People • 10 min read
The richest man no one could thank
Chuck Feeney secretly signed away his entire stake in Duty Free Shoppers in 1984, and his own business partners didn't find out for 13 years.
The Ascent.
How ambition becomes altitude.
People • 8 min read
Choosing the summit over the sale
For Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, pitons were 70% of his revenue, but his 1972 catalog told climbers to stop buying them.
People • 8 min read
The accent mark that built a beauty empire
In 1946, Estée Lauder launched Estée Lauder Cosmetics with four products and no advertising budget—so she gave the product away instead.
People • 10 min read
A $75 bet that broke a monopoly and wired a continent
Strive Masiyiwa sued the state for five years to license Econet, on the grounds that a telephone is free speech—and won
People • 9 min read
Turning an overlooked workforce into other people's fortunes
Stephanie Shirley built F International on six pounds and a home telephone, then handed nearly half the company to the women it employed.
People • 8 min read
He designed a company's ownership the way he designed a lens.
Ernst Abbe inherited Zeiss outright in 1888 and gave the company to a foundation within three years.
People • 8 min read
A toy and a house were the same job to him.
Ole Kirk Christiansen rebuilt his Billund workshop from two fires and a Depression before LEGO ever became a household name.