And The Prize Goes To.....?

Bluewings, that's a great (and not easy to answer!) question. Warren Buffet perhaps has the greatest UNDERSTANDING of how business works, seing as how his fortune is amassed based on knowing how many different parts of industry and finance work. However, whereas he may have made a lot of money, he didn't exactly change the "landscape" of the world. I suppose it depends on what you're looking for, as "greatest." I would consider both Bill Gates and Henry Ford-- both because of the way they found a "market" and then used their knowledge to completely change how we approach some aspect of life. With Ford, it was not just "cars," but the whole notion of "production line" manufacturing... which is used in virtually ALL industry. Similarly, Bill Gates isn't merely responsible for the software that makes computers "for everyone," but his innovations have changed the way we communicate, and do business-- the impact extends far beyond merely being successful at bringing "a product" to market. For now, I'm going to give my vote to Gates.

Hey bluewings,Can I comment too here?"cause like your young friend I too have almost no knowledge about them except for the fact that I keep hearing about them off and on.Lol. The obvious answer should be Bill Gates if we interpret it in commercial terms,which is obviuosly almost synonymous to business,as far as amassing the highest worth is concerned.Not to forget his contribution to humankind too. But recently there was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet(who donated $31 billion to charity).This gave a glimpse of his life which truly impressed me.According to this interview - He bought his first share at the age of eleven.He bought a small farm when he was fourteen and that too with savings from delivering newspapers.Awesome!!He still lives in his fifty years old house comprising just three bedrooms.He does not have security people and drives his car himself. His company,Berkshire Hathaway,owns sixty-three companies and he writes only one letter each year to the CEOs stating the desired goals for the year.Has only two rules for them-Not to lose any share holder's money and secondly,not to forget the first rule.Period!!Bill Gates met him for the first time onlly a few years ago.he thought he didn't have anything in common with him.So the meeting was scheduled for just half hour,but it lasted ten hours and Gates became a devotee of this legend. Doesn't that speak for itself.But the ordinary mortal person and that too a woman(I know men secretly take great pleasure in joking about us,Lol) How can I not be biased to give the prize to Warren Buffet,for one more reason too,and that is,He too loves solitude.He and his solitude!!:D Yes,he too doesn't like going to parties and socialize much. I know You must be having this information already when you started this discussion,but I thought it apt to mention it here,and I know you won't mind.The gentleman that you are.Lol.Thanks

I have always admired Bill Gates when it comes to vision to the future. The man somehow knows how IT world is going to explode with millions of opportunities, and so he made his first steps in it. For creativity, my vote goes to IKEA's Kamprad. You can find money in anything, especially efficiency. That's how I see it. Of course they are all heavy-weight industrialist in their fields, but I love IKEA products and being not a tachie, I have always found MS easier to use than other softwares.

They have all done astounding work in their fields. But Bill Gates has made great strides to provide us with software to make life easier and more accessible to us. I think the others haven't really done anything really other than to make money for their particular industry. I mean Bill Gates did this as well, but his products are used almost in every house hold! So, I would say that he is the greater business mind. He has made himself indispensable. We can't do without his product.

i dont know much about great business people,but those big names,like Bill Gates,Henry Ford,i do know them a little. i think a great business mind is not only successful in business,but also influential to the society or other people in the world. Sam Walton(i dont know if i spelled his name right) perfected the idea of the discount store,the WalMart store is his,and i've heard that if he was alive today,he would be the richest man in the world,i think he may be the greatest business mind.maybe he didnt know he would succeed when he have his idea,that needs to take big risks to make his plan come true,and i think every great business people is prepared to be failures,as well as successes.that needs courage.

Hello. I think that Henry Ford is the best. His thought process of becoming the BIG SHIP and then having smaller ships provide parts for him was amazing. Moreover, he focused on production time and kept expenses low. And he took care of his employees. It's too bad though that today, I would not buy a FORD if my life depended on it. I had two Fords and now I know that F O R D stands for "Fix Or Repair Daily!"

The challenge in my opinion is do you assume the greatest business mind purely on dollar worth? Or do we look at it in terms of how their products or services changed the world? If it is in terms of worth and pure business aggression then it would have to be Bill Gates. He is a risk taker and extremely focused. Henry Ford with transportation has undoubtedly improved the lives of billions of people but also unwittingly started one of the biggest contributions to world pollution as a result...... I unfortunately cannot recall his name right now, but there is an Indian gentleman that introduced micro loans to poor people so they can get on their feet. His "bank" has a pay back rate of 98% and is improving the lives of millions of generally ignored people. He comes nowhere near the Gates or Buffets in terms of personal wealth but is his contribution any less worthy? Then you have the great inventors like Edison etc There are so, so many ways you can define a business person! You have posed an interesting question bluewings!

Hi buddy! sorry for being absent most of the time in your discussion been pretty busy with my online project. I really admire bill gates and his innovative mind for me he is one of the exceptional individual who can see beyond normal things and with his creative mind, working with computer is that easy as ever compare before. I guess every individual have a pet on this mind boggling question of yours ha!ha!ha but I really vote for bill gates because my work is related with computers ha!ha!ha

oh, they are all great men on business. i dont know how do they find the chances they had. but i know they are great men,having acute forsight. yeah we people cannt be them,but we can have our space,the suitable GO to. if we do the work good,even little,then we can have the chance to success or already successed.