SERGYN BRIN COFOUNDER OF GOOGLE

Sergey Brin is the cofounder of the Google search engine. He and fellow Stanford University student Larry Page worked together on a project while doing a Ph.D. in Computer Science. The Pair left their studies to focus on developing the Google search engine. Sergey Brin and his partner Larry Page went on to become two of the wealthiest young entrepreneurs in America with the success of their university project, Google. Sergey Mihailovich Brin was born in Moscow, Russia in 1973. The Brin family moved from Russia to the United States of American in 1979 when Sergey was 5 years of age. His father gained work as a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland and his mother went on to work at NASA.

Brin grew up fascinated by computers and had one from a very early age, when home computers were not common in households (Commodore 64 days). He went on to receive a bachelor of science degree at the University of Maryland, with honors in mathematics and computer science in 1993. Brin then went on to start his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Stanford University.

While studying for his Ph.D he met Lawrence Page and went on to work with on a project to organize the Internet and improve the way people search for information. They first nicknamed the project "BackRub" as it relied heavily on the number and relevancy of links pointing to a website (later called PageRank).

"Research on the Web seems to be fashionable these days and I guess I'm no exception. Recently I have been working on the Google search engine with Larry Page." Sergey Brin Quote Brin and Page left their studies at Stanford University and started Google Inc. in 1998. The popularity of the search engine increased dramatically, forcing the company to constantly expand its computing power, improve its technology, and move to bigger premises (now situated at the "Googleplex" in Mountain View, California). The company became a publicly traded company in 2004 (traded on the NASDAQ as GOOG) with individual shares being valued at $85 each and quickly rose to $100+ in the first day of trading. Google has continued to grow through acquiring and creating new Internet services and products online. The stock price also grew rapidly to more than $420 per share at the end of November in 2005.

"Our mission is to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful. We believe that the most effective, and ultimately the most profitable, way to accomplish our mission is to put the needs of our users first. We have found that offering a high-quality user experience leads to increased traffic and strong word-of-mouth promotion." SEC Filing of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page shared 16th position on the Richest Americans list released by the Forbes business magazine in 2005, having an estimated $11 billion USD each. Brin remains active in the company with the role of the president of Technology.

Ray Kroc FOUNDER OF MC. DONALDS

Ray Kroc was the mastermind behind the worldwide McDonald's fast food franchise. He bought the fledgling restaurant chain in 1955 and grew it into the largest, most influential fast food chain in the world. Ray Kroc was born on October 5, 1902 to Czech-Americans in Chicago, Illinois. At the age of four, Kroc's father took him to phrenologist, a person who determines fate based on the shape of someone's skull. The Phrenologist told young Ray Kroc that he would someday work in food service. But, as the first World War erupted, Kroc became interested in learning how to drive ambulances for the war effort instead. The war, however, ended before he had a chance to test his training and Kroc looked elsewhere for employment. During the late 1950s, Kroc tried his hand at selling paper cups and even worked as a pianist for a short period of time before settling into a position as a milkshake machine salesman. He traveled around the country and sold milkshake machines to various different cafes and restaurants, all the while observing the layout and management of the industry. Kroc was convinced that many restaurants suffered from poor management and were not living up to their potential. It was during this time that he ran across a small hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, California named McDonald's. The restaurant, owned by the McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice, ran eight of the same milkshake machines sold by the fifty-two year old Kroc. Since each machine could spin five milkshakes at once, Kroc was intrigued by the idea of a restaurant that needed the ability to make forty milkshakes at a time. He traveled to California and, upon seeing the orderly, efficient restaurant that served a huge community, Ray Kroc was convinced he could sell the machines to every McDonald store that opened. In order to capitalize on the venture, Kroc approached the brothers with a business plan and they eventually settled on a deal. As a result of the partnership, however, Kroc would receive only 1.4% of the franchisees' profit, giving 0.5% to the brothers. It didn't take very long for Kroc to realize that his profit would be minimal. So, in order to gain access to more of his investment, Ray Kroc convinced the brothers to sell him the rights to the McDonald's name. Kroc envisioned a restaurant that ran like a factory and produced hot food, fast service, and with consistent quality no matter where he opened a restaurant. He saw food preparation as a process and broke it down into steps that could be duplicated in any of his restaurants. This way he could keep the product the same no matter where the McDonald's was located. Low franchise fees made it easy to open new stores but cut into any potential profits for Kroc. As a result, Kroc decided to purchase the land on which McDonald's would open and ultimately serve as a landlord. He set up the Franchise Realty Corporation in 1956 and was able to purchase tracts of land in order to help him produce a profit for his company. By 1960 there were over 200 McDonald's around the United States.

Kroc saw his franchise as a way to sell as service, not food. After all, Big Boy, Dairy Queen, and A&W were already established restaurant chains. Ray Kroc needed McDonald's to stand out. Consistency was the key and he made sure that every McDonald's ran the same. He established national advertising campaigns to support his restaurants and took the brand international in 1971 to Japan and Germany. Ray Kroc died on January 14, 1984 of old age. At the time he was worth an estimated $500 million

WALT DISNEY FOUNDER OF WALT DISNEY ANIMATION COMAPNY Walt Disney was the founder of the Walt Disney Company and creator of some of the world's most loved cartoon characters. His media empire grew from the success of a small animated mouse called Mickey Mouse. The Disney empire went on to include many popular cartoon characters, feature films, theme parks, Hollywood studios, television networks, and numerous other media assets.

Walter Elias Disney was born on the 5th of December, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Elias Disney was of Irish/Canadian descent and his mother Flora Call Disney was of German/American descent. Walt Disney had three brothers and one sister. The Disney family were raised on a farm in Missouri, USA where the young Walter developed an interest in drawing and trains.

The Disney family moved back to Chicago where Walt attended the McKinley High School and took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute. At sixteen years of age Walt Disney dropped out of school to join the army but was knocked back because of his age. Instead, he joined the Red Cross and was shipped to France for one year, where he drove an ambulance. When Walt Disney returned from France he moved to Kansas City where his brother Roy Disney was working at a bank. Walt went to work at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio where he created commercial works for magazines, newspapers, and movie theaters. Disney briefly started a company with the cartoonist Ub Iwerks, called "Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists". The venture did not take off and the pair were forced to seek alternative paths to put food on the table. Disney and Iwwerks would later work together in creating some of the earliest popular Disney cartoon characters, including "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" and "Mickey Mouse".

After the failure of the Iwwerks-Disney Commercial Artists venture, Walt moved to Hollywood in Los Angeles. He went into partnership with his brother Roy and started what would eventually become the Walt Disney Company. His friend and previous business partner Ub Iwerks also came to Los Angeles and played an important role in the success of the company. It was here that Walt also met the young Lillian Bounds, who would later become his wife.

The first success the company had was with the "Alice Comedies" series, which featured animated animals with a real life girl. "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" was their second big success. The "Lucky Rabbit" brought success, but it also created a lot of problems in the company, which saw Disney lose many of his animators and the rights to the Oswald trademark which was owned by Universal. ("Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" did eventually return to the Disney company more than seventy years later when the Walt Disney Company bought the rights from NBC Universal in 2006.)

It was a squeaky sounding mouse with big ears that would go on to be Walt Disney's biggest success. "Mickey Mouse" was born on the 18th of November, 1928. Mickey first appeared in a silent short called "Plane Crazy", but it would be the "Steamboat Willie" cartoon with sound that made Mickey Mouse famous. Even though Walt Disney gets much of the credit and acknowledgment for creating the famous mouse, it is believed that his friend Ub Iwerks actually created Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney was the voice of Mickey Mouse up until 1946. Mickey Mouse would go on to become a symbol for the Walt Disney Company. The little mouse that started the company appeared in many cartoons, full feature films, comic strips, books, video games, toys, and was made into every piece of merchandise imaginable. Mickey Mouse became bigger than just the Walt Disney Company, and even came to symbolize the country of America. The mouse went on to become a cultural icon.

Other popular cartoon characters that the Walt Disney Company went on to create include Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Butch the Bulldog, Scrooge McDuck, Clarabelle Cow, and many more. The company also animated other characters like Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Hercules, and more.

The Walt Disney company received many Academy award nominations and was nominated for seven Emmys while Walt was alive. Disney's company had to overcome challenges like the workers strike in 1940, but the company mostly grew forward in leaps and bounds. The company went public in 1957 and continues to be a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange to this day.

Disney was working on plans for a theme park when he died from lung cancer complications in 1966. His brother Roy would follow his plans through and the Walt Disney World theme park was opened to the public in 1971. The company continued to grow after the death of Walt Disney and is now one of the largest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. Walt Disney and Lilly Disney had two children together. They gave birth to Diane Marie Disney in 1933 and later adopted their other daughter, Sharon Mae Disney who was born in 1934.

RATAN TATA CHAIRMAN OF TATA GROUP

Ratan Tata became the Chairman of the Tata Group in 1981 after serving as Chairman in charge of the Nelco division of the group. Tata is India's largest conglomerate and includes the brands Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Indian Hotels, as well as other brands labeled under the Tata name. Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937 in Mumbai, India in one of the richest families in the country. His great grandfather, Jamsedji Tata, was the founder of the Tata group and passed the power and inheritance down to his family. Ratan Tata grew up in a broken household, however, after his parents split in the mid-1940s and he and his brother were raised by their grandmother, Lady Navajbai. Tata was a good student and studied hard at the Campion School in Mumbai followed by studies in architecture and structural engineering at Cornell University. He graduated with his bachelors degree in 1962 and joined the Tata Group in December of that same year. Tata's first job with the Group involved working with the Tata Steel division where he worked with the blue-collar employees shoveling stone and working with the furnaces. Although this original job was physically difficult, it helped Ratan Tata gain a better understanding and appreciation for the business and he gradually began taking on more responsibility. In 1971, Tata became Director-in-Charge of the National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco) in order to help its struggling finances. Ratan Tata helped build a better consumer electronics division but the economic recession and union strikes prevented his vision from taking hold. Tata was eventually moved to Empress Mills in 1977, a struggling textile mill within the Tata Group. Ratan Tata renewed the vision for the mill but the larger Tata Group was not in agreement with his advice. Instead, the mill was shut down and liquidated in 1986, to Tata's disappointment, and he was moved to the Tata Industries, another holding company. With Tata Industries, Ratan Tata was able to transform the management and vision of the division and bring in significantly larger dividends. This renewed financial success helped bring the Tata Group to the New York Stock Exchange and gave the company even more international power and prestige. Ratan Tata continued to acquire different industries for the Tata Group, eventually purchasing the steel an aluminum producer, Corus Group as well as Jaguar and Land Rover brands from the Ford Company. Ratan Tata lives a very private life in Mumbai, India.

HENRY FORD - FOUNDER OF THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Henry Ford was an inventor, philanthropist and successful American businessman. Ford was the founder of the still popular Ford Motor Company which had its first success with the Model T Ford car that was released in 1908. Henry Ford revolutionized the way cars were designed and built, introducing assembly line factories for producing mass amounts of vehicles that led to lower prices for consumers and an explosion in car ownership throughout the United States.

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, in what was then known as Springwells Township. Ford's parents were Irish immigrants and the family lived on a farm, with Henry Ford being the eldest of six children. The family had a comfortable upbringing on the farm with a decent income, but even as a young person, Ford believed there was too much work and not enough income living from the land. "It was life on the farm that drove me into devising ways and means to better transportation. I was born on July 30, 1863, on a farm at Dearborn, Michigan, and my earliest recollection is that, considering the results, there was too much work on the place." Henry Ford Quote Ford began his career as an apprentice machinist in 1879, then returned to his family farm in 1882 before starting work with the Westinghouse company to service their steam engines. Ford then went to work at the Edison Illuminating Company where he became chief engineer in 1893.

Henry Ford had always enjoyed mechanical things and was always trying to improve or create more useful machinery. In 1893 he created his first gasoline driven buggy or Quadricycle that was completely self propelled. He then started the Detroit Automobile Company with several other investors to improve on his design, but the company went bankrupt soon after. Ford then started the Henry Ford Company, which he also left, before eventually starting the Ford Motor Company in 1903.

The Ford Motor Company released the successful Model T car in 1908. Generally cars were built one at a time and were only accessible to the very wealthy, but Ford continued to improve the way the cars were manufactured. In 1913 the cars were being mass produced by one of the first moving assembly lines. In 1918, half of the total amount of cars in the United States were Model T's, 15 million cars were sold, and production of the Model T was finally stopped in 1927.

Ford also had interests in politics but was never successful as a politician, and unsuccessfully ran for Senate as a Democrat. He also had strong views on labor and how the workforce should be treated. He paid his workers more money for less working days and made the 5 day 40 hour working week a normal part of working life.

Henry Ford created the Ford Foundation in 1936 to promote human welfare through research grants, educational grants and development.

In 1947, at the age 83 Henry Ford died of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit.