Entrepreneur Life Stories

Bernard Arnault, a French business magnate, investor, and art collector, has made a significant impact on the world of luxury goods. As the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the largest luxury goods company globally, he has established himself as a prominent figure in the industry. According to Forbes, as of June 2023, Arnault and his family have an estimated net worth of US$220 billion, making him the second wealthiest person in the world.

Oprah Gail Winfrey, an exceptional and multifaceted American media personality, talk show host, actress, author, and television producer, has left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry through her remarkable journey and numerous accomplishments. Renowned worldwide for her iconic talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which captivated audiences for an impressive 25-year run from 1986 to 2011, she became widely known and revered as the "Queen of All Media." However, Winfrey's influence extends far beyond her talk show, making her one of the most influential and inspiring women in the world.

Tope Awotona, the founder and CEO of Calendly, hails from Lagos, Nigeria, where he was born. His lineage boasts a remarkable entrepreneurial heritage, with his maternal grandmother having established a prosperous import-export textile enterprise. Her success was exceptional for the time, enabling her to send all her children to university. Awotona's mother, a formidable figure, managed not just one, but two jobs simultaneously: co-owning a small pharmacy and serving as a manager at the prestigious Nigerian Central Bank. Awotona's father embarked on his career as a microbiologist at Unilever but soon ventured into the world of entrepreneurship. Among his various ventures, his most significant triumph came as a distributor of industrial chemicals. These remarkable parents served as Awotona's primary role models throughout his life, inspiring him to achieve greatness in his own right. An insightful profile by Inc. magazine in September 2019 shed light on the formidable challenges Awotona faced when launching Calendly. As a black immigrant, fundraising proved particularly arduous, underscoring the systemic hurdles he had to overcome in building his visionary company.

Melanie Perkins is an Australian billionaire technology entrepreneur, who is the CEO and co-founder of Canva. Perkins is one of the youngest female CEOs of a tech start-up valued over A$1 billion. As of May 2021, Perkins was one of Australia's richest women. Melanie Perkins was born in Perth, Western Australia.

Jack Patrick Dorsey is an American Internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and programmer who is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, as well as co-founder, principal executive officer and chairperson of Block, the developer of the Square financial services platform. He is also a co-founder of Blue sky, where he currently sits on the board of directors, with Jay Graber serving as CEO. In 2015, Dorsey said he began his mornings with meditation. In late 2017, Dorsey completed ten days of meditation known as Vipassanā taught by followers of S. N. Goenka. In November 2018, Dorsey went on a birthday Vipassanā meditation trip to Myanmar.