FX.co ★ Top 5 entrepreneurs who become successful after 40

Dietrich Mateschitz

Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz is known as the founder of Red Bull GmbH. He decided to create a business for the production of energy drinks when he was already over 40 years old. Once he tried an energy drink produced in Thailand and that was the moment when he set himself a goal to make his own drink. Mateschitz founded the company together with a Thai entrepreneur who was responsible for the recipe. Being an expert in marketing, Mr. Mateschitz organized an efficacious promotion campaign. Soon their business began to flourish. Now, 77-year-old Mateschitz is among the top 100 richest people in the world. His fortune is estimated at $27 billion.

Lynda Weinman

Lynda Weinman graduated with a degree in humanities. However, almost immediately after university, she decided to establish her own business. Lynda opened 2 stores but they were closed after some time. A few years later, she created an online platform Lynda.com, which offered paid lessons on web-design. While her stores failed to operate even for 5 years, this startup took off. In 2015, when Weinman was 42 years old, LinkedIn acquired her company for $1.5 billion. Now, it is known as LinkedIn Learning. It is considered one of the most famous educational services in the world.

Robin Chase

Robin Chase was a housewife. Her life took a new turn after she met a university teacher who was deeply concerned about environmental problems. She told her about car sharing and how it could help reduce the number of cars on the roads. Chase was so excited by this idea that she decided to found a car rental company. At that time, she was 42 years old. Although she graduated from the MIT Sloan School of Management, she had absolutely no experience. Nevertheless, Chase managed to make Zipcar one of the world leaders in this segment. In 2013, she sold the firm for $500 million.

James Simons

James Simons has been recognized more than once as one of the most successful hedge fund managers. However, before founding the Renaissance Technologies investment company, he accomplished striking results as a highly qualified math teacher. He was about to obtain the title of professor but by the age of 44, Simons decided to leave high school. By that time, he had experience in investing and therefore decided to try his hand on the stock market. He created the Renaissance Technologies Foundation, specializing in stock trading using quantitative models derived from mathematical analysis.

Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash is called the most outstanding business woman of the 20th century. However, her path to success was not easy as she had to deal with gender inequality. Kay worked for more than 20 years in a company whose management promoted only men. After quitting her job, she wrote a book of tips for working women, which later became her business plan. At the age of 45, she created the Mary Kay cosmetics company. Today it is one of the most successful companies, working on the network marketing model.