Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, pioneered the animated feature film and opened Disneyland in 1955. He holds the record for the most Academy Awards won by an individual, with 22.
Reed Hastings, a former Peace Corps math teacher in Swaziland, co-founded Netflix and helped build it into a global streaming service. He is also a prominent charter-school advocate.
Oprah Winfrey rose from poverty in rural Mississippi to host The Oprah Winfrey Show for 25 years and build a media empire including the Oprah Winfrey Network. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.
He started with a toothbrush factory, pioneered cable television in India, built UTV into a media group he sold to Disney for $1.4 billion — and then went and built an edtech company, a sports league and a film studio.
