Acey Gaspard

Michael Dell founded PC’s Limited in 1984 and expanded it through direct sales and customized computers. The story also includes a costly retail experiment, management changes and his return to the CEO role.

John D. Rockefeller entered the oil business as a partner in a Cleveland refinery. From its growth into Standard Oil to the 1911 civil antitrust decision, his business career reshaped American petroleum refining.

Ted Turner took over an indebted billboard business, helped build CNN and later lost control of the broadcasting company he created. His life also encompassed sailing, conservation and major international philanthropy.

James Lewis Kraft began in the cheese trade with a modest delivery operation in Chicago. His life story follows the brothers who joined him, the move into manufacturing, his preservation patent, and the changing business that carried his name.

John DeLorean became a leading General Motors executive before founding the company behind the stainless-steel DMC-12. His story spans automotive innovation, a troubled factory in Northern Ireland, two criminal acquittals and an unexpected place in film history.

Ross Perot founded EDS, co-founded Perot Systems and became a nationally prominent independent presidential candidate. His story also includes a public clash with General Motors, Texas school reform, veterans’ advocacy and philanthropy.

In 1998, Tim Cook left Compaq for an uncertain future at Apple. He became the company’s operations leader and then succeeded Steve Jobs as CEO, facing new expectations and public challenges along the way.

Henry J. Kaiser entered shipbuilding in 1940 and helped organize a major wartime production enterprise. Its achievements included the remarkable launch of the SS Robert E. Peary, alongside documented discrimination faced by shipyard workers.

William Wrigley Jr. began by selling soap and baking powder, then built a chewing-gum company around memorable brands and sustained promotion. His story also reaches into baseball, Catalina Island, and the limits of commercial ambition.

Howard Hughes used his family’s oil-tool business to pursue motion pictures, record-setting flights and commercial aviation. His biography follows the achievements, setbacks and engineering organization that became central to his legacy.