Mikhail Fridman

Name: Mikhail Fridman
Date of Birth: 21april,1964
Country of Citizenship: Russia
Education: Moscow Institute of steel and alloys,bachelor of arts/ science
Fame: #20 on Forbes list of richest people
Mikhail Fridman spent his childhood in Ukrainian city of Lvov and studied at the Moscow Institute of Steel & Alloys in 1980s. He founded Alfa Group in 1990s with his college friends German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev.Mikhail Fridman is Chairman of the Supervisory Board. His vision has built Alfa Group into a market leader in Banking, Energy, Telecommunications and Retail. Alfa Group Consortium incorporates: Alfa-Bank, which is one of Russia’s largest privately owned banks, TNK-BP, formed by the historic joint venture between British Petroleum and Tyumen Oil Company which was completed in 2003. Fridman also serves as Member of the Board of Directors of VimpelCom, the second of three major market leaders in the Russia’s rapidly growing mobile communications market. He is one of the Russia's most influential and successful busniess leaders. Alfa group has become one of the most attractive partners for international investments in russia.The historic joint venture with British Petroleum, announced in the summer of 2003, was the largest foreign investment deal in Russian history at that time and was valued at over US$ 7 billion.
Fridman's achievements have been recognised by prestigious international publications and organisations in the world of finance and business. Mikhail Fridman was named as one of the "Europe's power 25" by FORTUNE in 2004, and was included in the Financial Times list of ”2004 Leaders of the New Europe”. Mikhail Fridman was honoured with the Golden Plate Award of the International Academy of Achievement in Washington in 2003 and the award was presented by former US president Bill Clinton.His net worth is estimated around$20.8 billion. In 2007 Fridman was declared unofficial winner of a protracted and multimillion-dollar legal battle over a stake in Russia's third-largest mobile carrier Megafone. Source ( FORBES).
For more information on Mikhail Fridman check( Business week).

Lawrence Ellison

Name: Lawrence Ellison

Date if Birth:August 17,1944

Occupation: Co-founder and CEO, Oracle

Country of Citizenship: Unites States

Education: University of Illinois , Dropout

Larry Ellison was born in The Bronx, New York City , in New York State to Florence Spellman At his mother's request, he was given to his mother's aunt and uncle in Chicago to raise. Lillian Spellman Ellison and Louis Ellison adopted him when he was nine months old. A paper written by Edgar F. Codd on relational database systems called "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks."inspired Elllison. He founded Oracle in 1977, putting up a mere $2000 of his own money, under the name Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1979, the company was renamed Relational Software Inc., later renamed Oracle after the flagship product Oracle database. The initial release of Oracle was Oracle 2; there was no Oracle 1. The release number was intended to imply that all of the bugs had been worked out of an earlier version. IBM gave Oracle the toughest competition. IBM dominated the mainframe relational database market with its DB2 and SQL/DS database products, it delayed entering the market for a relational database on UNIX and Windows this gave oracle and other competitor a chance to dominate mid-range and microcomputers.

Forbes list Lawrence elllison as 14th most richest person on the list of richest person with a net worth of $25 billion source (FORBES).Oracle is reshaping the software industry via acquisitions . Oracle under his leadership has purchased 21 firms for more than $19 billion since the beginning of 2006. Oracle has also made its entry into retail, business intelligence software . His creative leadership is taking Oracle on the path of success .

For more information source check ( Time).

Li Ka-Shing

Name: Li ka-shing
Date of Birth: June 13,1928
Fortune: Self Made
Country of Citizenship: Hong kong
Industry : Diversified
Education: High school, Dropout
li Ka-shing was Born in China. He came to Hong Kong as a refugee. He is one of the richest person of chinese descent in the world. Forbes rank him No.11 on the list of richest people of the world. His Net worth is estimated around$26.5 billion. Source( Forbes). Li Ka-shing was Forced to drop out of high school, he founded his first company, a plastics manufacturing concern, in his early 20s. Through Cheung Kong (Holdings), his corporate flagship, and Hutchison Whampoa, a conglomerate, he wields enormous influence in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Europe, which last year accounted for 45% of Hutchison's $34.3 billion in revenues. His empire includes the world's biggest ports company and the world's largest provider of 3G mobile-phone services, plus holdings in shipping, property, retailing, and energy. Last year Hutchison's profits and EPS rose 40%.
He is a strong believer in synergy- The power of combined effort. Li has also stated a Charitable foundation . Source( Li ka shing foundation).Mr. Li also founded Shantou university in 1981, in shantou,China. The university has nine colleges, including a medical college with five affiliated hospitals. With students enrolling from all parts of China, the university has approximately 6,500 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students.Li also has $12 billion stake in Canadian oil company Husky Energy. He plans to donate one-third of his wealth over time .He is a widowed and has 2 childrens. His eldest son Victor assits him and his other son Richard struck out on his own in early 1990s and is a billionaire too. He is also called as " Superman " in Hong Kong. The feat that he has accomplished over the past years is highly appreciable.
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Karl Albrecht

Name: Karl Albrecht

Industry: Retailing

Birth Date: February 20, 1920

Fortune: Self made

Net Worth: US $ 27 billion (source: Forbes)

Karl and Theo Albrecht were raised in modest circumstances in Essen, Germany. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Their mother had a small grocery store in the worker’s quarter of Schonnebeck. Karl worked in a delicatessen shop. Karl also served in the German Army during World War II. After the end of World War II, the brothers took over their mother's business (1946). The first Aldi (Albrecht-Discount) was opened in 1961.
Aldi's operations were later divided between the brothers, with Karl taking control of the more profitable Aldi Süd (South), and Theo managing Aldi Nord (North).

Because Karl Albrecht has withdrawn himself from public life, little is known about him. He is married, and Forbes magazine reports that he has two children, neither of whom are employed by Aldi. Both Albrecht brothers reportedly live today in Essen, Germany. He is a fan of golf, and plays at his personal golf course, the Öschberghof, which he built in 1976. He also raises orchids.

In 1994, Karl Albrecht removed himself from the daily operations of Aldi Süd and took the position of chairman of the board. At the beginning of 2002, he also relinquished this position, thereby completely ceding control of the firm. Today, the business is no longer run by any of Karl Albrecht’s family members.

Richard Branson

Name:Richard Branson
Date Of Birth: July 18,1950
Nationality: British
Famous for: Founding the Virgin brand

Richard Branson is a flamboyant British entrepreneur . His internationally recognized brand "Virgin" is splashed across everything from credit cards, to airlines and music "megastores". Branson is continuously seeking new business opportunities and He loves accepting new challenges . His first entrepreneurial stinct began when at the age of 16 years He published a school magazine . Branson did not go on to graduate school but in 1970 the now famous Virgin brand had its beginnings in the form of a discount records mail order venture that he and his friend Nik Powell worked on. He loves adventure . Since 1985 he has been getting his adrenaline rushes through world record breaking attempts by boat and hot air balloon. Several distance and speed records have been attempted and achieved, but his attempt to circumnavigate the world alone in a hor air baloon has not yet ben realized.
Virgin has created more than 200 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 29 countries. Revenues around the world in 2006 exceeded £10 billion (approx. US$20 billion. Virgin brands include Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobiles, VirginBooks, VirginCredit Cards, VirginHolidays , V2 music , Virgin Galatic. Lately Richard is eyeing an airport. Virgin has also developed a space ship. Virgin alatic spaceship aims at providing space travel to masses Virgin has become one of the most favourite brands of U.k.

Oleg Deripaska

Name: Oleg Deripaska
Source: Russian Aluminum
Birth Date: January 2, 1968
Net worth: US $ 28 billion (Source: Forbes)
Residence: Russia

Deripaska is the sole owner and a Chairman of the Supervisory board of Basic Element, a diversified investment company established in 1997 with assets in Russia and abroad. Basic Element's main assets are concentrated in six sectors - Energy, Resources, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Construction and Aviation. The major assets include UC Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, GAZ Group automotive company, Soyuz Bank, Ingosstrakh insurance company, Aviacor aircraft manufacturer, SMR mining company, Continental Management Timber Industrial Company, Glavstroy and Transstroy] construction companies, stakes in Strabag (25%) and Switzerland based Fahrni (100%). In 2007, Basic Element's consolidated revenues exceeded USD26 billion. The market value of the Company's assets is estimated at USD45 billion. Basic Element employs 300,000 people and owns companies in Russia, the CIS countries.

Deripaska is one of 16 global business leaders who drafted CEO Climate Policy Recommendations to G8 Leaders, a document outlining international business community's proposals to effectively tackle global warming. The proposals were signed by more than 100 of the world's leading corporations and handed to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on June 20, 2008. The process was coordinated by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

In 2004, Deripaska was appointed by the President of Russia to represent the country in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council (ABAC). He has held the position of Chairman of ABAC Russia since 2007.

Deripaska is Vice President of the [Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Russian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce] and a member of the Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Council, an agency of the Russian Government.

In 1999, Deripaska was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples by President Boris Yeltsin.

RATAN TATA

Name: Ratan Tata
Date of Birth: December 28,1937
Nationality: Indian
Academics: B.SC( Architecture) degree with structural engineering, Cornell university USA
Advanced Management program at Harvard business school, USA
Profile: Chairman of the Board/director
Tata Motors Limited ADR
Ratan Tata joined the Tata Group in 1962. As Chairman of Tata Industries Limited since 1981, he was responsible for transforming the company into a Group strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses. In 1991, Mr Tata was appointed Chairman of Tata Sons Limited, the holding company of the Tata Entities and currently holds the chairmanships of major Tata companies. Mr Tata is on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India, a Member of the Prime Ministers Council on Trade and Industry besides being a member of various global councils.Mr. Tata was honoured with Padma vibhushan by Government of India in 2008.Earlier, in 2000, he had been awarded the Padma Bhushan. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London School of Economics. He is on the company board since last 19 years and held the executive place for last 13 years. He was instrumental in development of an Indian car Indica which besides creating a record of sorts, is one of the leading products in its category in the car market. Tata company under his able leadership has also come up with Tata Nano a $2500 car.
He is one of those businessman who have defied the age factor and have set an examples for young generation to folloe their footsteps. ( Sources )
For other information on Mr . Tata (source)