Gene Sit , a refugee in his native China who entered the United States knowing no English—and became the founder and CEO of Sit Investment Associates, which now has $7
2008
Horst Rechelbacher , who founded the Aveda Corporation, a seller of plant-based hair-care products through 25,000 stores, salons, and spas—and then, after selling Aveda to Estée Lauder for $300 million,
Guy Schoenecker , the founder of BI, a $485 million leader in the creation of customized incentive marketing programs, with operations in Australia, China, Dubai, and the United Kingdom.
Lee Anderson , who transformed a small-scale installer of insulation into a $1.5 million family of companies serving the commercial-construction industry, partly by executing more than 40 acquisitions of companies
Gary Holmes , who became financially independent by age 21 and is now the CEO and sole owner of CSM Corporation, an $800 million real-estate development and management company with