According to YoungEntrepreneur.com readers, here are the Top 21 Celebrity Entrepreneurs:

#1 - Richard Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies. Branson’s first successful business venture was at age 15, when he published a magazine called Student. He then set up a record mail-order business in 1970. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores and rebranded as zavvi in late 2007. With his flamboyant and competitive style, Branson’s Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s - as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

To learn more about Richard Branson check out the 5 part series we did on him last year:

• Lessons From Richard Branson - Part 1 - How to Identify an Opportunity
• Lessons From Richard Branson - Part 2 - Don’t Do It For The Money
• Lessons From Richard Branson - Part 3 - Focus On The Business
• Lessons From Richard Branson - Part 4 - Build A Solid Team
• Lessons From Richard Branson - Part 5 - Create A Brand

# 2 - Simon Cowell (born 7 October 1959) is an Emmy-nominated English artist and repertoire (”A&R”) executive for Sony BMG in the United Kingdom and a television producer, more commonly known as a judge on television programmes such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

#3 - Bill Gates (born 28 October 1955) is an American entrepreneur, software executive, philanthropist and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft he has held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and he remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 9 percent of the common stock. For more information see our July post on Bill Gates: Are You Ready To Jump Off The Cliff?

#4 - Donald Trump (born June 14, 1946 in Queens, New York, New York, United States) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, television and radio personality and author. He is the CEO of Trump Organization, an American-based real estate developer, and the founder of Trump Entertainment, which operates several casinos. He received a great deal of publicity following the success of his reality television show, The Apprentice (in which he serves as both executive producer and host for the show). He is the son of Fred Trump who was a wealthy real estate developer based in New York City.

#5 - Jay-Z - Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969) better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper and former president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. In addition, he co-owns The 40/40 Club and the New Jersey Nets NBA team. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in America. Known for his flow and blending of street and popular style, he can compose lyrics without the use of pen and paper. His critically acclaimed album The Blueprint was allegedly written in only two days. After announcing his retirement from recording music in 2003, he returned in late 2006 with the album Kingdom Come which sold 680,000 copies in its first week, Jay-Z’s highest-selling album in a one-week period.

Here is the rest of the list from #6 to 21:

#6 - Warren Buffet
#7 - Ted Turner
#8 - Mary Kate and Ashley
#9 - Morgan Freeman
#10 - Robert Redford
#11 - Prince

#12 - Steve Jobs
#13 - Oprah Winfrey
#14 - Michael Dell
#15 - Sean Combs

#16 - Simon Fuller
#17 - 50 cent
#18 - Robert Kiyosaki
#19 - Robert Allen
#20 - Gene Simmons

#21 - Paul Newman

Evan Carmichael
YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog Manager

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