invest in over the next five years. She has also assessed the opportunities in managed care for an American state, with an estimated five percent total cost reduction.
46. Carl Wu
Wu is a widely recognized expert on chromatin biology and biochemistry, his research is dedicated to the understanding of chromatin, which has a key role in regulating essentially all chromosome activities and is causally linked in gene misregulation in many diseases, including cancer. Wu’s research over the years has helped elevate chromatin regulation to one of the most prominent areas of molecular biology, with broad implications in physiology and medicine.
He is currently focused on studying the biochemistry and function of the conserved histone variant H2A.Z, which plays a crucial role during transcription, with the hope of acquiring insights on promoter and enhancer function in health and disease. Wu joined Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in 2016 from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus.
47. Keller Rinaudo
Keller Rinaudo is CEO and co-founder of Zipline, the world’s first drone delivery service whose focus is delivering life saving medicine even to the most difficult to reach places on earth. Prior to Zipline, he was a software engineer and a professional rock climber. A graduate of Harvard University, he built computers out of RNA and DNA that can operate in human cells as molecular doctors. Mr. Rinaudo published this research in Nature Biotechnology, becoming one of the youngest first authors in the publication’s history.
48. Evan Spiegel
Spiegel is the co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc., named for its flagship product, the photo- and video-sharing app Snapchat. Spiegel developed the idea for the popular photo- and video-sharing app while attending Stanford University, alongside former fraternity brother Bobby Murphy. Initially named Picaboo and released in 2011, the app gained steam the following winter, eventually making its co-founders billionaires when Snap went public in early 2017. Entering 2020, Spiegel was estimated to be worth $3.2 billion.
49. Lori Greiner
Lori Greiner is an American television personality, inventor, and entrepreneur. She is an investor on the reality TV show Shark Tank and its spin-off Beyond the Tank. She has been known as the “Queen of QVC” since 2000, with the premiere of her show Clever & Unique Creations. Greiner is the president and founder of For Your Ease Only, Inc.
50. Robert Herjavec
Robert Herjavec is a Croatian-Canadian businessman, investor, and television personality. Herjavec founded BRAK Systems, a Canadian integrator of Internet security software, and sold it to AT&T Canada in 2000 for $30.2 million. In 2003, he founded The Herjavec Group, now one of the largest information technology and computer security companies in Canada, with over $200 million in annual revenue. He has been featured on the CBC Television series Dragons’ Den and ABC’s version of the series Shark Tank, where he is an investor. He has also written books on advancing in business. His net worth is estimated to be $200 million.
