#3 Yun Jong-Yong

Company: Samsung Electronics

Country: South Korea

Tenure: 1996 – 2008

He joined family-run business Samsung Group after his graduation. He moved to Samsung Electronics right after it was established and remained there rising through the ranks to be at the helm. He is responsible for saving Samsung through the Asian crisis in 1996 and challenged the well-established giants, such as Sony, in their domains. He’s the one who spearheaded the growth of Samsung through chips for computers, cell phones, LCDs, and other electronic devices. And he is the one who changed the focus of the company from TVs and microwave ovens towards mobiles.

#2 Jeffrey P. Bezos

Company: Amazon.com

Country: United States

Tenure: 1996 – present

Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO Amazon. He played a key role in the growth of e-commerce and under his guidance; Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and the model for Internet sales.

He founded the company in 1994 after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way. He initially set up the company in his garage. He had left his "well-paying job" at a New York City hedge fund when he "learned about the rapid growth in Internet use", which coincided with a "then-new U.S. Supreme Court ruling online retailers don't have to collect sales taxes in states where they lack a physical presence"; he had headed to Washington because its relatively small population meant fewer of his future customers would have to pay sales tax.

When the dot com bubble burst, Amazon was one of the few companies that survived and rapidly grew to be a Fortune 500 company. The company has a customer base of over 30 million people and makes its primary revenues come from the commission it charges affiliates for selling their product through the website.

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