People » CEO Files

Daymond John
May 13, 2013
Daymond John
When he launched his FUBU clothing line in 1992, Daymond John was a 23-year-old waiter and taxi driver with no college education, no business training, no manufacturing operation, no contracts with retailers and no money to speak of.
Kohler Company’s Herb Kohler, Jr.
January 29, 2013
Kohler Company’s Herb Kohler, Jr.
Herb Kohler, Jr., the chairman and CEO of Kohler Company, likes to make good use of every minute. So when he learned that he’d be flying out of White Plains, N.Y., on the day I wanted to interview him, he suggested that we meet at the airport and have our talk in the air, en route to Teterboro [N.J.] Airport. He dropped me off there before flying home to Wisconsin.
Zappos' Tony Hsieh
September 25, 2012
Zappo's Tony Hsieh, Photo: Ryan Weber
To begin to understand the grand experiment that is Tony Hsieh’s life, read two books. One is his own Delivering Happiness, a Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, which explains not only how he built Zappos and his previous company but also his philosophy of over-the-top customer service. (The book debuted at No.
John Hendricks
February 1, 2012
Discovery Channel Founder John Hendricks
To appreciate what John Hendricks has created, just spend some time watching his Discovery Channel. Consider, for example, the moment on the Curiosity show when Dr. Dunn rips a piece of tape off host Mike Rowe's eyebrow and finds what he is seeking: eyebrow mites.
Jared Isaacman
December 1, 2011
Jared Isaacman
When NBC's Today Show profiled Jared Isaacman in 2006, a reporter asked his father to name the biggest obstacle his son had faced in building his nationwide credit-card processing firm. The answer: "His inability to drive."
David Neeleman
April 1, 2011
“The CEO and President [at JetBlue]...should have known better. it’s ironic t
Like Richard Branson, who arrived late and left early when I interviewed him three years ago, JetBlue founder David Neeleman seems to be a man in a hurry. He showed up 20 minutes after the appointed time for our talk, exchanged brief hellos and ducked into his office to check e-mail.
Hotel Industry Pioneer Jack DeBoer
April 1, 2010
“He called and said, ‘If you don’t pay me by Friday, I’ll kill you.’ I had 8,
A sign in Jack DeBoer's office reads, "Success is seldom permanent. Neither is failure." DeBoer has seen plenty of both in his long career but his spectacular wins have been sufficient to eclipse his losses. Business-minded since childhood, he began selling real estate while still in high school in Kalamazoo, Mich., and has been an entrepreneur ever since.
Z-line Design's Jim Sexton
October 1, 2009
“After crossing the bridge from Hong Kong, I called my wife and said, ‘Honey,
Jim Sexton quit college after about a week because he wanted to create his own entrepreneurial future. "I have a knack for designing and picking things that people will buy," he said.
Richard Thompson
February 1, 2009
Richard Thompson is an enthusiastic self-proclaimed entrepreneur. "I've never had a job my whole life that I didn't create," he told me as we talked in his finely refurbished Hawker 700A on the Jet Aviation ramp at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport.
Carpenter & Co.'s Richard Friedman
December 1, 2008
“The Liberty Hotel is about transformation, and how to make a jail into a joy
Real estate developer Richard Friedman has been winning plaudits for his unusual latest project: the transformation of the historic Charles Street Jail in Boston's Beacon Hill district into the luxurious, award-winning Liberty Hotel.

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Quote/Unquote

“[New billionaires in fast-growing countries] have to buy longer-range airplanes. If you’re flying from Mongolia to Nigeria, it’s either a three-day journey flying commercial or a nine-hour flight on your jet.”

-Steve Varsano, owner of London’s The Jet Business