Nowadays， there are lots of lists of the inspirational entrepreneurs both at home and abroad. A list of the most inspirational entrepreneurs is necessarily subjective， but the following is a list of some risk-takers who really left their marks， despite their challenging upbringings.

现如今海内外各种创业家排行榜俯拾皆是，诸如最具影响力的企业家之类的排行榜更是难免沾染主观色彩。不过，下面这几位企业家，可是真真正正青史留名的“探险者”，尽管他们的成长背景并不优越。

Andrew Carnegie—

The Self-made Philanthropist

安德鲁·卡内基——白手起家的大慈善家

As a Scottish immigrant in the 19th century， Carnegie arrived in America as a poor teenager and worked his way through the ranks， starting with a daily 12-hour job changing spools. He eventually made a fortune as an investor during the Civil War， including a single $40，000 investment in the oil-rich Story Farm， which earned him $1 million in dividends by the end of the year.

After the war， he launched Carnegie Steel Corporation， which he later sold to J. P. Morgan for $480 million. Besides， he increased his wealth and fame with his writing， including the famous book Gospel of Wealth describing the philanthropic responsibilities of the self-made rich， and he became well-known for his own philanthropy， including millions of dollars of donations to the New York Public Library， the establishment of the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh （Carnegie-Mellon University today）， and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

19世纪时，卡内基作为苏格兰移民来到美国，那时的他还是一个穷困小青年；从一份每天12小时更换线轴的工作开始，他一步一步走上人生赢家之路。最终，在美国南北战争期间，他作为一名投资者发了大财，其中包括投资40000美金于储油丰富的Story Farm，一年之后这笔投资就让卡内基获得了一百万美金的分红。

战后，他成立了卡内基钢铁公司，之后他以4.8亿美元的价格把公司卖给了JP摩根。此外，卡内基还通过写作出书不断斩获名利，其中包括著名的《财富的福音》，该书讲述了白手起家的富人们的慈善责任，从此他也因自己的慈善事业而闻名。他不仅向纽约公共图书馆捐赠了百万美金，还成立了匹兹堡卡内基工学院（今天的卡内基梅隆大学）、建立了卡内基国际和平基金会。

Oprah Winfrey—The Teenage Mother Who Became a Household Billionaire

奥普拉·温弗瑞——从少龄妈妈到家喻户晓的巨富

Oprah was born into a poor family with a single teenage mother and experienced a tough childhood， becoming a teenage mother herself at 14 and losing that son shortly after. In high school she got involved with radio， and at 19 she began co-anchoring the local evening news. She later worked in a daytime talk show， which went from last-ranked to the top-ranked talk show in Chicago during her time there. After that， she started The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Her show， which started as a tabloid talk show， gradually expanded to broader topics， including celebrity interviews： her 1993 prime-time interview of Michael Jackson became the most watched interview ever. When her show went national， Oprah became a millionaire at 32， and today she is a billionaire.

奥普拉出生于一个贫穷家庭，有一个单身少龄母亲，自小就经历了不少困难。14岁的时候奥普拉自己也成为一名少龄母亲，不久后儿子夭折了。在高中时，奥普拉开始接触播音，19岁开始在当地《晚间新闻》节目担任联合主播。之后她在一档日间脱口秀栏目工作，其间，这档节目的排名从芝加哥地区的垫底行列直升至榜首。那之后，奥普拉开启了《奥普拉·温弗瑞脱口秀》。

这档节目最开始只是一个小型的脱口秀节目，之后其涉及的话题范围越来越广，其中包括名人访谈：她在1993年于黄金时段播出的对迈克尔·杰克逊的采访，成为迄今为止收视率最高的访谈。随着她的脱口秀走向全国，奥普拉32岁就成为百万富翁。今天，她已经是亿万富翁了。

Henry Ford—Revolutionizing American Lifestyes

亨利·福特——推动美利坚生活方式变革之人

Born into a family of farmers， Ford worked as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company before resigning to form his own company.

Although his first company failed and his second company almost went under， Ford Motor Company changed American lifestyles by making affordable automobiles and auto industry by introducing the moving assembly line.

出生于务农家庭的福特，起先是爱迪生照明公司的工程师，之后他辞掉工作去创立自己的公司。

虽然他的第一个公司失败了，第二个公司又差点破产，但他的福特汽车公司通过让汽车的价格变得更亲民更大众而改变了美国人的生活；同时，通过建立流水线操作标准而改变了整个汽车行业。

Steve Jobs—The Backyard Billionaire of

The Personal Computer Revolution

斯蒂夫·乔布斯——在自家后院发动全球个人电脑革命的巨富

Raised by adoptive parents who did not graduate from college， Jobs tinkered with electronics at a young age with his father， who worked as a mechanic and carpenter. After dropping out of college， traveling and working， Jobs and high school friend Steve Wozniak formed Apple Computer in Jobss parents garage.

From there， Jobs was influential in the personal computer revolution， as well as in other consumer electronics， including smart phones， music and movies， and Apple eventually became the worlds most valuable publicly traded company in 2011.

乔布斯被大学肄业的养父母抚养长大。养父是机械工兼木匠，从孩童时期起，乔布斯就开始跟着养父一起摆弄电子器件。大学辍学后，乔布斯一边旅行一边工作，和自己的高中朋友斯蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克在自家的车库里创建了苹果电脑公司。

从那之后，乔布斯除了引领着个人电脑革命，还影响着其他的电子消费品领域，如智能手机、音乐、电影等，苹果公司也在2011年的时候成为最具价值的公开上市公司。

Elon Musk—The Man Who is Dong it All

伊隆·马斯克——全能型人生赢家

Born in South Africa， Musk taught himself computer programming at a young age. At 24， he started a web software company， and a few years later he founded an online financial services and email payment company that became Paypal we know today.

He is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX， which focuses on advancing rocket technology； the chairman of Solar City， the second largest provider of solar power systems in the US； and the CEO and co-founder of Tesla Motors， an electric car company.

马斯克出生于南非，小时候就自学电脑编程。24岁时，他成立了一家网络软件公司，几年之后，他又成立了一家在线金融服务和电邮支付公司，也就是现在我们所熟知的支付宝。

他是致力于推动火箭科技的太空探索技术公司的创始人兼CEO，也是美国第二大太阳能系统提供商Solar City的主席，同时还是电力汽车公司特斯拉（Tesla Motors）的联合创始人兼CEO。