Some people become great businessmen; others become moguls. It takes passion, determination and vision to belong to the club that these 8 belong to. But these 8 people are special in another way: they influence the world around them in many ways.

Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is not just known for being the founder of Amazon; he is also known for coining the term Artificial Intelligence. Time named him the person of the year in 1999 and he has plans to transform reading for the digital generation. His influence gave people from all around the world the opportunity to shop online.

He was born in 1964, graduated from Princeton University and founded Amazon in 1994. It was a bookstore initially and soon expanded to include everything possible: laptops, clothing, movies and toys.

Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet is the richest man of the world in 2008 and the richest man of the world in 2007. He advises people such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Kerry on finance. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1930 and was exposed to the stock market at an early age: his dad was a stock broker.

The Sage of Omaha has never written a book on investing but started business dealings at a young age and is one of the most famous investors.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates’ influence is around us every day and many consider him as one of the most influential people. One of the richest, too: he was the richest person in the world for 15 consecutive years.

He was born in 1955, attended Harvard College and met Steve Ballmer, whom he later appointed as CEO of Microsoft. Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 and stayed with the company until 2006.

Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch may have been one of the first to realise that content is king. His empire stretches from film companies and newspapers to television networks and the internet.

Murdoch’s roots are Australian but he renounced his citizenship in 1985 and became an American citizen. He started his empire in Australia with TV Week before starting British publications in 1968 and buying American publications in the 70s.

He now owns 175 newspapers, 35 television stations and provides news and entertainment to five continents.

Martha Stewart

Martha Steward used to be a model and a stock broker before she became a media mogul. She was born in 1941 and was named the third most powerful woman in the United States.

Martha Stewart and a friend from her modeling days started a catering business in 1976 but Stewart eventually bought her friend’s shares. An introduction to the head of Crown Publishing Group led to Martha’s success: he offered her a book deal, which made her famous and that led to the Martha Stewart empire.

Steve Jobs

He gave us the iPhone, the iPod and revolutionised Hollywood when he bought Pixar Studios. Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco and got a summer intern job at Hewlett-Packard where he met Steve Wozniak in 1970.

The two started Apple Computer in 1976 and introduced the world to the Macintosh in 1984. After that initial success the company expanded to music and cellphones with the iPod, iPod Touch and iPhone. Jobs’ success lies partly in creating attractive products that everyone wants.

Steven Spielberg

It’s difficult to believe that The Color Purple, Back to the Future and Jaws have one thing in common: Steven Spielberg. Spielberg grew up in Ohio and spent his early years creating 8mm adventure movies.

He got an unpaid intern position at Universal Studios and worked on movies that impressed the film studio directors so much they gave him a short contract and eventually asked him to do three movies. Steven’s influence extends beyond directing and producing movies: he co-founded Starlight Children’s Foundation and he also lent his support to same-sex marriages.

Oprah

Oprah is the most well-known talk show host in the world. She was born in Mississippi in 1954 and grew up in Milwaukee. Her break came when she got a job at a local radio station and started her own production company – Harpo.

Her intimate style revolutionised talk shows and she became popular for overcoming the odds to become the most successful woman in media. She has immense influence on the media and consumers. Anything that Oprah espouses receives an increase in sales and recognition.