The Different Faces of Donald Trump

photo by Gage Skidmore

Most businessmen shy away from the cameras to protect their careers and preserve their professional image. Donald Trump, however, is the exact opposite. Only few knew of the business mogul and real estate developer until he decided to have his own televised show, The Apprentice. In this reality series, the world saw a rather controversial competition between aspiring business people. What made the show even more remarkable was Trump himself, who has given color to each episode with his shocking statements about politics and other public matters of concern.

But despite his image in the media, Trump remains to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs in America today. His name is a brand in itself; everything that has “Trump” in it is equivalent to luxury and wealth.

His career as a real estate mogul is largely influenced by his father, Frederick Trump, who was a builder and real estate developer of middle-class residences in Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Trump also considered other career options; for a period in military school, he flirted with the idea of studying film. In the end, his natural instinct for business won. He studied Economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

His last day in college marked the beginning of his career in real estate. He now owns over $1.4 billion of assets in New York, including some of its most famous landmarks such as the Trump Tower. He briefly had America on the edge of their seats when news of him running for office during the 2012 Republican nomination broke– but he soon opted out of taking a presidential run. Business was his greatest passion, he said, so leaving the private sector is not an appealing option as of yet.

For the meantime, Trump is focused on taking over Manhattan with his ambitious and exciting plans for real estate development.

All It Took Was a Simple Tie: The Story of Ralph Lauren’s Success

From being a salesman for Brooks Brothers in New York, a young Ralph Lauren decided to jump head first into a business he knew very little about – fashion. A fish out of water, Lauren’s success did not come overnight. He was discouraged by many people, but he embodied persistence and focus. In a few years, Lauren was able to take the fashion world by storm.

Looking back at Lauren’s early years, his success and fortune was far from what he had to begin with. Lauren’s family was your average middle class Jewish family. As the youngest of four children, Lauren always strived to make himself stand out. He thought that the best way to do this was to work and earn money for himself. He always had a penchant for nice things and with the money he earned as a stock boy and salesman at Alexandra, Lauren saved enough money to buy himself stylish suits.

Lauren's talent showed at a young age. He sold top-quality ties to his classmates for a ridiculous price, and was quite successful at it. He gained reputation in his neighborhood for being a great salesman, but Lauren secretly harbored a desire to design his own ties. He quit his job and worked for Beau Brummell Neckwear as a designer. When his designs became the talk of the town, Lauren decided it was time to take hold of his career and launch his own brand.

The rest, as they say, is history. Today, the brand Ralph Lauren is a multi-billion dollar business, managed by direct descendants of the founder himself. Recently, Lauren made a $13 billion bet to turn his empire into a digital leader, shaking up the fashion industry.

Lauren’s solid background as a salesman and his passion for beauty made him a formidable business mogul. His life story is proof that anything is possible, and others can reach their dreams, too.

The College Dropout’s Oracle for Success

As a boy, founder and CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison was described to be independent and rebellious. His aggressive behavior was coupled with a strong aptitude for math and science – and this combination made him one of the richest men in the world.

photo by Oracle Corporate Communications

Born in the Bronx, New York, Ellison’s early years was ironically marked with frailty and ignorance. His unmarried 19-year old mother gave him up for adoption when he contracted pneumonia at nine months. He grew up unaware that he was adopted until he was twelve years old. From then on, the young Ellison turned over a new leaf and started recognizing his strengths.

He was named science student of the year at the University of Illinois, where he attended college; however, he dropped out soon after his adoptive mother died. Ellison then decided to learn the rudiments of computer programming but never received his college diploma. He made a living out of this knowledge for almost eight years, bouncing from job to job as a technician and programmer.

In 1977, Ellison and a couple of partners founded their own company, Software Development Labs. Under his leadership as the CEO, the company won a two-year contract to build a database management system for the CIA. The project was called Oracle. Ellison’s small team was able to finish the system a year ahead of schedule, giving them more time to develop the system for commercial applications. This is where they made it big.

Oracle’s sales doubled and became a billion dollar company in just seven years. Ellison then renamed the company Oracle Corporation after their best-selling product.

The wealth he accumulated throughout his entire career made him the 3rd richest man in America, according to Forbes.  With his success in the field of information technology, Ellison has been named as the prophet of software.

The Empire of Calvin Klein

Behind every runway show, product launching, or clothing line of the fashion industry giant, Calvin Klein, there is one man tirelessly working to achieve success. Calvin Klein, the designer, fashion mogul and businessman, has built an empire during his entire 40-year career in the industry. But before his name became an international brand, Klein’s life story started when he was just a young dreamer who pursued his dreams with relentless passion.

Born in 1942 in the Bronx, Klein was raised by parents of Hungarian descent. He knew what he wanted at an early age and honed his creative genius by attending the High School of Industrial Art. Later on, he studied fashion as an art at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Klein was only a fresh college graduate when he first entered the world of fashion as an apprentice at a cloaks and suits manufacturer. During his formative years, the budding designer created clothing for a number of boutiques located in New York.

Klein’s name began circulating in the local scene when he became Baron de Gunzburg’s protégé, who was, at that time, a powerful editor of high-profile magazines Town & Country, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. With the connections he gained through de Gunzburg, Klein was able to create a name for himself years before the launch of his initial line.

In 1968, Klein saw that the timing was perfect. He launched his company, Calvin Klein Inc., which first designed, manufactured and sold women’s clothing. Increased patronage to the brand led Klein to expand his business into other areas of clothing. Today, Calvin Klein is best known for turning two formerly mundane products – underwear and jeans – into an international category of fashion.

As a businessman, Klein is known to be a marketing genius. He made his company a household name with an ad of Brooke Shields talking about her “Calvins,” and solidified its stature in the industry with images of supermodel Kate Moss reclining on a sofa in the Obsession ads. No other fashion mogul has used advertising as effectively as Klein did.

The first American fashion designer and businessman to ever break into the international scene, Calvin Klein is surely one of the most admired people across all industries.

Financial Services in Los Angeles

For more than 15 years, executive and entrepreneur Steven Wolt has been immersed in the financial services and insurance industries, amassing a number of notable accomplishments in the process. As an Executive at ParqAdvisors in Beverly Hills, Steven Wolt holds oversight for a wide range of activities in the insurance and estate planning arenas, delivering the highest-quality products and services to clients in California and beyond. An integral member of the team at ParqAdvisors since January 2011, Steven Wolt invests his work with an outstanding record in the insurance sector and an intimate understanding of the distinct needs of businesses, families, and individuals. To this end, Steven Wolt and his colleagues at ParqAdvisors train their attention on a broad range of financial strategies, customized to meet the needs of clients of high net worth, including attorneys, CPAs, business executives, and publicly traded firms. In addition, Steven Wolt and ParqAdvisors maintain a strong specialization in the areas of estate planning, tax strategy, risk management, and planned charitable giving, all designed to manage personal and corporate finances in an attractive, cost-effective manner. Aside from his work at ParqAdvisors, Steven Wolt maintains affiliation with ProVisors, the International Circle of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, and the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, through which he networks with some of Los Angeles’ prominent executives and rising stars.

Prior to ParqAdvisors, Steven Wolt spent over 12 years in insurance sales at the Weiss Group in New York City, where he provided corporate and individual clients alike with the full range of life insurance and related products. With a primary focus on life insurance policies from MetLife, Steven Wolt consistently performed as one of the top MetLife producers in the United States while employed by the Weiss Group, helping his firm remain a leader in the insurance industry. A graduate of Fordham University, Steven Wolt earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and Biology in 1996. At present, Steven Wolt is pursuing continuing education through the American College, from which he will receive a Chartered Life Underwriter designation in the near future.

Peter Lawrence Malkin

photo by djwerdna

His building may be one of the best-known in New York City but he remains surprisingly low-profile for a man of his stature. Peter Lawrence Malkin is a general partner for the Empire State Building. He has significantly changed the Manhattan skyline and much of the public doesn’t even know his name. Malkin has done a lot to improve the ambience of New York for businessmen by helping rid the streets of petty criminals, graffiti, taxi hustlers, and the homeless.

Malkin got into real estate with his father-in-law, Lawrence Wien, back in 1958. Wien was a pioneer in real estate syndications. Upon his death in 1988, he held stakes in over two billion dollars worth of property. One project that left no one in doubt about Malkin’s ability even after Wien’s death was his decision to stick with a large, vacant building. It now houses the City University Graduate Center and the Oxford University Press among others.

With regards to his dealings, Nicholas Fish, the chairman of the Community Board 5, said that “no one knows who this guy is, but scratch the surface and he’s everywhere.” Some might even say that Malkin is a bit of an eccentric, preferring to blend with suburban commuters because he doesn’t live in the city itself. Occasionally, you might see him pick up litter on the street because it offends his vision.

While he certainly doesn’t crave the spotlight, he recently has been thrust into a fray with Donald Trump. It started when Trump acquired a stake in the Empire State Building and criticized its management. Malkin deflected these accusations and said that the building was in great condition because of a recent $65 million investment for its improvement.

Herbert Kelleher

Herbert Kelleher is renowned throughout the aviation industry. He cofounded Southwest Airlines and remained as its chairman for over thirty years. Although he opted to step down from the board in 2008, his leadership has shaped the way Southwest operates its business today.

Leadership Abilities

Herbert Kelleher showed leadership abilities at an early age. He captained a basketball team and even served as student council president. His experience as a leader was also honed when he worked part-time at the Campbell Soup Company. He finished a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at Wesleyan University and went on to study law at New York University.

Starting Southwest Airlines

One big step he took was to turn down an offer from a law firm in New York and open his own practice in Texas instead. There he met Rollin King, one of his clients and a would-be partner in Southwest Airlines. The business’s idea was to offer passengers a hassle-free flight  service at the lowest price possible. Kelleher liked the idea and helped it become reality.

Any article on Kelleher has to talk about his unique way of managing people. He inspired employees to provide the best customer service. In turn, customer satisfaction remained high and the reputation of the airline continued to grow. Success also came from his expertise in airline management including cost control. Southwest has become legendary for its ability to reduce overhead cost.

Southwest Airlines started with three Boeing 737 planes in 1971. It had less than seventy employees in the beginning. Thirty years later, it is one of America’s largest airlines and the firm continues to rake in billions of dollars in annual sales.

Business and Growth

Entrepreneur and avid business developer, Danny Shabat owns and operates a number of highly diverse businesses primarily in and around the Chicago area where he has lived since 1977. After spending time working in a Chicago nursing home and learning the business from the ground up, Danny Shabat bought his first nursing home facility. Subsequently, he became the owner of two additional health care companies focusing his business acumen on this rapidly growing industry.

Daniel Shabat’s purchases include Royal Gardens Nursing Home. Under his leadership, this facility became The Waterford, a nursing and rehabilitation center located near Lake Michigan on Chicago’s Far North Side. Operated as a family-owned establishment for the last 25 years, The Waterford provides exceptional delivery of nursing home services. Shabat also bought and transformed Senn Park Nursing Home into Heritage Nursing Home Inc., a facility offering nursing care to senior citizens needing extended care for various levels of disabilities. His current holdings also included a third facility, the Diplomat Nursing Home.

Danny Shabat also enjoys the success of other entrepreneurial and investment ventures. He recently brokered the sale of a mobile health care business, LifeCare Ambulances, Inc. Another of his businesses, LifeScan Laboratory, Inc., a northern Illinois business opened in 1996, provides comprehensive, professional laboratory services to doctors, hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, and other health care agencies.  Other companies Shabat holds ownership in include Shabat Investments, LLC, PharMore Drugs, LLC, DSFA, Inc., and SFMA, Inc. Additionally, Danny Shabat invested in the Edison, New Jersey-based Micro Innovations Corp. This company, founded in Illinois in 1992, manufactures and distributes computer accessories to large retailers at value prices. Digital Innovations, LLC, acquired the business in 2009.

An international business traveler, Daniel Shabat grew up in Washington, D.C., but spent his late teens and early adulthood years in New York. During this time, he earned a diploma from Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn, and pursued advanced-level studies at Brooklyn College, a senior college of the City University of New York. During his early career, he gained business experience in the food and catering industry. He also spent two years employed by New York Telephone Company before relocating to Chicago.

Fred Smith

Today, a lot of people take overnight delivery and express service for granted; but it was not always the case. When Frederick Wallace first thought of delivering packages overnight, the idea was revolutionary. It spawned the Federal Express Corporation, commonly shortened to FedEx. Smith provided an alternative way to deliver mail, products, checks, and other packages quickly. Almost single-handedly, he changed the way people did business.

The idea first came to Fred Smith while he was studying at Yale University. He submitted a paper for an economics class outlining his idea of providing overnight delivery for time-sensitive goods such as medical replacement parts and automotive components to major US cities. Looking back, it seems obvious that there is a market for it. However, Smith’s professor was not impressed and gave the paper a “C” grade.

Fortunately, the idea stayed with him and he bought a controlling interest in Ark Aviation Sales to turn it into reality. During the first two years of FedEx’s operation, the company made losses that would have turned anyone else from the venture. Smith persevered and in less than a decade, the company was stable enough to sell shares in the New York Stock Exchange.

It also became the first American company to earn ten billion dollars. The firm now operates in more than two hundred countries and uses six hundred aircrafts and 46,000 vehicles. Over the years, competitors like DHL were born but FedEx remains different. It is set apart by its philosophy of people, service, and profit (in that order). The vision of one man has definitely made a lot of difference in the lives of millions.

Not Enough

Shirley Wang took the usual path of getting a college degree then an MBA degree. She worked in well-known companies like Citicorp and J. Walter Thompson Advertising. Then she took the road less traveled and became an entrepreneur.

She founded Plastpro, Inc. in 1994. This company manufactures fiberglass entry doors as an alternative to traditional wooden doors. Being made of fiberglass allows the company to produce doors in different varieties and with different features. Using fiberglass and other man-made materials to make the doors requires the use of technology. New technological advancements have to be constantly taken into consideration.

Ms. Wang has not only focused on technology, but on customer service as well. As a result the products produced by Plastpro have a lot customer input. In 2005 Plastpro opened a fully automated door manufacturing plant in Ashtabula, Ohio, taking advantage of the manufacturing environment in the area. This istate-of-the-art plant has increased the company’s quality and production capabilities.

Plastpro, Inc. is one of the leading manufacturers of fiberglass doors in America. Helps that Ms. Wang belongs to the family that controls Formosa Plastics Group in Taiwan. Don’t let this company’s austere website fool you, its financials shows that it employed over 99,000 individuals and had income before tax of $ 8.46 billion in 2010.

Ms. Wang’s work goes beyond business. Below is a list of endeavors she has been involved in outside of profit making:
1. Board member of Outward Bound-helped build Center for inner-city kids in New York.
2. Mentor for Non-Profit Board Leadership Program at Columbia Business School.
3. Active supporter of the China Aids Initiative.
4. Board member Facing History and Ourselves, an international education organization.
5. Board of Trustees Harvard-Westlake School.
6. Board member UCLA Foundation.
7. A supporter of Doctors Without Borders.
8. Supports the Asian Pacific American Legal Center which provides legal services to survivors of domestic violence involving immigrants.
9. With her husband, funded a chair in the UCLA Asian Studies Center focused on United States-China relations.
10. A lead supporter of the Drug Enforcement Agency Foundation in Los Angeles.
11. Through Plastpro, has supported activities of Habitat for Humanity.

Due to her socio-civic endeavors Shirley and her husband Walter Wang were awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 2011. This award is given to “important community leaders from diverse ethnic origins in their outstanding contributions to their nation and to the world”.

For Shirley Wang, just being average is not enough.