A large business provides economic stability in the form of higher pay, retirement benefits and medical care. Similarly, experienced entrepreneurs can steer a company through thick and thin. These people have grown with the same hunger that they had at a young age. The urge to create something and generate a life compels them to innovate every day.
Here are some of the oldest entrepreneurs who have grown wise, powerful and rich with their willpower and who can give budding entrepreneurs a run for their money.
Born in 1930, Warren Buffett is an 85-years old American business tycoon, investor and celebrated philanthropist. At 11 years of age, he already made his first investment, buying shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38.
Buffett formed the Buffett Partnership Ltd in 1956. Later, Buffett dissolved the company to focus on Berkshire Hathaway and blended with large holdings in the media, insurance, energy, and food and beverage industries. He has also made significant investments in several successful companies, such as Coca-Cola and Citigroup Global Markets Holdings.
This 85-year-old media mogul entered the publishing world at a tender age of 22.
Murdoch brought a revolution in the publishing industry with news type, layout and circulation methods. He bought the popular afternoon daily The Mirror in 1960 and by 1965 he founded Australia’s first national daily paper, The Australian. After that, Murdoch moved to London and bought The News of the World and the Sun in the consecutive year.
He kept buying international publishing houses, such as The New York Post, Chicago Sun-Times and New York magazine. In 1985, he purchased the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. He is also the leading person behind STAR TV, a Hong Kong-based Asian television broadcasting company.
David Murdock was homeless in his early days until he met a Good Samaritan who loaned him $1,200. He then started with real estate business in Arizona and later moved to Los Angeles. By 1978, he acquired International Mining and became the largest shareholder in Occidental Petroleum.
Murdock bought the Hawaiian firm Castle & Cooke and gained 98% ownership in Lanai, the sixth largest island in Hawaii. He also took over Dole and turned it into the world’s largest producer of fruits and vegetables.
Bruton Smith is the owner of NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports Inc. and is the oldest CEO listed on the Fortune 500.
Smith’s fascination with the racing car got him inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007. He did his first race at the age of 17 and later quitted. In 1949, he took over National Stock Car Racing Association and Speedway Motorsports Inc. and runs 100 dealerships of Sonic Automotive in the U.S.
Octogenarian Amin Khoury is a legendary aviation entrepreneur and longtime chairman of B/E Aerospace, a company that has evolved into manufacturing aircraft components and logistics. The company has a presence in multiple global locations and employs more than 10,000 workers.
Khoury has led B/E Aerospace since 1987, acquired a dozen companies and made the company public in 1990. He is also an active philanthropist, supporting several non-profits, and on the corporate boards of many companies.
So who is your favorite oldest entrepreneur? Do you have any names to add here?
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