Entrepreneurs Who Have Run For President Of The United States
From Boardroom to Ballot: Entrepreneurs Who Took on the Challenge of the Presidency
A prominent list of business tycoons have tried their luck to become the President of the United States, and some have even tasted victory. These entrepreneurs turned politicians portray the intersection of business acumen and political aspirations. As Vivek Ramaswamy enters the political arena, he follows in the footsteps of these successful individuals who dared to take their experience from the boardroom to the ballot. The 2024 presidential race is shaping up to be another chapter in the evolving tale of entrepreneurs in American politics.
1. Michael Bloomberg
The founder of Bloomberg LP, Michael Bloomberg, is a business tycoon who transitioned into politics. Elected as mayor of New York City in 2001, he held office for three consecutive terms. Bloomberg ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, and his net worth is an impressive $96.3 billion. Bloomberg was born on February 14, 1942. Bloomberg grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. As the mayor of New York, Bloomberg initiated public charter schools, rebuilt urban infrastructure, and supported gun control, public health acts, and protection of the environment.
2. Ross Perot
Ross Perot is a Dallas computer billionaire. He founded Electronic Data Systems. Running as an independent in 1992, Perot achieved a remarkable 19 percent of the popular vote, the highest for an independent candidate. In 2019, at the time of his death, his net worth was $4.1 billion. In 1992, he ran an independent campaign in the U.S. presidential election and a third-party campaign in the 1996 U.S. presidential election as the Reform Party nominee, founded by grassroots supporters of Perot’s 1992 campaign.
3. Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of Forbes, a business magazine. He is the son of longtime and well-known Forbes publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandson of that publication’s founder, B.C. Forbes. As the editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, Steve brought his decade-long experience to the political world, reports Entrepreneur. Running for the Republican presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000. The main reason for his campaign was to establish a flat income tax. His net worth is $430 million.
4. Herman Cain
Herman Cain was born on December 13, 1945. Cain was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist in the Republican Party. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee. With a diverse and broad background that included prominent roles at Coca-Cola Co., Pilsbury, and the CEO of Godfather Pizza, Cain entered the political realm. Cain declared his aspirations to run for president in 2010, affirming that there was a 70 percent chance that he would attempt to seek the office. He ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, 2004, and 2011, with a net worth of $18 million at the time of his death.
5. Carly Fiorina
Carly Fiorina was born on September 6, 1954, in Austin, Texas. Fiorina was the first woman to lead a Fortune Top-20 company. She is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Inc. Fiorina sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Her net worth is $58 million. Fiorina ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 2010 and the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Fiorina was an adviser to Republican Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. In 2020, Fiorina endorsed the presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden.
6. Tom Steyer
Tom Steyer, also known as Thomas Fahr Steyer, was born on June 27, 1957. He is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist. Steyer is also the co-founder of Galvanize Climate Solutions. Apart from this, he is also the founder of Farallon Capital and a co-founder of OneCalifornia Bank. Due to his experience and expertise in hedge funds for 26 years, he aspired to venture into Democratic presidential politics in 2020. His net worth is $2.1 billion.
7. Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang is the founder of Manhattan Prep. He was born on January 13, 1975, in Schenectady, New York. He made a dent as a Democrat in the 2020 presidential race. In 2021, he left the Democratic Party to become an independent. He said he is "more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it." Later on in his career path, he founded the Forward Party, a political action committee. His net worth during his presidential run was $1 million.
