How Self-Made Titans Launched Their

Empires
by Melanie Lindner

Monday, June 15, 2009provided by

You don't need a trust fund to start a great business. These world-beaters are living
proof.

The capital crunch maddeningly persists -- dispiriting news for many would-be
entrepreneurs born of choice or necessity. Having a gem of a business idea isn't worth
much without the wherewithal to get it off the ground.

Certainly the lucky few "born on third base" have a better shot at achieving business
superstardom than those without a safety net. According to a 2002 U.S. Census Bureau
survey representing some 16 million business owners, a whopping 55% were initially
funded by personal and family capital. Just 11.4%
snagged bank loans, and 8.8% got going on More from Forbes.com:
personal and business credit cards; much of the
remainder lived on government loans and outside • In Pictures: How 10 Self-Made
investors. Titans Launched Their Empires

Yet for entrepreneurs who have truly creative • How 10 Self-Made Billionaires
ideas, unrelenting devotion and oodles of ability to Financed Their Success
execute -- but who may not have fat trust funds to
lean on -- there's reason for hope. Scan the Forbes • Lessons From 10 Recession
list of the world's wealthiest people and you'll find Start-Ups
moguls from startlingly humble origins.

Take John Paul DeJoria -- owner of Paul Mitchell Systems, a hair products company, and
Partron Spritis, a high-end tequila brand -- who started out as a door-to-door salesman in
Los Angeles at age 9. First he sold Christmas cards but soon moved to newspapers and
other subscriptions. After a short stint in the navy, he returned to his salesman roots,
selling encyclopedias.

In 1980, with just $700 and an iron will, DeJoria and friend Paul Mitchell, a hairdresser,
decided to launch a new line of shampoo and other hair care products, based on a new
formula Mitchell had developed. In the early months, when he wasn't pounding on salon
doors and told to bug off, DeJorira bought supplies on credit and lived in his car. "Having
sold other products door-to-door, I understood that rejection was just part of the process,"
says DeJoria, 65.
Without ever borrowing a dime, Paul Mitchell Systems became the largest salon-only
hair care company in the U.S., with products in 10% of salons across the country. Then
came his (and partner Martin Crowley's) agave
assault with Patron. DeJoria currently owns a 51% More from Yahoo! Finance:
stake in Paul Mitchell Systems and 70% of Patron.
At last count, DeJoria's net worth was $2.5 billion. • Tips on Escaping From a
Struggling Job Industry
Gift for gab helped Jeffrey Katzenberg, a high
school-educated Manhattanite, climb to the top of • Why You Should Cram for
the entertainment game. While he didn't launch a Phone Interviews
business on a shoestring, Katzenberg did spend
decades building a network that would eventually • Surprising Six-Figure Jobs
help him launch one of the most storied movie Visit the Career & Work Center
studios of all time.

Katzenberg began honing his skills at age 15 as a volunteer in John Lindsay's campaign
for mayor of New York in 1965; Lindsay won, and Katzenberg stayed on, foregoing
college for the snap and crackle of politics. Through a connection at Lindsay' office, he
later met Barry Diller, then president of Paramount, who invited him to Los Angeles to
work as his assistant. "No one did more for my career than Barry," says Katzenberg, 58.
"He taught me the entertainment business -- not just the fun parts, but the not so fun parts
that you need to learn in order to be successful."

During his 11 years at Paramount, Katzenberg also befriended Michael Eisner, then chief
executive of the movie studio. When Eisner left Paramount for Disney in 1984, he took
Katzenberg with him, and there they pumped out hits like The Little Mermaid, Beauty
and the Beast and Aladdin. After a falling out with Eisner in 1994, Katzenberg left to
launch his own studio, DreamWorks SKG, with the likes of Steven Spielberg and David
Geffen. With partners like that, little wonder this guy is worth $750 million.

Old-fashioned bartering helped put Kirk Kerkorian, farmer's son and future Wall Street
titan, on the map. In the late 1930s, Kerkorian, who is 91, offered to look after famous
female aviator Pancho Barnes' cattle in return for flying lessons. During World War II, he
took a job with the Royal Air Force transporting planes from their Canadian factory to
England for $1,000 per month -- an especially treacherous journey, as the planes weren't
designed to withstand the long trip or the harsh weather over the North Atlantic.

With savings from his wartime job, Kerkorian purchased Trans International Airlines for
$60,000 in 1947. (It is unclear whether he needed additional financing.) He later sold it to
Transamerica for $104 million in stock, used to fuel further investments. His private
investment firm, Tracinda, now owns 39% of MGM Mirage, down from 53% in May.

Billionaire financier George Soros, 78, socked away a few pennies to jump-start his
entrepreneurial career. Born in Hungary in 1930, Soros and his parents fled the Nazis and
landed in England. After putting himself through the London School of Economics while
working as a railway porter and waiter, Soros moved to the U.S. in 1956 and found work
at several investment firms, including Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, where he worked his
way up to vice president. After running several offshore investment funds, he launched
his own investment firm with colleague Jim Rogers. Their Soros Fund began with just
$12 million under management (it's unclear how much of that was their own capital); it
has since grown into the multibillion-dollar Quantum Fund. Soros' current net worth:
about $11 billion

Sometimes sheer talent and persistence is enough. As a single mother on welfare in

Scotland, J.K. Rowling, 43, began writing the first Harry Potter novel in Edinburgh cafés
whenever she could get her infant daughter to sleep. After being rejected by 12
publishing houses, Bloomsbury, a small publisher in London, offered an advance of
1,500 pounds (about $2,400) -- even while one its editors, Barry Cunningham, advised
Rowling to get a day job.

Good thing she didn't listen: The following year, U.S. publishing rights to the first Potter
book sold for $105,000. Rowling, who is now worth around $1 billion, has since moved
nearly 400 million copies worldwide, and is the only author on our list.

In Pictures: How Self-Made Titans Launched Their

Empires
Capital is a constraint for many would-be entrepreneurs -- or is it? These moguls came
from humble origins. But with sweat, savings and good fortune, they launched incredible
empires. Here's how they made it happen early on.

1. John Catsimatidis

Age: 60

Net Worth: $1.7 billion

Industry: Supermarkets, Real Estate, Oil

This son of a busboy entered the grocery industry in the

summer of 1966, just after he graduated from high school.
Befriended the owner of a Manhattan superette and started
© Getty Images
taking on more responsibilities. Four years later, the owner
offered him a 50% stake in one of his stores to be acquired over the next 10 months at a
rate of $1,000 per month. Within a few months, the store's sales doubled, and
Catsimatidis was earning a profit of $500 per week (not bad for a 20-year-old back then).
A year later, he launched the Red Apple Group, a chain of grocery stores that now
includes Gristede's, Sloan's and Red Apple. Lacking working capital for inventory, he
convinced vendors to let him buy on credit. By the age of 25, he owned 10 stores -- debt-
free.
 2. Harold Hamm

Age: 63

Net Worth: $3.5 billion

Industry: Oil and gas exploration

Youngest of 13 children in a family from Purcell, Okla., (pop:

5,571), Hamm worked school jobs as a gas station attendant
© Courtesy of Continental Resources
to supplement his parents' incomes as cotton pickers. In 1966,
two years after graduating from high school, Hamm launched
his first venture. With a bank loan co-signed by a friend, he purchased a single truck, the
main asset of a new oil-and-gas exploration-services business. Two years later, the
company changed its name to Continental Resources. Recent market cap on the New
York Stock Exchange: $5.6 billion. Hamm owns 72% of the outstanding shares.

3. George Soros

Age: 78

Net Worth: $11 billion

Industry: Finance

Like Sandy Weill, Soros socked away a few pennies to jump-

start his entrepreneurial career. Born in Hungary in 1930,
© Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Soros and his parents fled the Nazis and landed in England.
After putting himself through the London School of
Economics while working as a railway porter and waiter, Soros moved to the United
States in 1956 and found work at several investment firms, including Arnhold and S.
Bleichroeder, where he worked his way up to vice-president of the company. After
running several offshore investment funds, he launched his own investment firm with
colleague Jim Rogers. Their Soros Fund began with just $12 million under management
(it's unclear how much of that was their own capital); it has since grown into the
multibillion-dollar Quantum Fund.

4. Kirk Kerkorian

Age: 91

Net Worth: $5 billion

Industry: Investments, Casinos

© AP Photo
Old-fashioned bartering helped put this farmer's son and future Wall Street titan on the
map. In the late 1930s, Kerkorian offered to look after famous female aviator Pancho
Barnes' cattle in return for flying lessons. During World War II, he took a job with the
Royal Air Force transporting planes from their Canadian factory to England at $1,000 per
month -- an especially treacherous journey, as the planes weren't designed to withstand
the long trip or the harsh weather over the North Atlantic. With savings from his wartime
job, Kerkorian purchased Trans International Airlines for $60,000 in 1947. (It is unclear
as to whether he needed additional financing.) He later sold it to Transamerica for $104
million in stock, used to fuel further investments. His private investment firm, Tracinda,
now owns 39% of MGM Mirage, down from 53% in May.

5. J.K. Rowling

Age: 43

Net Worth: $1 billion

Industry: Media/Entertainment

Sometimes sheer talent and persistence is enough. As a single

mother on welfare in Scotland, Rowling began writing the first
© Daniel Barry/Getty Images Harry Potter novel in Edinburgh cafés whenever she could get
her infant daughter to sleep. After being rejected by 12
publishing houses, Bloomsbury, a small publisher in London, offered an advance of
1,500 pounds (about $2,400) -- even while one its editors, Barry Cunningham, advised
Rowling to get a day job. Good thing she didn't listen: The following year, U.S.
publishing rights to the first Potter book sold for $105,000. Rowling has since sold nearly
400 million copies worldwide, and is the only author on the Forbes list of the richest
people in the world.