Category Archives: Featured

The 30 Most Powerful People In International Business (By Country)

Bill Gates

Image Source

While nations are, by and large, controlled by the governments that run them or the monarchs who head them, politicians and royalty are far from the only ones who wield power worldwide. Successful business people can also command authority, for example, due to the sheer economic clout of their companies, through the scale and importance of their investments or simply because of the impact that their work has had on society at large.

However, some individuals in the business world are markedly more influential than their peers. This list article details the most powerful people in business in each of the 30 countries with the strongest national economies on the planet. The article also explains how those individuals have demonstrated their significance in their native countries and beyond.

Methodology

To develop this list article, we first needed to determine which countries have the most economic power. To this end, we used the most recent GDP data from both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. We then combined the two sets of figures from these institutions to create a definitive ranking of the top 30 countries with the biggest GDPs and, hence, the greatest economic power.

Next, to identify the individuals named in this list article, we turned to similar authoritative lists that rank the most powerful people in certain continents or particular nations or, indeed, across the planet as a whole. These included the following:

Forbes, “The World’s Most Powerful People”
Canadian Business, “The Power List: Canada’s Most Powerful Business People 2017”
Australian Financial Review, “The 30 Most Influential People in Australia in 2017”

We also only considered individuals with both notable accomplishments in business and significant ties to one of the top 30 countries with the biggest GDPs – either through citizenship or residence of one of those nations.

In addition, we scrutinized articles that describe particular business people. This was in order to establish those individuals’ respective measures of business acumen and career achievements as well as the extent of their power. Those ultimately chosen were, then, deemed to be the most powerful people in business in their respective countries.

The ordering was then achieved simply through the ranking of the top 30 countries in the world with the most economic power, thereby determining each individual’s place on the list.

30. Mohamed Alabbar (United Arab Emirates)

Mohamed Alabbar

Image Source

It’s fair to say that Mohamed Alabbar didn’t come into the world with a silver spoon in his mouth. Indeed, he spent at least part of his childhood in a house with a roof made of palm leaves, that had no electricity and which he shared with a dozen siblings. Despite his humble beginnings, though, Alabbar earned a scholarship from the government to study finance and business administration at Seattle University. After graduation, he then went on to work for the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi before a five-year spell in Singapore running a UAE investment company. But perhaps Alabbar’s most successful move was founding real estate business Emaar. He set it up in 1997 with a $50 million stake; today, however, the company is a behemoth that helped develop the Burj Khalifa and which in the first half of 2017 recorded a net profit of $772 million. In 2016, meanwhile, Alabbar expanded his investment portfolio by acquiring a 4 percent stake in billion-dollar fashion retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter Group.

29. Yngve Slyngstad (Norway)

Yngve Slyngstad

Image Source

Yngve Slyngstad certainly seems to hold education in high regard. After all, he holds no fewer than four master’s degrees – in law, business management, economics and political science. The knowledge he acquired through studying for those qualifications would, moreover, more than likely have helped him to ably run Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the organization that manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. Slyngstad assumed the position of the bank’s CEO in 2008 after close to a decade leading NBIM’s equities operation. And that role puts him in charge of a pension fund that broke through the $1 trillion barrier in terms of value in 2017 and makes him, as Forbes has noted, “the most powerful global activist investor” currently on the planet. In 2017 the fund also possessed shares worth an incredible $667 billion, giving it investments in more than 9,000 firms around the world.

28. Dietrich Mateschitz (Austria)

Dietrich Mateschitz

Image Source

Dietrich Mateschitz may have taken ten years to earn his degree in marketing from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, but his career trajectory has nevertheless proved that he’s no slouch when it comes to entrepreneurship. In particular, while Mateschitz was a marketer for cosmetics firm Blendax, he stumbled across a Thai drink called Krating Daeng. Perhaps sensing that there was a lot of money to be made from the energy tonic, Mateschitz then teamed up with Chaleo Yoovidhya, Krating Daeng’s creator, to bring the concoction overseas. As a result, the pair founded the Red Bull energy drink company – “Red Bull” being the literal English translation of “Krating Daeng” – in 1984 and started selling a slightly modified version of the original drink three years later, initially in Mateschitz’s home country of Austria. In the 30 years hence, Mateschitz’s gamble has more than paid off, too: Red Bull shifted more than six billion cans of the drink in 2016, and in 2017 Mateschitz himself was worth $20.6 billion.

27. Farhad Moshiri (Iran)

Farhad Moshiri

Image Source

Farhad Moshiri’s family left Iran for Britain shortly before the 1979 revolution that saw the Middle Eastern country transformed into an Islamic republic. Moshiri himself now holds British citizenship and is resident in Monaco. However, he only became a billionaire after going into business with an oligarch from another country entirely. The oligarch in question was Uzbekistan-born Russian magnate Alisher Usmanov, who controls leading mining conglomerate Metalloinvest. And following Moshiri and Usmanov’s first meeting in the ’90s, Moshiri has acted as Usmanov’s minority partner in several subsequent enterprises and acquired shares in Metalloinvest and Russian cellphone operator Megafon along the way. Together with Usmanov, Moshiri has also been active in English soccer, buying an almost 50 percent share in Everton FC in 2016 for approximately $115 million. Given that the Iran-born businessman was reputed to be worth $2.4 billion in 2017, though, he could certainly afford it.

26. Aliko Dangote (Nigeria)

Aliko Dangote

Image Source

Nigerian tycoon Aliko Dangote comes from a family that has been rich for at least three generations, with its prosperity first arising from groundnut and kola nut trading. Indeed, it’s even said that Dangote’s maternal great-grandfather was the wealthiest individual in Nigeria at the time of his death in 1955. That said, Dangote has been quoted as crediting another of his relatives for his own success in life, saying, “All my business acumen and instincts I inherited from my maternal grandfather. As his first grandson, he poured his business wizardry into me.” And perhaps that training started young, as Dangote exhibited his entrepreneurial instincts while still at elementary school by buying candy and selling it to his schoolmates at a profit. He went on to study at Al-Azhar University in Cairo and started out as a cement trader in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos, in 1977. Now, however, Dangote has an around 90 percent interest in Dangote Cement as well as investments in sugar, salt and flour businesses. Furthermore, given his $13.5 billion net worth, he is not only Nigeria’s richest man but the wealthiest person in the whole of Africa.

25. Soopakij and Suphachai Chearavanont (Thailand)

Soopakij and Suphachai Chearavanont

Image Source

In January 2017 Soopakij and Suphachai Chearavanont took the reins of the Charoen Pokphand Group from its chairman of 48 years, their father Dhanin Chearavanont. In fact, the Thai conglomerate has been a family affair ever since its origins as a seed shop in Bangkok. Then, Dhanin’s father and uncle were at the helm of the business; nearly a century on, though, what eventually became known as the Charoen Pokphand Group has grown to become one of Thailand’s leading agribusiness companies. Among its holdings, moreover, it possesses a major share in Thailand’s 7-Eleven outlets – of which there are more than 7,700 – and a controlling stake in major Thai telecoms firm True Corporation. Soopakij and Suphachai Chearavanont now serve as the firm’s chair and CEO, respectively, and together they have a joint net worth of $21.5 billion as of 2017.

24. Albert Frère (Belgium)

Image Source

Albert Frère’s father died when his son was just 17; consequently, Frère junior had to leave school early in order to run the family nail-trading business. It wasn’t until Frère reached his thirties, however, that his career really took off, thanks to a series of savvy investments in Belgian steel companies. In fact, these proved so successful that, by the tail-end of the ’70s, Frère virtually had a stranglehold on the entire steel sector in the Belgian area of Charleroi – once the country’s main industrial powerhouse. Arguably Frère’s biggest deal to date, however, came in 2008 when he helmed the merger of Suez and Gaz de France, creating major electricity generator GDF Suez – now Engie – as a result. In 2017, moreover, Forbes recorded Frère as having a net worth of around $5.5 billion due to his shareholdings, making him the richest individual in Belgium that year.

23. Zygmunt Solorz-Żak (Poland)

Zygmunt Solorz-Żak

Image Source

In 2016 Polish newspaper Fakt wrote of Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, “His achievements as an entrepreneur are impressive, especially considering the fact that he only has a secondary technical education.” And Solorz-Żak’s career seems to back that assertion up: once a mere car trader in East Germany, he’s now an international media mogul with a $3 billion fortune to boot. That road to success arguably began with Solorz-Żak’s co-founding of popular Polish television network Telewizja Polsat – the channel with the highest audience share in the country in 2016, according to Nielsen data. The entrepreneur then went on to consolidate his power by controlling pay-TV enterprise Cyfrowy Polsat and in 2011 acquiring leading Polish cellphone operator Polkomtel – a record-breaking deal for which Solorz-Żak paid $5.5 billion.

22. Daniel Ek (Sweden)

Daniel Ek

Image Source

Bloomberg has described Daniel Ek as a “serial entrepreneur,” and that penchant for starting new businesses has seemingly been with him ever since he was young. Indeed, Ek was still just a teenager when he first began a website building and hosting operation – one that was headquartered in his bedroom. At the tender age of 23, meanwhile, he sold Advertigo, an online advertising firm he had established, to Swedish company Tradedoubler. And that sale might have set Ek up for his biggest business success to date: Spotify. To wit, Ek joined forces with Tradedoubler co-founder Martin Lorentzon to create the music streaming service in 2006, and then the pair launched it in 2008. In less than a decade, moreover, Spotify became arguably the best-known music service of its kind, with in excess of 60 million subscribers willing to pay for an ad-free experience as of July 2017. That year also saw Ek, Spotify’s CEO, top Billboard magazine’s “Power 100” list – a measure of just how much authority the young Swede wields.

21. Eduardo Eurnekian (Argentina)

Eduardo Eurnekian

Image Source

To say that Eduardo Eurnekian has varying business interests would be something of an understatement: today, in fact, he has investments in oil and gas, biodiesel and agricultural enterprises, to name but a few assets of his holding company Corporación América. It was back in the 1980s, though, that Eurnekian first struck gold – by acquiring a failed cable TV network and turning it around so that it eventually grew to earn more than a million subscribers. That success was rewarded in the 1990s, moreover, when he sold the station for a cool $750 million. And his subsequent move into construction brought further financial reward, too. Specifically, the ’90s saw Eurnekian and the consortium of which he was a part win a highly lucrative bid to build airports in Argentina. Along with his business partners, then, he now owns over 50 airports worldwide, and these reportedly generate around $2 billion in revenue.

20. Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan (Saudi Arabia)

Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan

Image Source

After graduating with a degree in economics in 1987, Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan joined Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). And in the following 30 years, he has climbed the ladder to become CEO and vice chairman of SABIC. During that time, the petrochemical giant’s output has, moreover, risen from 13 million metric tons – the total produced in 1992 – to 72.2 metric tons in 2016. Added to which, in 2016 SABIC was named the fourth top chemical company on the planet by trade magazine Chemical & Engineering News. Al-Benyan is, then, undoubtedly a powerful individual in the petrochemical field. And perhaps his influence will only increase after a deal inked between SABIC and leading competitor Sinopec in 2017, which will enable the Saudi Arabian firm to venture into the Chinese market.

19. Ernesto Bertarelli (Switzerland)

Ernesto Bertarelli

Image Source

Although born in Rome, Ernesto Bertarelli has lived in Switzerland since 1977. The picturesque Central European country also hosted the headquarters of Serono, the biotech company that Bertarelli inherited upon the death of his father in 1998. But he didn’t rest on his laurels after acquiring such a gift. Indeed, he and sister Dona went on to expand Serono and increase its revenues threefold in the ten years following Bertarelli’s installment as CEO. In 2007, moreover, the pair sold the company to pharma giant Merck for $9 billion. And today, Bertarelli, along with his sister, chairs Fondation Bertarelli, a philanthropic endeavor that has financed neuroscience and marine conservation projects. He also chairs Waypoint Capital, an investment company he founded that deals with the Bertarelli family’s financial and business interests, including those in life sciences.

18. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (Netherlands)

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

Image Source

When Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken’s father died in 2002, she was arguably more involved in raising her five children than in the day-to-day running of global brewing behemoth Heineken. Before Freddy Heineken’s passing, moreover, she owned only one share in the firm that bears the family name. Upon being bequeathed a 25 percent stake in the company, however, she decided to take a more active role in its operations. What’s more, under her and her husband’s tenures as executive directors, Heineken has nearly doubled the number of countries in which it now operates and tripled sales of its various brands since 2002. In 2017, meanwhile, De Carvalho-Heineken and her family were recorded as having a net worth of $15.3 billion, making her the richest individual in the Netherlands and among the richest women in the world.

17. Murat Ülker (Turkey)

Murat Ülker

Image Source

Murat Ülker’s journey to becoming an international business mogul began, simply enough, with cookies. It was, however, Ülker’s father and uncle who first began producing shortbread back in 1944 – before opening their inaugural factory four years later. They then diversified into producing chocolate and began exporting their wares to the Middle East. In 1989, though, Yıldız Holding was formed to bring together the brothers’ various enterprises – and that’s the company that Murat took over from his father in 2000. Under Ülker junior’s chairmanship, moreover, the company’s expansion continued, and it now operates 77 factories, employs some 56,000 people and owns around 320 brands. In 2014, meanwhile, Yıldız Holding acquired British manufacturer United Biscuits in what was reported to be a $3.2 billion deal. Ülker’s firm’s continued success has now led him to a net worth of $4 billion and in 2017 the honor of being Turkey’s richest man.

16. Chairul Tanjung (Indonesia)

Chairul Tanjung

Image Source

Although money was tight for Chairul Tanjung’s family, they were nevertheless able to send their son to the University of Indonesia, where the future billionaire studied dentistry. It was while at college, though, that Tanjung first showed a flair for business by selling study guides in his spare time. And the success of his firm CT Corp, in fact, meant that he wouldn’t spend the rest of his career looking into other people’s mouths after all. CT Corp is still chaired by Tanjung and now owns a variety of international brand franchises in Indonesia, including the likes of Jimmy Choo, Versace and Wendy’s. What’s more, his substantial portfolio also includes leading Indonesian credit card company Bank Mega. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that Tanjung is now one of his native country’s wealthiest men, with a personal net worth of close to $5 billion in 2017.

15. Carlos Slim Helú (Mexico)

Carlos Slim Helú

Image Source

Carlos Slim Helú may have inherited his entrepreneurial spirit from his father – who, after emigrating to Mexico in the early 20th century, went on to open a successful dry goods store in Mexico City and then expanded into real estate. It’s fair to say, however, that Slim senior’s son would greatly outstrip his dad in terms of success. After graduating from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a degree in civil engineering, Slim junior turned his experience as a stock trader into starting his own brokerage company, Inversora Bursátil; and in time, the firm would evolve into multi-billion-dollar conglomerate Grupo Carso. In 1990, moreover, in partnership with Southwestern Bell and France Télécom, Grupo Carso acquired Telmex, a company that would become a major international telecoms player. Now, Slim and his family manage América Móvil, the largest cellphone network operator in Latin America, and his personal fortune – nearly $67 billion in 2017 – has made him the richest man in Mexico.

14. Lucy Turnbull (Australia)

Lucy Turnbull

Image Source

Her husband Malcolm may be prime minister of Australia, but Lucy Turnbull is nevertheless powerful in her own right. In 2003, for instance, she became the first woman to take up office as Lord Mayor of Sydney – a position her great-grandfather Sir Thomas Hughes had also once held. Turnbull read law at The University of Sydney before earning an MBA from the University of New South Wales. Perhaps inevitably, then, she worked as a lawyer and an investment banker before diving into the world of politics on Sydney City Council. Today, though, Turnbull has a presence on the boards of a number of Australian companies and non-profit organizations, not least through her role as chairwoman of biotech firm Prima BioMed. In 2017, moreover, she was named the individual with the most covert power in Australia by the newspaper Australian Financial Review.

13. Amancio Ortega (Spain)

Amancio Ortega

Image Source

From humble beginnings, Zara owner Amancio Ortega created a business empire that during the 2016 financial year generated net sales of more than $27 billion. And the Spanish tycoon started young; in fact, he is said to have left school at just 13 or 14, determined to make his own way in life after hearing a shopkeeper refuse his mother credit. To begin with, he found work at a shirt-making business, and then he branched out into owning his own company – this time, selling bathrobes. However, it wasn’t until Ortega and his then-wife opened the first branch of Zara in 1975 that business really started to take off. The fashion chain now belongs to Ortega’s holding company Inditex, although its more than 2,200 worldwide stores make up less than a third of Inditex’s retail outlets. Ortega has also earned himself around $79 billion into the bargain – meaning that, as of 2017, he’s not only the wealthiest man in Spain but also in all of Europe.

12. Alisher Usmanov (Russia)

Alisher Usmanov

Image Source

Alisher Usmanov’s success in business arguably proves the adage that “it’s not what you know but who you know” that counts. Indeed, the Uzbekistan-born, Russia-based business magnate is said to have made many of the contacts that helped him to future wealth and influence while he was still studying at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. Usmanov attained a degree in international law at the institution Henry Kissinger once described as “the Harvard of Russia”; it wasn’t in law that he would go on to make a name for himself, though. No, the oligarch rose to become one of Russia’s most powerful men through his wide range of lucrative investments, including those in mining and metallurgy firm Metalloinvest, cellphone operator MegaFon and even British soccer club Arsenal F.C. Usmanov’s personal worth, meanwhile, was totaled as being at nearly $16 billion in 2017.

11. Suh Kyung-Bae (South Korea)

Suh Kyung-Bae

Image Source

After Samsung vice-chairman Jay Y. Lee was handed down a five-year prison sentence for bribery and embezzlement in 2017, Suh Kyung-Bae became South Korea’s most powerful businessman. He’s also one of the country’s richest businessmen, with a personal fortune of $7.1 billion as of 2017. Suh chairs AmorePacific, which has its origins in a store owned by his grandmother; he went on to inherit the business in 1997. And in the 20 years hence, AmorePacific has become what Forbes has dubbed a “beauty behemoth,” with a market cap of $14.1 billion in May 2017 and growing demand for its products in China. Perhaps Suh’s time in college prepared him to helm such a giant corporation, though: after studies at Seoul’s Yonsei University, he went on to earn an MBA from the well-regarded Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

10. David McKay (Canada)

David McKay

Image Source

With a degree in math, not to mention an MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s prestigious Ivey Business School, under his belt, David McKay certainly seems to have had the knowledge to rise through the ranks of the Royal Bank of Canada. And after joining the firm in 1988, he gained the experience to do so, too, subsequently climbing all the way to the role of group head of the firm’s worldwide personal and commercial banking divisions. In fact, in 2012 he was even named as “Retail Banker of the Year” by Retail Banker International. In 2014, moreover, McKay became president, CEO and director of the board of the Royal Bank of Canada – positions he continues to hold. Currently, then, he is the country’s most powerful individual in the world of finance, heading up a bank that recorded total income of more than $10 billion in 2016.

9. Jorge Paulo Lemann (Brazil)

Jorge Paulo Lemann

Image Source

Before ever tasting success as an entrepreneur, Jorge Paulo Lemann had experienced the thrill of victory as a tennis champ. You see, Lemann was a keen sportsman in his youth, even earning places on both the Brazilian and Swiss Davis Cup teams thanks to his skill on the court. It would be in business, however, that Lemann would really excel. After majoring in economics at Harvard and training at Credit Suisse, he, along with two partners, went on to set up the investment firm Banco Garantia – an enterprise that Forbes once dubbed “a Brazilian version of Goldman Sachs.” That venture turned out to be quite the moneymaker, moreover, as in 1998 the company was bought by Credit Suisse for $675 million. Lemann has also invested heavily in brewing in Brazil and further consolidated his power in industry as a founder of investment company 3G Capital, which now has controlling shares in Burger King, H. J. Heinz and Budweiser manufacturer Anheuser-Busch. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that in 2017 the one-time Wimbledon player was revealed to be worth more than $31 billion.

8. Leonardo Del Vecchio (Italy)

Leonardo Del Vecchio

Image Source

Leonardo Del Vecchio’s family were once so poor that they were unable to afford his upkeep; as a result, the future eyewear tycoon was given to an orphanage when he was just seven years old. This inauspicious start didn’t deter Del Vecchio from making something of himself, however. Indeed, determined to pay his own way through design school, he worked as an apprentice in a molding factory. There, the products made included spectacle frames – an item that Del Vecchio would go on to mass-manufacture himself. To that end, he founded Luxottica in 1961; and more than half a century later, it’s the leading eyewear firm on the planet, incorporating retail chains like LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut and household-name brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. The Luxxotica Group also makes glasses for high-end fashion houses including Ralph Lauren, Armani and Chanel, and the impressive growth of the company has helped Del Vecchio and his family toward a handsome fortune of $19.2 billion as of 2017.

7. Mukesh Ambani (India)

Mukesh Ambani

Image Source

Indian Mukesh Ambani took over the reins of a successful but relatively small family company and transformed it into a global powerhouse. That company was Reliance, co-founded by Ambani’s father in the 1960s and, for a time, dealing solely in textiles. In due course, then, after earning a degree in chemical engineering from Mumbai’s Institute of Chemical Technology, Ambani himself chose to join the family firm – though given that he’d left Stanford University’s MBA program to do so, this may have seemed like a bit of a risk. Through Ambani’s influence, however, Reliance expanded its textile operations and diversified into petrochemicals, technology and telecoms, leading to it becoming the second biggest company in the whole country, according to Fortune’s 2017 Global 500 list. Ambani now acts as the chair and managing director of Reliance Industries and has a net worth of around $40 billion – earning him the honor of being India’s richest person in 2017.

6. Bernard Arnault (France)

Bernard Arnault

Image Source

Bernard Arnault was once quoted as saying that “luxury goods are the only area in which it is possible to make luxury margins.” And there may be some truth to that statement, too; after all, LVMH, of which Arnault is the chair, CEO and majority shareholder, recorded revenue of more than $44 billion in 2016. LVMH furthermore incorporates globally renowned high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer and Dom Perignon, giving Arnault’s company a very substantial chunk of the luxury goods market and Arnault himself a reputation, according to Forbes, as “one of the world’s ultimate tastemakers.” The firm hasn’t always dealt in such glamorous wares, however; at one time, it belonged to Arnault’s father and was a civil engineering enterprise. After graduating with a degree in engineering from Paris’y École Polytechnique, though, Arnault junior persuaded his dad to switch the company’s focus to real estate and then began making a string of savvy acquisitions. Along the way, Arnault has also acquired a not-insubstantial personal fortune of $60 billion – making him France’s richest individual as of 2017.

5. Richard Branson (U.K.)

Richard Branson

Image Source

Richard Branson’s business philosophy is perhaps best summed up in the title of his 2015 book, The Virgin Way: If It’s Not Fun, It’s Not Worth Doing. That credo has, moreover, seemingly served the British mogul very well indeed. Even after leaving school at just 16, Branson demonstrated an early flair for business, founding a magazine and for its first issue selling an impressive $8,000 in advertising space. He then moved into selling records through the mail and, while still only in his early 20s, founded Virgin Records in 1972. That was one of the first of Branson’s businesses to bear the Virgin brand, but it would by no means be the last. Indeed, the entrepreneur has since earned both power and a $5 billion fortune through the success of Virgin Trains, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Money and the airline Virgin Atlantic – to name but a handful of the over 400 global companies now owned in part or in full by the Virgin Group.

4. Susanne Klatten (Germany)

Susanne Klatten

Image Source

Susanne Klatten may have inherited stakes in BMW and German chemical company Altana AG from her father, but she’s nevertheless worked hard – and successfully – to build on the wealth and influence given to her. In fact, she has even been credited with turning Altana AG’s fortunes around since joining the firm in 1993. Klatten now completely owns the business and serves as joint deputy chairperson of its supervisory board, while she is also a member of BMW’s supervisory board. And that’s not all: Klatten in addition has lucrative stakes in wind power, water technology and graphite production companies. And since acquiring a share of her family’s wealth and having made her own investments, Klatten is worth $24 billion as of 2017. This makes her Germany’s third richest individual and, overall, the richest woman in the country.

3. Masayoshi Son (Japan)

Masayoshi Son

Image Source

In 2012 University of California, Berkeley, professor Steven Vogel told Ars Technica that Masayoshi Son is “the closest thing to Bill Gates in Japan” – an indicator, then, of Son’s power and influence in his native country and beyond. And while Vogel did add that Son has been both “colossally successful and had some colossal failures,” it’s fair to say that the entrepreneur’s time with SoftBank falls squarely into the former camp. His business nous even stood him in good stead while he was still just an economics major at UC Berkeley, with a sideline in leasing video games reportedly netting him a million dollars. Then when Son returned to Japan after graduation, he turned to technology again to make both his name and his fortune. Specifically, in 1981 he set up SoftBank, a telecommunications giant that now has stakes in over 1,000 companies, including the likes of Yahoo! Japan and Sprint. Son is also currently SoftBank’s chairman and CEO.

2. Jack Ma (China)

Jack Ma

Image Source

Jack Ma was born Ma Yun in Mao Zedong’s China and was brought up in difficult circumstances in the city of Hangzhou, around 100 miles west of Shanghai. Indeed, Ma’s grandfather had been on the wrong side of the civil war that had ended in communist dictatorship in 1949, and there were considerable repercussions for his family as a result. As Ma grew, moreover, his future looked inauspicious: he twice flunked China’s national college entrance exams, leaving him having to resort to attending what he has since dubbed “Hangzhou’s worst college.” It was on a visit to the United States in 1995, however, that Ma initially came across the internet and had his first big idea – a listings site for China. Four years later he would found Alibaba, a business-to-business commerce site named by Forbes in 2017 as the sixth largest retail firm in the world. Ma, meanwhile, is now worth a highly impressive $39 billion, according to 2017 figures.

1. Bill Gates (USA)

Bill Gates

Image Source

As a co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates has undeniably influenced the world we live in today. What’s more, his success with the tech giant has led him to a truly remarkable fortune of $89 billion. Before Gates began what was to become a multi-billion-dollar company, however, he was an undergraduate at Harvard, studying mathematics and computer science. College seemingly wasn’t for him, though, as in 1975 Gates dropped out of the Ivy League school and set up Microsoft with high school pal Paul Allen. Then after Microsoft launched the first version of the Windows operating system in 1985, its fortunes were transformed – and in 2011 the company boasted that 1.25 billion PCs were now running versions of Windows. Today, Gates still has influence at Microsoft as a technology advisor, but his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, founded alongside his wife, is now his primary concern.

10 (In)Famous CEOs in International Business

International Business Guide Image Source

Chief executive officers are given supreme power in establishing the strategies for running organizations in the cutthroat international business world. There are currently 238,940 CEOs based in the United States. Some CEOs use their authority for good to create triumphant corporate brands with fast-selling products. But others let the money and control go to their heads while using selfish or malicious business practices. In 2013, over 23 percent of Fortune 500 companies’ executives were terminated. Many CEOs are dragged into the public eye from lawsuits, schemes, and scandals. In this article, we’ll highlight 10 (In)(Famous) CEOs in International Business who have gained notoriety for either positive or negative reasons.

1. Donald Trump

International Business Guide

Image Source

America’s 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump is perhaps the most infamous CEO sitting upon a $4.5 billion empire. Trump’s career began with an economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. Just seven years later, he took over his father’s construction company and renamed it Trump Organization. Known for his pompous attitude, Trump finalized countless multi-million dollar real estate transactions for hotels and casinos, including NYC’s Plaza Hotel. Despite this, massive loan payments caused Donald Trump to declare bankruptcy four times since 1991. While dodging the IRS, he started Trump University, a for-profit being sued for misleading practices. Donald Trump also lost his NBC show “The Apprentice” after making crude comments about Mexican immigrants. And now he’s running for President…

2. Mark Zuckerberg

International Business Guide

Image Source

Worth $51.2 million, Mark Zuckerberg is the famous young CEO of the Internet social media platform Facebook. After growing up in White Plains, New York, Zuckerberg attended Harvard University to study computer science. In 2004, he officially launched Facebook from his dorm to help people network. Soon after, three seniors filed a lawsuit that Zuckerberg stole their idea called HarvardConnection. The $300 million settlement gave the men 1.2 million Facebook shares. Mark Zuckerberg then dropped out of Harvard to work full-time on the company. Facebook had grown to 1 million users in one year, and there’s now over 1.65 billion. Zuckerberg’s successes were portrayed in the award-winning film, “The Social Network” and there’s so much veiled information about the whole Facebook issue that many people question its true purpose…

3. Bill Gates

International Business Guide

Image Source

Perhaps the world’s most renowned software guru, Bill Gates was the formidable CEO for Microsoft until 2014. Growing up in Seattle, Gates showed the programming skills and aggressive business acumen for high-tech innovation. With his Lakeside School classmate Paul Allen, he developed his first software, “Traf-o-Data,” at 15. In 1975, Gates dropped out of Harvard University to form Micro-Soft with Allen. Although the 25-employee firm started out shaky, Bill Gates rapidly expanded the operation and grossed $2.5 million in 1979. Though he’s credited with beginning the computer revolution, Gates has faced controversy. Microsoft has been the defendant in over 35 patent infringement lawsuits. Bill Gates remains the world’s richest person with a $76.6 billion net worth.

4. Michael Bloomberg

International Business Guide

Image Source

Ranked eighth in Forbes 400, Michael Bloomberg is the notable CEO for Bloomberg L.P., a privately held financial software company. Born in Boston, Bloomberg earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins in 1964. Two years later, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Bloomberg began working at the Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers. Using his $10 million severance package, Michael Bloomberg established his own firm. By 1982, Merrill Lynch had invested $30 million in his company. Although he left the CEO spot to become New York City’s mayor in 2002, Bloomberg L.P. went on to install over 325,000 terminals worldwide. He’s also launched “Bloomberg BusinessWeek” magazine and the Bloomberg Tradebook.

5. Mary Barra

International Business Guide

Image Source

In the male-dominated business world, Mary Barra stands as one of the most famous female CEOs. Forbes magazine ranked Barra fifth in the “World’s Most Powerful Women.” After studying electrical engineering at Kettering University, Barra earned a General Motors Fellowship at Stanford in 1988. She became manager of the company’s Detroit assembly plant and climbed the ladder. By 2011, Mary Barra advanced to Vice President of Global Product Development to redesign GM’s automobile platforms. When Dan Akerson stepped down, she assumed the CEO title in 2014. Barra was the world’s first female CEO for an international automaker. Her leadership has been criticized though. GM has issued 84 recalls involving over 30 million cars since her term began.

6. Warren Buffett

International Business Guide

Image Source

Nicknamed the “Wizard of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is a respected business magnate who’s the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a multi-national conglomerate. Growing up in 1930s Nebraska, Buffett started several entrepreneurial ventures from paper routes to car detailing. At just 19, he graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a BSBA. Rejected by Harvard, Buffett enrolled at Columbia for a Master of Science in Economics. He initially worked as a securities analyst for Graham-Newman Corp. until forming Buffett Partnership Ltd. His partnerships made him a millionaire by 1962. Eight years later, Warren Buffett became CEO for Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett’s bought companies like Geico, Dairy Queen, and Kraft Heinz. Recognized among TIME’s most influential people, Buffett is worth $66.4 billion.

7. Howard Schultz

International Business Guide

Image Source

Particularly well-known among coffee connoisseurs, Howard Schultz is the outspoken CEO for the global coffeehouse chain Starbucks. Born into a poor Brooklyn family, Schultz was a first-generation college student at Northern Michigan University. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications in 1975, he worked as a Xerox salesman. On business trip in 1981, Howard Schultz first walked into Starbucks and a cup of brew changed his life. He joined Starbucks as the Director of Marketing and began expanding the four-store company. Since promoting Schultz to CEO in 2008, Starbucks as grown to 23,000 stores in 73 nations. He’s lauded for creating the Starbucks College Achievement Plan and Create Jobs for USA initiatives. In 2011, Fortune named Schultz the “Businessperson of the Year.”

8. Frederick W. Smith

International Business Guide

Image Source

Frederick W. Smith is the famous founder and CEO of FedEx, a global courier company with $14.9 billion total equity. Growing up with a widowed mother in Marks, Mississippi, Smith was crippled with a bone disease. After regaining his health, he entered Yale University in 1962. For his economics class, Smith wrote a business plan for an overnight delivery service and earned a “C.” Frederick W. Smith later turned his paper into success after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years. The determined entrepreneur raised $91 million in venture capital to found Federal Express. By 1973, the company delivered small packages to 25 cities. Since then, Smith’s taken the service international with over 300,000 employees. Fortune placed Smith 26th among the “World’s Greatest Leaders.”

9. Martin Shkreli

International Business Guide

Image Source

Among today’s most hated CEOs is 33-year-old Martin Shkreli, the co-founder of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Growing up in working class Brooklyn, Shkreli earned a bachelor’s in business administration from CUNY Baruch College in 2005. He initially worked at Cramer, Berkowitz & Co as a hedge fund analyst. Almost immediately, the SEC investigated Shkreli when he predicted Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ stock would fall. He founded Retrophin in 2011, but departed four years latter to establish Turing Pharmaceuticals. Here’s where Martin Shkreli gained infamy for jacking the price of Daraprim up 5,556 percent to $750 per pill. Although the price stands, Shkreli’s in hot water with the FBI. In December 2015, he was charged with securities fraud for running a Ponzi scheme with Retrophin.

10. Jeffrey Bezos

International Business Guide

Image Source

Worth $63.3 billion, Jeffrey Bezos is the world’s most successful e-commerce entrepreneur and CEO for Amazon.com, an online retail giant. As a National Merit Scholar, Bezos attended Princeton University to earn dual B.S. degrees in engineering and computer science in 1986. He landed a lucrative Wall Street hedge fund job, but wanted to join the growing Internet fad. By 1994, Jeffrey Bezos was setting up Amazon.com from his garage. Fast-forward to 2015 and Amazon’s cranked out over $100 billion in revenue. Bezos has also started a human spaceflight company called Blue Origin and bought “The Washington Post.” Often deemed stingy, Bezos was named the World’s Worst Boss by the ITUC in 2014. Jeffrey Bezos has also been linked to differential pricing, tax avoidance, and copyright infringement.

12 Creative Business Cards That Double as Cool Gadgets

by Tom Stevens

lead (5)

Image Source

In the world of international business, making an impression can sometimes be half the battle, and an individual or company’s business card is certainly not exempt from this. Though (American Psycho aside) it’s not a matter of life and death, having a memorable business card can be the difference between establishing a fruitful connection and one’s details being shoved into a back pocket and forgotten about. One way to make a card stand out is to give it a function beyond simply carrying contact information in text format. Whether doubling up as a cheese grater or helping people fix their bicycles, these 12 dual-function business cards are unlikely to find themselves at the bottom of the pile any time soon.

12. NFC Card by MOO

12. NFC Card by MOO

Image Source

The traditional business card has received a high-tech update from U.K.-based online printing company MOO. The award-winning start-up designed its Near Field Communication (NFC) card to offer a simple bridge between the analogue and digital elements of sharing contact details. This prototype card features an integrated NFC chip that performs a user-specified function when it is brought into contact with an NFC-compatible smartphone. Rather than just transferring a name and number or website, users can now effortlessly share music, video or a digital portfolio, for example. And what’s more, the function of the card can be constantly updated and rewritten using MOO’s dedicated NFC app, ensuring this is one card that won’t be crumpled into the trash in a hurry.

11. Broke Bike Alley Card Tool by Rethink Canada

11. Broke Bike Alley Card Tool by Rethink Canada

Image Source

What better way to promote one’s business than to have a card that physically does some of the work for the recipient? This multifunctional metal card does exactly that – advertising the services of British Columbia bicycle repair business Broke Bike Alley while also acting as a useful tool for carrying out small repairs. Designed by Canadian creative agency Rethink in 2010, the wallet-sized card contains a selection of tools that can be used to tighten bolts or adjust spokes – plus a bottle opener for that conciliatory drink when the user has given up in frustration and vowed to take their beloved bicycle to a professional instead.

10. Music Comb Business Card by Fabio Milito

10. Music Comb Business Card by Fabio Milito

Image Source

This creative business card was brought into being by designer and art director Fabio Milito in 2010, and it manages to integrate not one but two extra functions. The black plastic card doubles up as a comb for on-the-fly hairstyle tweaks, but it also utilizes simple music box principles to play a classic rock ‘n’ roll tune when the recipient runs their fingernail along the teeth of the comb. Milito created the card for Rome-based hairdressing salon MODhair, and the design was recognized with a Bronze award for direct marketing from Ads of the World in 2010.

9. 1010 Tires Tread Depth Indicator Card by Spring

9. 1010 Tires Tread Depth Indicator Card by Spring

Image Source

Another simple but highly effective business card, this design by Canadian ad agency Spring incorporates a handy tire tread depth gauge. Users simply place the card in the middle of the tire tread and then use the color-coded indicator at the bottom of the card to determine whether they can safely carry on driving or if they need to get new tires. The card was designed for Canadian wheel and tire specialist 1010 Tires, and as the company says, “Tread depth is a key indicator of a tire’s performance and safety. So when your business card doubles as a tread depth gauge, it’s clear you are serious about both.” Acknowledging this clever concept, the design was recognized with a Merit at the Lotus Awards in 2012.

8. Solar Torch Card by Deqing Sun

8. Solar Torch Card by Deqing Sun

Image Source

This light bulb moment comes courtesy of creative technologist Deqing Sun. The 0.08-inch-thick business card features an integrated circuit with a working LED light in the center of the light bulb graphic and was developed by Sun in 2010. The light is activated when the double-E logo at the bottom-left of the card is touched. What’s even more impressive, though, is the fact that the light is solar-powered: the lithium ion battery visible in the middle of the card is there only to store the energy generated by the silicon-based solar panel, meaning the battery never needs to be replaced. This is one card that really reflects the ingenuity of its creator.

7. Baywood Laser Tattoo Removal Card by Innocean Worldwide

7. Baywood Laser Tattoo Removal Card by Innocean Worldwide

Image Source

Unsure whether or not that latest tattoo was good idea? This ingenious business card affords recipients the opportunity to see what a patch of their skin would look like ink-free – and it also carries the contact information for a tattoo removal clinic, should the individual choose to go down that route. Designed by creative ad agency Innocean Worldwide Canada in 2012, the card features a temporary flesh-colored tattoo that can be used to cover up any body art the user might be starting to regret, and it comes in a range of skin tones. The card was created for Toronto-based cosmetic treatment center the Baywood Clinic, and given that the clinic’s physicians carry out more than 10,000 treatments annually, it’s a safe assumption that there are a few less bad tattoos on the streets of Canada’s biggest city thanks to this card.

6. Bon Vivant Cheese Grater Card by JWT Brazil

6. Bon Vivant Cheese Grater Card by JWT Brazil (1)

Image Source

Though we’re struggling to think of a time when we lamented the absence of a cheese grater in our pockets, this business card design by the Brazilian arm of marketing communications brand JWT scores full marks for innovation. Invented in 2013 and conceived to convey the passion of specialist cheese retailer Bon Vivant, the simple metal card with functioning grater proved a huge hit with customers, and the manufacturing run of a thousand cards was used up in the space of two weeks. “People came here, chose the cheese, paid, and then asked for the card. Many became customers after that,” said store owner Beto Rogoski. “We had to set a minimum spend amount for the cards.” It just goes to show that one should never underestimate the power of, ahem, grate ideas.

5. Penny Shooter Card by Cardnetics

5. Penny Shooter Card by Cardnetics

Image Source

While handing someone a business card that could be instantly used to fire metal projectiles back in the direction in which it came does have its risks, it is at least an unambiguous way for the person offering the card to find out if they have made a bad impression. This penny shooter card by Cardnetics affords just that opportunity. The card can accommodate as many as ten U.S. pennies for firing (though users are advised to check the dimensions of their coins if they’re using a different currency) and features a simple pull-back-and-shoot mechanism powered by two rubber bands at either side of the card. The design has obviously proved popular and is currently sold out on the Cardnetics website. Here’s hoping they are back in stock soon.

4. Kevin Mitnick’s Lock Pick Card

4. Kevin Mitnick’s Lock Pick Card

Image Source

It’s perhaps no surprise that the man who was once America’s most wanted computer criminal has a suitably hacker-themed business card. Kevin Mitnick was imprisoned for half a decade – including eight months in solitary confinement – following his arrest in 1995, but he has since gone on to set up computer security company Mitnick Security Consulting. What’s more, Mitnick’s metallic business card gives a tongue-in-cheek nod to his criminal past, as it contains a push-out set of working lock-picking tools. One YouTube video even demonstrates the card in action, moving from an intact card to a fully unpicked lock in little over a minute. The card is available from Mitnick’s website to anyone for a price of $5 along with a self-addressed stamped envelope. And as Mitnick himself says, “Send your IP address and password (just kidding).”

3. BC Adventure Meat Card by Rethink Canada

3. BC Adventure Meat Card by Rethink Canada

Image Source

Though it is made of meat, this is not in fact the business card of Lady Gaga’s couturier. Rather, it’s another design from award-winning creative agency Rethink Canada. The card was made for British Columbia travel website BC Adventure in 2009 and features the company’s details laser-etched into a rectangle of organic beef jerky. Said dried meat is safely edible for up to a year, offering a handy source of extra calories for anyone who finds themselves suddenly stranded in the wilderness. It’s a nifty idea, though we can’t help but wonder what percentage of these cards have been given out accompanied by the phrase, “It was nice to meat you.”

2. Caliper Card by Adrian Likins

2. Caliper Card by Adrian Likins

Image Source

In 2009 North Carolina-based programmer Adrian Likins designed and manufactured this business card, which can be folded up to form a working caliper rule. The card is laser-cut into three sections, one of which contains the assembly instructions and can be discarded, and the other two of which join together to form the measuring instrument. The rule displays millimeter and inch scales, and Likins comments that “accuracy and precision are not too bad for something folded out of paper.” It also has ample space to include essential information such as website and email address.

1. Cement Solutions Bottle Opener Card by FLIPP

1. Cement Solutions Bottle Opener Card by FLIPP

Image Source

Bottle openers are often elusive when they’re needed the most, so this limited-edition business card for oilfield waste management company Cement Solutions would at least come in handy from time to time. Designed by Calgary-based marketing and communications firm FLIPP in 2010, the rugged metal card features a cut out section near the top with which to prise the tops off any waiting bottles. “It’s a tough work place and the concept for the business card really needed to reflect that,” says FLIPP. “After all, who doesn’t want a cold, refreshing drink at the end of a day of hard work?”

10 Coolest Small Business Jets in the World

lead

Image Source

In today’s world of international business, every second counts. One minute you may be needed in Tokyo; the next thing there could be a meeting in New York that simply cannot be missed. And when time is money, a savvy investment in the form of a business jet can certainly afford some extra time. The “light jet” class was pioneered by the Learjet 23, which was introduced in 1964. Now, the most recent development is the “very light” class, or “personal jet,” which costs less to run and requires less runway space. In the U.S. alone, very light jets have access to a network of over 5,000 smaller local airports. Read on for ten of the coolest small business jets out there.

10. Honda HA-420 HondaJet

10. Honda HA-420 HondaJet

Image Source

The Honda Aircraft Company’s inaugural civil aircraft, the HA-420 HondaJet, first took to the skies on December 3, 2003. However, after numerous tests, and a delayed maiden flight in 2010, the impressive-looking jet is still frustratingly in the “early production” stage. In 2013 Honda made a statement saying that the aircraft was due for more tests and that its certification would be held back until 2014. The HA-420 HondaJet has enough space for a maximum of seven people (including crew), and the 42 foot 7 inch aircraft’s top speed is 483 mph (778 km/h), with its range a respectable 1,358 miles. Honda announced that the hotly anticipated plane will be shown off at the 2013 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention & Exhibition, held in Las Vegas from October 22 to 24.

9. Learjet 45XR

9. Learjet 45XR

Image Source

In June 2004 Bombardier Aerospace released the Learjet 45XR, which is an update of the company’s classic super-light jet, the Learjet 45. The Learjet 45 was flown for the first time on October 7, 1995 and entered the aviation market in January 1998. Thanks to its new Honeywell TFE731-20BR turbo engine setup, the XR version can take off carrying a heavier load. It also boasts a greater cruise speed and climbs quicker than the standard Learjet 45. According to Bombardier, the XR version is an “overachiever” that flies “faster, higher and farther with more passengers and range flexibility than any aircraft in its class.” The Learjet 45XR has a top speed of 535 mph, a range as much as 2,300 miles and can reach an altitude of 51,000 feet. What’s more, London Air Services say it can fly from London to Los Angeles in just two and a half hours. Additional features include 110-volt electrical plugs, foldable work desks and a “digital airborne telephone” that will ensure its up to nine passengers don’t miss a thing while they’re soaring through the clouds.

8. Beechcraft Premier IA

8. Beechcraft Premier IA

Image Source

According to its manufacturers, the Beechcraft Premier IA is “the world’s largest, fastest, most advanced single-pilot business jet.” Work began on the Beechcraft Premier I in 1994, and it took to the air for the first time on December 22, 1998, before being introduced to the market in 2001. The Premier IA version – which is faster and features more state-of-the-art avionics equipment and a larger cabin – achieved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification on September 22, 2005. Able to carry six to seven passengers, the Premier IA has a top speed of 526 mph and, when carrying five people, a range of 1,645 miles. It’s also more economical than its closest competitor, the Cessna Citation CJ2+, and features the life-saving Integrated Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 electronic system – which should help ensure a smooth flight.

7. Cessna Citation CJ4

7. Cessna Citation CJ4

Image Source

Encompassing various versions, the Cessna CitationJet series has been popular ever since the first model took flight on April 29, 1991. Based on the Cessna Aircraft Company’s Model 525, the CJ4 jet is the seventh jet in the series and was introduced in 2006. Building on the CJ3, the CJ4 features an extended cabin and – taking its cues from the Citation Sovereign – a swept wing. Although it has been labeled the “heavy hitter of light jets,” the CJ4 encountered an early stumbling block when in 2011 the FAA temporarily grounded the jet over battery concerns; however production has since resumed. Certified to be flown by one pilot, the jet can carry a total of nine passengers, while it has a maximum range of 2,259 miles and a top cruise speed of 519 mph.

6. Eclipse 500

6. Eclipse 500

Image Source

Introduced on December 31, 2006, Eclipse Aviation’s Eclipse 500 helped pioneer the “very light jet” aviation class. Seating a maximum of six people (including one pilot), the 33 foot 1 inch jet can reach a top speed of 425 mph and has a range of 1,295 miles. Based on Williams International’s Williams V-Jet II, the design was refined and adapted by Eclipse Aviation. One sacrifice for its size is that it doesn’t have a lavatory – the cause of much debate when the plane was delivered. Following the liquidation of Eclipse Aviation in 2008, the company’s assets – including the Eclipse 500 – were transferred to new company Eclipse Aerospace. Despite the difficult start for the new class, 260 craft were produced between 2001 and 2008, and Eclipse Aerospace made it known that the follow-up model 550 would be ready for delivery in 2013.

5. Embraer Phenom 300

5. Embraer Phenom 300 (1)

Image Source

First flown in 2008, the Phenom 300 is a “light business jet” produced by Brazilian company Embraer. The jet was introduced in 2009, and so far 117 craft have been built. Capable of carrying a maximum of nine people, the 52 foot 2 inch jet has a top speed of 518 mph, a range of 2,268 miles and can reach an altitude of 45,000 feet. Designed in conjunction with BMW Designworks USA, the roomy Phenom 300 also boasts the biggest luggage storage space and the biggest windows – including a restroom window – in its class.

4. Beechjet Hawker 400XPR

4. Beechjet Hawker 400XPR

Image Source

The Beechjet Hawker 400XPR is a small dual-engine business jet that promises to “transform your expectations.” First flown on August 29, 1978, the Hawker 400 (then known as the MU-300 Diamond) was originally produced by Mitsubishi – before the rights to build the jet were purchased by Beechjet and the aircraft was renamed the Beechjet 400. Then in 1993 Raytheon bought the jet and rebranded it the Hawker 400. The 400XPR is an upgrade of the 400XP model, boasting increased range and more state-of-the-art technology. The jet has a maximum speed of 518 mph and an altitude ceiling of 45,000 feet. While carrying up to four passengers, it has a range of 1,905 miles.

3. Gulfstream G150

3. Gulfstream G150

Image Source

Originally dubbed the Astra SPX, the Gulfstream G100 series is built by Israel Aircraft Industries for Gulfstream Aerospace. Following on from a design that was acquired in the late 1960s, the Astra SPX, the third version in the series, was first flown in 1994. When Gulfstream took over Galaxy Aerospace in 2002, the jet was rebranded the Gulfstream G100 and put into production. In September that year Gulfstream also made the upgraded G150 model public. The 56 foot 9 inch business jet has an impressive maximum speed of 647 mph and can reach an altitude of 45,000 feet. With its roomier interior and the option of three different seating setups, the G150 can accommodate up to eight passengers, and according to Gulfstream, it “provides the most value in its class.”

2. Cessna Citation Mustang Model 510

2. Cessna Citation Mustang Model 510

Image Source

The Cessna Citation Mustang, also known as the Model 510, is a very light business jet produced by Kansas-based aircraft company Cessna. The jet has enough space for four passengers and two crewmembers, and it first took to the air on April 23, 2005. Featuring swept wings attached close to the lower part of the plane’s fuselage, this jet falls into the low wing category, while its frame is mainly composed of an aluminum alloy. Powered by dual PW615F turbofan engines, the 40 foot 7 inch jet has a maximum speed of 480 mph and a range of 1,343 miles. Plus, the Citation Mustang is capable of reaching an altitude of 41,000 feet.

1. Learjet 60 XR

1. Learjet 60 XR

Image Source

Bombardier’s Learjet 60 XR business jet is capable of carrying eight passengers and two crewmembers. Built by Wichita-based Bombardier Aerospace, the 60 series is based on the earlier Learjet 55, with the engineers having added a longer body and increased engine power. The Learjet 60 XR’s two engines afford the jet a range of 2,773 miles and a top speed of 522 mph. Renowned for its climbing rate, the Learjet 60 can reach an altitude of 41,000 feet in just 18 minutes and 30 seconds. The XR is a 2005 variant with updated aviation technology and an improved interior, deliveries of which began in 2007 – and currently it is the only 60-series jet in production. The jet has proven popular among companies and high-profile individuals around the world and has also been used in military and governmental roles. In the United States, the FAA itself uses 60 Learjet 60s.

International Business and Entrepreneurial Opportunities

entreprenThe world of entrepreneurs is as innovative as the discipline itself. That’s why many of the traditional accreditations and backgrounds necessary for other jobs don’t always apply to young entrepreneurs who are looking to make their mark in the business sect. This applies double for international business, where technologically savvy countries are not always following the beaten path in finding new employees and business ties. This can be largely attributed to the influx of independent companies and entrepreneurial services that have sprung out of the field in the likes of China and Japan.

Accreditations like MBA degrees are never wasteful, but with today’s technology providing easy access to networking from websites such as LinkedIn, things have certainly changed. It’s become less important for entrepreneurs to compile the necessary paperwork and more important for them to actually launch their product and make a name for themselves directly with the market.

Additionally, the importance of credits like MBAs has been impacted by the changing values of the global economy and business as a whole. Technology no longer requires so much investment in order to get a project off the ground, and with less money comes less risk. With less risk comes more companies who are willing to give independent programmers, creators, and distributors a chance after they have launched their own product and demonstrated their business acumen first hand.

Many businesses have treated degrees as preparatory necessities that prevent the hiring of people who cannot execute or conceptualize their ideas. Interestingly, the ‘do it yourself’ age of the online marketplace gives independent entrepreneurs the opportunity to conceptualize and execute their own product as a far more convincing resume. More pointedly still, MBA degrees are now coming under criticism as being out of touch with the modern business market due to their large focus on research and little focus on applicable skills and firsthand experience.

This isn’t meant to discourage academia, but it does highlight a potential weakness in the traditional status quo that entrepreneurs can seize on and exploit both domestically and internationally.

The International Entrepreneur: Independent Business Abroad

International entrepreneurship has many silver linings, particularly in cases in which a business is functioning out of a country or province that is markedly cheaper than other countries. The cost of living combined with the cost of operations is often a reason in itself to launch an independent business abroad. There are dozens of stories filling the independent channels of communication about these circumstances producing successful results.

However, independent operations for large scale businesses can be exceedingly difficult, especially when exports and imports are involved. The cost of creating a channel, acknowledging buyers and vendors, and then overseeing the operations is often a tall order for a small company. Fortunately, technological automations have gone a long way in minimizing the manpower needed for many activities.

The State Of The Stats

Small businesses make up roughly 75% of America’s private sector, which means that the business market is still ripe for new and innovate approaches despite the economic woes of late. By that same token, however, the vast majority of these small businesses — an estimated 72% of the total, in fact, use college experience or higher. Frequent exceptions to the rule come from the tech market, where confident newcomers can establish themselves by launching their own software and then cobbling that experience together into a persuasive resume for larger independent operations.

The gap between independent professionals with accreditations and independent professionals with little in the way of academic paperwork is still there, but it’s being shortened by the wild cards of technology. Today’s entrepreneurs stand a better chance at finding an independent job in international business than ever before, and that chance is relatively evenly split between those with the proper credits and those who blaze their own trail through the digital domains of online business. Those entrepreneurs who do decide to take the road less traveled must still exploit the market where they are able to do so. This often involves building a reputation and work history among professional social media groups that work on software and programming ventures.

The online world is universal, after all, and the lines between domestic and international business are continually being blurred by the geographically blind talents of the internet.

Related Links:

Entrepreneur.com

Entreprenuers In Today’s World

10 Successful American Businesses That Have Failed Overseas

montage

It’s a big world out there and many of America’s biggest brands are eager to get their hands on a piece – or many pieces – of it. But what works on the average American consumer doesn’t always translate well in other countries, and a combination of naïveté, arrogance, and lack of understanding the market have often led to some rather disappointing ventures in the far reaches of the world. Some have suffered defeats in a number of countries, while others couldn’t make it work in very specific markets. Interestingly, many American behemoths struggled especially in China and other Asian markets, largely due to a lack of understanding of local demands and buying habits.

In most cases, an adherence to their Americanized approach to marketing and selling became their undoing. People in different countries were turned off by foods, products and strategies that simply didn’t suit their cultural tastes. Who would have guessed not everyone wants to live American style?
Continue reading