Who are the most inspirational entrepreneurs in the USA? We ran a survey to find out the answer. UPDATED ON 12 NOVEMBER, 2019
Our survey asked over 1700 small businesses in the USA to name an entrepreneur that inspired them. Microsoft boss Bill Gates was voted America’s most inspirational business leader, followed by Oprah Winfrey.
The results are being released to coincide with Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (November 19, 2019) which aims to increase awareness for entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership.
Christine Telyan, CEO of UENI, says “The United States is a place that cultivates entrepreneurship. There is a cultural acceptance toward risk taking and an encouragement for innovation. It is also extremely easy to incorporate a business in the US, which lowers the barriers to entry.”
The survey of 1737 US business asked them to name their most inspirational entrepreneur, without any prompting. The top 20 US entrepreneurs were:
1. Bill Gates – 112
2. Oprah Winfrey – 80
3. Donald Trump – 46
3. Steve Jobs – 46
5. Elon Musk – 44
6. Me – 42
7. Mark Cuban – 39
8. Jay Z – 36
9. Jeff Bezos – 22
10. Warren Buffett – 21
11. Nipsey Hussle – 17
12. Beyonce – 16
13. Richard Branson – 15
14. Tyler Perry – 15
15. Rihanna – 14
16. Tony Robbins – 14
17. Gary Vaynerchuk – 13
18. Mark Zuckerberg – 13
19. Walt Disney – 12
20. Steve Harvey – 9
