Age when their business launched?
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) September 5, 2022
Jeff Bezos: 30
Oprah Winfrey: 32
Reed Hastings, Netflix: 36
Doris Fisher, Gap: 37
Vera Wang: 40
Eric Yuan, Zoom: 41
Sam Walton, Walmart: 44
Adi Dassler, Adidas: 48
Bernie Marcus, Home Depot: 50
Charles Flint, IBM: 61
Here are their stories ????
Oprah started her TV production company Harpo when she was 32.
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) September 5, 2022
Part of her motivation? Her co-anchor was being paid more than her.
“I said I want to take the risk of owning my own show so that I will be the one to say who gets what paycheck.”pic.twitter.com/88ie5L7hBd
At 37, Doris Fisher founded The Gap with her husband Don.
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) September 5, 2022
Part of the reason? Don couldn’t find jeans that fit his 6’4 frame.
A gap…in the market.
Doris came up with the name.
Her company inspired a retail revolution. pic.twitter.com/Px9vRPaZSk
Eric Yuan started Zoom at 41.
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) September 5, 2022
He’d had the idea in college, after long tiring trips to see his girlfriend.
He got to the U.S. after 8 visa application denials…
…and helped Cisco grow WebEx.
But customers wanted more.
So he started his own company.pic.twitter.com/3jspyK2R0q
Adi Dassler was originally in business with his brother Rudi.
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) September 5, 2022
But there was a family feud.
So Adi started Adidas at 48.
“Adidas” is his name (“Adi”… “Das”)
Rudi, meanwhile, started Puma. pic.twitter.com/2V1uBxOpQ5
And Charles Flint started IBM at 61.
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) September 5, 2022
He wanted a diversified business.
So he merged several companies…
…makers of punch clocks, computing scales and tabulating machines.
It was called Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co (CTR).
He was 74 by the time it was renamed IBM. pic.twitter.com/DgskQgEZW6