Top 5 Most Successful American Entrepreneurs

America is known as a melting pot of nationalities and cultures, and it has quickly become one of the most innovative nations to date. With driven natural-born citizens and immigrants, the United States is one of the most successful countries in terms of entrepreneurship.

From older companies such as Standard Oil, Ford Motor Company, and Carnegie Steel Company, to more contemporary companies such as Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google, American entrepreneurs have reshaped how the world operates. The following are the top five most successful American entrepreneurs in terms of world impact.

Key Takeaways

• The United States is one of the most successful countries in terms of entrepreneurship.
• The top five most successful American entrepreneurs in terms of world impact are Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Larry Page.
• Carnegie founded Carnegie Steel Company and Ford started Ford Motor Company, two of America’s older companies.
• Winfrey is a multimedia executive, actress, writer, producer, talk show host, and philanthropist.
• Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, while Page co-founded Google (now Alphabet) with Sergey Brin.

1. Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was an American entrepreneur who actually immigrated from Scotland. Born into the lower class, Carnegie and his family immigrated to Pennsylvania, where they lived a better lifestyle. Carnegie later founded Carnegie Steel Company, growing it to become one of the largest companies in U.S. history.

In addition to the success of his company, Carnegie became a very successful angel investor. Using the money made through his steel company, he invested in various car companies, messenger services, and land that contained oil reserves. Upon his death in 1919, Carnegie had an estimated net worth of $350 million, which, in 2024 dollars, would be worth nearly $6.7 billion.

2. Henry Ford

Unlike Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford was a natural-born citizen who grew up in Michigan. Born into a family who originated from England and Ireland, he was well off, though not wealthy. Ford was a hardworking man and eventually completed an apprenticeship with the Detroit Dry Dock Company. In 1891, he met with Thomas Edison and told him about his concept of the automobile. Edison liked the idea and let Ford use his warehouse to develop and manufacture two prototypes.

Using the prototypes, Ford soon founded the Detroit Automobile Company. The company was short-lived, however, since the product did not meet Ford’s standards. He went on to found the Cadillac Motor Car Company, which also failed, before starting the Ford Motor Company for which he is famous. His third attempt at a car company made him very successful, and the company remains a going concern with annual sales of over 2 million vehicles.

Note

Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Larry Page are among the most celebrated American entrepreneurs in history.

3. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is a shining example of an American success story. While she did not reveal her past until 1986, Winfrey was a victim of sexual assault at the age of 9 and became pregnant at the age of 14 before losing the child during childbirth.

These early trials and tribulations gave her the perspective and confidence that helped her land her first TV show in 1983. From there, Winfrey steadily grew her brand and her empire, founding Harpo Studios, a multimedia company, in 1988.

Winfrey, together with Discovery Communications, founded OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) in 2008, another media company that attracts millions of television viewers. Winfrey, a TV personality turned entrepreneur, has a net worth of $3 billion as of Feb. 4, 2025.

4. Bill Gates

Bill Gates, one of the most well-known American technology entrepreneurs, is the eighth-richest person in the world with a net worth of over $106 billion as of Feb. 4, 2025. Gates grew up in Seattle, Washington, and began tinkering with personal computers at an early age with friends such as Paul Allen. Showing a ton of aptitude and promise, Gates enrolled in Harvard, where he met Steve Ballmer before dropping out to start Microsoft.

Gates, with the help of Allen, Ballmer, and others, built Microsoft, now valued at over $3 trillion based on its market capitalization, making it one of the world’s largest and most influential tech companies. In 2020, Gates stepped down from the board of Microsoft, to focus his personal efforts on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

5. Larry Page

Larry Page is the co-founder of Google, the world’s number one search engine. Google was started by Page and his co-founder Sergey Brin while they were doctorate students at Stanford University. With an initial investment of just $100,000, the two partners quickly grew Google into a multinational conglomerate. In 2015, Google was restructured to form the parent company Alphabet Inc., with Page serving as CEO. He stepped down as CEO in 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder.

Page is the sixth-richest person in the world and has a net worth of $169.4 billion as of Feb. 4, 2025.

What Is an Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The process of setting up a business is known as entrepreneurship.

What Became of Carnegie Steel Company?

In 1901, Andrew Carnegie sold Carnegie Steel Company for $492 million ($9.4 billion in 2024 dollars) to a group of investors headed by J.P. Morgan. Carnegie Steel became the centerpiece of U.S. Steel, a trust controlling 60% of the country’s steel production.

How Do I Trade in These Entrepreneurs’ Companies?

U.S. Steel, which bought Carnegie Steel, trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as X. Ford Motor Company trades on the NYSE as F. Microsoft trades on Nasdaq as MSFT. Alphabet (formerly Google) trades on Nasdaq as GOOGL (Class A shares) and GOOG (Class C shares). The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is a joint venture between Harpo Studios (also known as Harpo Productions), Oprah Winfrey’s privately owned company, and Warner Bros. Discovery, which trades on Nasdaq as WBD.

The Bottom Line

The U.S., with driven natural-born citizens and immigrants, is one of the most successful countries in terms of entrepreneurship. Five of its most successful American entrepreneurs in terms of world impact are Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Larry Page.