Most successful people in the world

A list of the most successful people in the world.

Firstly, what counts as success?

  • Financial and business success
  • Getting to the top of their profession, in science, sport, arts or culture.
  • Political success
  • Influencing other people.

Most successful people in business

Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – 1877) Vanderbilt amassed his fortune through his dominance of railroads and shipping. He built and controlled many of the most significant railroads in America, such as the New York railroad and the Grand Central Terminal.

Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) Born in Scotland, Carnegie moved to America where he became very wealthy through dominating the US steel industry. After selling his steel corporation in 1901, he gave away $350 million in the last 18 years of his life.

John Pierpont “J. P.” Morgan (1837 – 1913) J.P.Morgan built a financial empire based on banking, and investment. He arranged the biggest mergers of his day. Morgan was a key player in the formation of great corporations such as General Electric 1892 and the US steel corporation. On his death, he left $68.3 million ($1.39 billion adjusted for inflation)

rockefellerJohn D. Rockefeller (1839 – 1937) Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in 1870; the firm soon gained monopoly power over the production and distribution of oil. It was estimated Rockefeller controlled 90% of US oil. He was America’s first billionaire and widely regarded as the richest man of the modern world. His fortune peaked in 1913 at $336 billion. (inflation-adjusted for 2007)

Bill_Gates Bill Gates (1955 – ) American businessman, founder of Microsoft. According to Forbes, he was the richest man in the world from 1995 to 2007. His net worth in 2012 is estimated at $76.8 billion. He has recently focused on philanthropy – giving away a large portion of his personal fortune through the Gates Foundation.

larry-page Larry Page (1973 – ) / Sergey Brin (1973 – ) Co-founder of Google. Google has displayed one of the most dramatic growth of any business. From humble beginnings, Google is now an international giant dominating internet search.

steve-jobs Steve Jobs (1955 – 2012) Key figure in Apple computers. Credited with turning around Apple, and overseeing the development of iPod, iPad and iMac revolution, which saw Apple become one of most successful companies.

RichardBranson Richard Branson (1950 – ) British entrepreneur. Founder of Virgin. Richard Branson set up his business from a small record shop and has since successfully expanded into a variety of industries, such as trains, air flights and personal finance.

Walt_disney Walt Disney (1901 – 1966) American film producer. Disney developed cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse and founded the popular Disney theme parks. Disney productions are one of biggest film producers in the US.

Henry_ford Henry Ford (1863 – 1947) US Industrialist who helped promote the auto revolution, mass producing Ford cars at low cost, enabling Ford motors to become a successful multinational.

Authors

jk-rowling J.K.Rowling (1965 – ) British author of Harry Potter series, which has become the best selling series in history – selling over 400 million copies. When she began writing Harry Potter, she was living on state benefits, but now is a multi-millionaire, with a net worth of over $1 billion.

jrr-tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien (1892- 1973) – British author of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has frequently been voted most popular book of the Twentieth Century and his works led to a resurgence of the ‘High Fantasy’ genre.

Stephen_King Stephen King (1947 – ) Best selling American author. Selling over 350 million copies of his horror genre books.

George_R_R_Martin George R.R Martin (1948 – ) American author of epic fantasy series – A Song of Ice and Fire, – his international best-selling series of fantasy has been adapted for the screen as “The Game of Thrones.”

Music success

john-lennon John Lennon (1940 – 1980) British pop star and key member of the Beatles. The Beatles are widely considered the most influential pop music group of all time. John Lennon also had a successful solo career before his murder.

Michael_jackson Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009) – American pop singer. Jackson’s 1982 album ‘Thriller’ is the best selling album of all time. Jackson dominated pop music in the early 1980s and produced influential, groundbreaking pop music videos. Has an estimated sale of 400 million records worldwide and is the most downloaded artist in history.

Madonna Madonna (1958 – ) American pop singer/actress and humanitarian. Madonna is the best selling female artist of all time with 300 million records. Influential cultural icon.

Arts / Film success

alfred-hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) – English / American film producer. Hitchcock successfully produced over 50 films, gaining 16 Oscar nominations and six awards. Considered one of most influential film directors of the Twentieth Century.

George_Lucas George Lucas (1944 – ) One of the most financially successful film directors, Lucas developed and produced the highly popular Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. (Net worth $4.2bn, 2013)

Steven_Spielberg Steven Spielberg (1946 – ) Influential filmmaker who began with popular blockbusters —Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)and has since moved onto ‘humanitarian’ issues, such as the holocaust – Schindler’s List (1993) and Lincoln (2012)

Oprah_winfrey Oprah Winfrey (1954) Influential talk show host, Oprah Winfrey has built a media empire built on her emotional approach. She has an estimated net wealth of $2.8 billion. The only North American black billionaire.

Sporting success

Pele Pele (1940 – ) Brazilian footballer, considered the greatest footballer of the 20th Century. Won three world cups with Brazil.

usain-bolt Usain Bolt – Jamaican athlete. Record holder at 100m and 200m. Won gold at 100m, 200m and 100m relay in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The most successful Olympic sprinter of all time.

Michael_Phelps Michael Phelps (US, Swimming) Won 18 Olympic gold medals across a spectrum of swimming disciplines and 22 medals in total.

Lionel_Messi Lionel Messi (1987- ) Argentinian footballer. The first player to win four FIFA/Ballons d’Or – player of the year award.

Roger_Federer Roger Federer (1981 – ) Swiss Tennis player. Federer has won 20 singles Grand Slam titles. Has held the no.1 world ranking for 302 weeks overall.

Michael_Jordan Michael Jordan (1963 – ) (US, basketball) 6*NBA champion. considered greatest basketball player of all time. Helped raise the profile of basketball worldwide.

billie-jean-king Billie Jean King (1939- ) American tennis player who won 39 Grand Slam singles titles. Also successful campaigner for equality for women players.

cristiano-ronaldo Christiano Ronaldo (1985 – ) – Portuguese footballer. Four times winner of FIFA player of the year. Broke the record for the highest transfer fee (£80m) Also, the best-paid footballer with a salary of €21 million for Real Madrid.

tennis Serena Williams (1981 – ) (US, tennis) Williams is one of most successful female tennis players, with a record 38 Grand Slam Titles. 19 single grand slam titles, 15 doubles titles and 2 in mixed doubles.

Politics

George_Washington-100 George Washington (1732–1799) Despite inferior armies, successfully served as Commander in Chief of American forces during the War of Independence. Also elected the first President of the United States, serving for eight years (1789-1797).

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Lincoln led the Union forces to final victory during the American civil war. Lincoln was also successful in achieving his goal of abolishing slavery in the US.

emily-pankhurstEmmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) A British suffragette, Emily Pankhurst dedicated her life to getting women the vote. This was achieved partially in 1919 and full voting equality in 1928.

emily-murphy Emily Murphy (1868–1933) The first woman magistrate in the British Empire. In 1927 she joined forces with four other Canadian women who sought to challenge an old Canadian law that said, “women should not be counted as persons.”

Nelson_Mandela Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013) Leader of ANC and the anti-apartheid movement. After spending over 20 years in prison, Mandela succeeded in becoming the first democratically elected leader of a free South Africa.

Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) – King was a pivotal figure in the non-violent civil rights movement. His efforts to end segregation and bring about the integration of society were successful with the passing of civil rights legislation towards the end of the 1960s.

lech_walesa Lech Walesa (1943- ) – Polish leader of Solidarity movement. Walesa saw the overthrow of Communism and served as President from 1990 to 1995.

Religion

Pope_Francis Pope Francis (1936 – ) – the first pope from the Americas. Pope Francis has been successful in creating a new direction for the Catholic church.

Billy Graham (1918 – 2018) American Christain evangelist. Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to billions of people around the world in live mass meetings and on the tv and radio. His staff claimed more than 3.2 million people accepted Jesus Christ at his Crusades.

Scientific success

newton Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) English scientist. Newton who successfully created foundations for modern physics, explaining the law of gravity and the Laws of Motion.

Leonhard_Euler Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) Swiss mathematician and physicist. Euler is widely considered the greatest mathematician who ever lived. He made innumerable discoveries in infinitesimal calculus, graph theory mechanics, fluid dynamics, optics, astronomy, and music theory.

Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823) English scientist. First person to successfully create and test a smallpox vaccine. This led to the saving of innumerable lives from the science of immunology.

Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) French biologist. Successful in developing cures for rabies, anthrax and other infectious diseases. Also enabled the process of pasteurisation to make milk safer to drink.

125-Einstein Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German scientist – developed the theory of relativity. Also made contributions to the theory of quantum theory.

tim_Berners-Lee Tim Berners Lee (1955- ) English creator of World Wide Web. Ironically, Berners-Lee has not benefited financially as he gave his invention freely. However, he has seen it widely adopted.

 

Militarily successful

Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC) Despite mixed claims to the Macedonian throne. Alexander consolidated his power before embarking on a global conquest stretching from the Aegean to India.

Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC) Under Caesar, the Roman Empire stretched to its furthers points – crossing the Rhine and into Britain for the first time. “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Akbar (1542 – 1605) The third Moghul Emperor, Akbar consolidated his Empire across India, through a series of striking military victories. Akbar’s wealth was unprecedented for the time.

Napoleon Bonaparte  (1769 – 1821) As Emperor of France 1804-1815, Napoleon’s forces swept across Europe, gaining hegemony over most of Europe. In many battles, Napoleon overcame numerical inferiority through the use of imaginative battlefield tactics.

Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, when Great Britain alone stood against Hitler.  Churchill was eventually successfully with allies Soviet Union and US.

Dwight Eisenhower  (1890 – 1969) Eisenhower was Supreme Allied Commander for the D-Day invasion of occupied Europe (1944-45). He was successful in leading liberation of occupied Europe and keeping the allies together.

 

Citation: Pettinger, TejvanMost successful people” Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net, 11th Feb 2013. Last updated 1 March 2020.

Related pages

Richest people in history A list of the richest people in different eras of history. Includes Tutankhamun, Marcus Licinius Crassus, Akbar and Tsar Nicholas II

Momofuku_Ando People who achieved success late in life. A list of people who achieved success late in life – often after initial failures.  Including Ray Kroc, Colonel Sanders, Grandma Moses, Susan Boyle, Ronald Reagan.

gatesBusiness people – Famous businessmen and women. Including Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Henry Ford and Steve Jobs.

IsaacNewton- 100 most influential people – A list of 100 most influential people as chosen by Michael H. Hast, from his book 100 most influential people in the world. Includes; Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Lord Buddha, Confucius, St Paul and Johann Gutenberg.