See the most famous firm founded in your birth year
Making a business work over the long term is a major challenge. Research shows the majority of start-ups fail within five years and the firms that do survive can struggle to make a profit. But these long-lasting enterprises have had no such problems. Read on to find out the most famous business founded the year you were born.
1945: Minute Maid
Minute Maid was created in 1945 to shift a stockpile of powdered orange juice that had been produced for the war effort. Buoyed on by a promotional campaign fronted by Bing Crosby, the line of drinks fast became a household name, and Minute Maid, which was acquired by Coca-Cola in 1960, is now the world’s largest marketer of fruit juice and drinks.
1946: Sony
Rising from the ruins of postwar Japan, the Sony Corporation was founded in 1946 when Masaru Ibuka opened an electronics concession in a Tokyo department store. The company, which has become renowned for its electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services, started out selling rice cookers and wasn’t known as Sony until 1958.
1947: H&M
Company patriarch Erling Persson opened the first ‘Hennes’ store in 1947 in the Swedish city of Västerås, and added the ‘Mauritz’ moniker in 1968, when he bought hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss. One of the world’s leading fast-fashion retailers, the H&M family of brands currently has nearly 4,900 stores around the world.
1948: ManpowerGroup
The human resources giant was founded in 1948 in Milwaukee by a pair of lawyers, Elmer Winter and Aaron Scheinfeld, who had trouble recruiting temporary secretaries and thought they could make a little extra cash providing temp services to businesses in the city. The enterprise soon took off and today ManpowerGroup has 3,500 offices worldwide.
1949: 20th Century Fox Television
TV was in its infancy when 20th Century Fox branched out into the medium in 1949. Over the years, the company, now owned by Disney and known as 20th Television, has produced some of America’s most popular and enduring shows, from The Simpsons and M*A*S*H to The X-Files, Glee and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
1950: Diner’s Club
In 1949, company founder Frank McNamara was dining with clients in New York and realized he’d left his money at home. Unable to pay the bill, McNamara vowed to create a card that could be charged in lieu of cash. His Diner’s Club card, which has been credited with popularizing credit cards and changing the way we buy things, was launched the following year.
1951: Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of semiconductors, but the Dallas-based firm is better known for its consumer electronics, which include the iconic 1980s educational toy Speak & Spell. The company, which is also famous for building the world’s first transistor radio, was founded in 1951 following a re-organization of seismic and defence electronics firm Geophysical Service.
1952: Eastpak
The first company on the planet to make wheeled suitcases and bags, classic luggage firm Eastpak came into being in Boston in 1952 when retailer Monte Goldman established Eastern Canvas Products USA Inc. The company started out making bags and packs for the US military and was renamed Eastpak when it moved into the consumer market in 1976.
1953: Epic Records
Epic Records was set up in 1953 to market jazz and classical music that was deemed too niche for parent label Columbia Records. Epic, which is now owned by Sony, went on to embrace a variety of genres over the years and has signed a host of legendary artists, including Michael Jackson, ABBA and George Michael.
1954: Burger King
The flame-grill burger chain was founded in 1954 when fast food franchisees David Edgerton and James McLamore bought the struggling InstaBurger King restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. Now a subsidiary of Canadian firm Restaurant Brands International, Burger King has over 18,500 outlets worldwide.
1955: McDonald’s
Burger King’s arch rival officially came into being on 15 April 1955. While the business actually began in 1940 when the first McDonald’s restaurant opened in San Bernardino, California, the corporation dates its founding to the opening of the first franchised McDonald’s outlet in 1955 by Ray Kroc, who went on to oversee the company’s global expansion.
1956: Tefal
The French cookware and appliance company was founded in Sarcelles near Paris in 1956 by two engineers, Marc Grégoire and Louis Hartmann, who chose the name Tefal, an amalgamation of Teflon and aluminum. The company, which is known worldwide, pioneered non-stick cookware and brought the world the cordless iron.
1957: McCain Foods
The world’s largest producer of frozen French fries, McCain is a household name in hundreds of countries around the world. The Canadian firm started life in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick when the McCain brothers – Harrison, Andrew, Robert and Wallace – began to freeze the potatoes produced by the family company.
1958: Visa
Diner’s Club may have created the world’s first credit card, but Visa is the most popular credit card company these days, processing over a hundred billion transactions a year. The planet’s leading credit card was launched in September 1958 as the BankAmericard, and became known as Visa in 1976.
1959: Ellesse
A favorite of 1970s skiers and the ‘casuals’ of the 1980s, this world-famous sportswear brand was founded in 1959 in the Italian city of Perugia by entrepreneur Leonardo Servadio, who based the name of the company on his initials, L S. The business is now owned by the UK’s Pentland Group.
1960: Domino’s Pizza
The world’s second largest pizza chain traces its history back to 1960, when brothers Tom and James Monaghan bought the DomiNick’s pizza parlor in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The following year, Tom swapped his car for his brother’s share of the store, changed the name to Domino’s, with the three dots signifying the number of stores he intended to open, and the road to pioneering home pizza delivery begun. Today, Domino’s has over 17,800 outlets in more than 90 countries.
1961: Luxottica
If you’re sporting a pair of designer spectacles or sunglasses, chances are they are made by Luxottica. The largest eyewear company in the world, which was established in 1961 in the Italian town of Agordo by businessman Leonardo Del Vecchio, now owns several top brands including Ray-Ban. The firm also produces eyewear under license for the likes of Prada, Chanel and Burberry.
1962: Walmart
Retailer Sam Walton opened his first Walmart Discount Store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, and the rest is history. The world’s largest company by revenue, the company is also the planet’s biggest private employer, with over 2.2 million staff around the world.
1963: Comcast
The biggest broadcasting and cable TV company in the world came about in 1963 when Ralph J. Roberts and his partners Daniel Aaron and Julian A. Brodsky acquired small-time cable operator American Cable. The trio steered their company towards massive company growth and the firm, which now operates channels including NBC, E! and The Weather Channel, went public in 1972.
1964: Nike
Nike has its origins in Blue Ribbon Sports, the company set up in 1964 by track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman to distribute Onitsuka Tiger running shoes. In 1971, the firm changed its name to Nike after the Greek goddess of victory, and started making its own sneakers emblazoned with the famous ‘swoosh’. Today, Nike is the world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel.
1965: Dolby Laboratories
The company that revolutionized cinema sound and consumer audio devices was founded in London in May 1965 by American engineer Ray Dolby. The firm decamped to the US and set up in San Francisco in 1967, and began selling its audio technologies to the movie industry.
1966: MasterCard
Eager to steal a chunk of the market dominated by the BankAmericard, which would later become Visa, a consortium of California banks teamed up in 1966 to create the precursor to MasterCard, which was called ‘Master Charge: The Interbank Card’. MasterCard is now the second most popular credit card company in the world after Visa, with a total of 974 million cards in circulation worldwide.
1967: Southwest Airlines
The world’s biggest low-cost airline was founded in 1967 by entrepreneurs Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, who restricted the airline’s operations within the state of Texas to avoid adhering to federal price controls and undercut competitors. This cost-cutting ethos has enabled Southwest to expand considerably over the years. By 2014, it carried the most domestic passengers of any American airline, a title it still holds today.
1968: Intel
Intel was created in 1968 by Gordon E. Moore, the author of Moore’s law, and Robert Noyce, a physicist who co-invented the integrated circuit. The company started out making semiconductors, later moving into computer microprocessors. Today, Intel processors feature in the majority of PCs on the planet.
1969: The Gap
Husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team Donald and Doris Fisher opened the first Gap store in 1969 on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco. The store began by selling Levi’s jeans and vinyl records, and started producing its own clothing line in 1974. By the 1990s, The Gap was one of the most popular clothing brands in the world.
1970: Urban Outfitters
Whereas The Gap was the retailer of choice for young people in the 1990s, Urban Outfitters was number one for hipster youth in the 2000s. The ‘counterculture’ company was established by Richard Hayne, Judy Wicks and Scott Belair in Philadelphia back in 1970 but didn’t reach global household name status until the 21st century. Urban Outfitters now has more than 200 outlets worldwide.
1971: Starbucks
Starbucks coffeehouses are ubiquitous these days, but the firm had very humble beginnings. The first Starbucks was opened by University of San Francisco grads Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl in 1971 in Seattle, and just sold coffee beans. This all changed when Howard Schultz came on board. Schultz, inspired by Italian coffee culture, turned Starbucks’ coffee shops into the social meeting places we know today when he bought the chain in 1987. Fast-forward to now and Starbucks has tens of thousands of outlets worldwide generating annual revenues of $23.5 billion.
1972: Atari
The trailblazing gaming firm that brought the world the classic Pong game and Atari 2600 console was founded in California in 1972 by Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushell, who went on to establish the Chuck E. Cheese’s chain of restaurants. The company, which was split following the video game crash of 1983, was bought by Hasbro Interactive in 1998 and later sold on to French software company Infogrames Entertainment in 2000. While the business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013, Atari managed to exit bankruptcy the same year with the help of former CEO Frédéric Chesnais’s holding company Ker Ventures.
1973: Patagonia
One of the first companies to market sustainable clothing, outdoor apparel firm Patagonia was established in 1973 by American rock climber and environmentalist Yvon Chouinard. The business is fiercely proud of its eco credentials and considers itself an ‘activist company’. In fact, in 2002, Chouinard launched 1% for the Planet, an initiative where businesses (including Patagonia) pledge to give 1% of their sales back to the environment.
1974: Zara
Retailer Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store in 1974 in A Coruña in northwest Spain, calling it Zorba after ‘Zorba the Greek’, before changing the name to Zara. The company, which is renowned for producing fast-fashion lookalikes of designer clothing, today has thousands of stores worldwide.
1975: Microsoft
The world’s leading software company was founded by childhood buddies Bill Gates and Paul Allen back in April 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. By the mid-1980s, Microsoft was the major player in the PC operating system market. In April 2019, Microsoft became the third American company to be valued at $1 trillion.
1976: Apple
Almost a year to the day after Microsoft was founded, Apple was established by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company was a success from the get-go, going public as early as 1980, and its product range, which includes the iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch, has helped make Apple the world’s most moneyed enterprise. Apple was the first American company to be valued at $1 trillion in 2018.
1977: Victoria’s Secret
America’s premier lingerie company, which is famous for its extravagant fashion shows and Angel supermodels, came into being in June 1977 when founders Roy and Gaye Raymond opened their first store in a shopping mall in Palo Alto, California. The company now has thousands of stores worldwide and turns over billions of dollars a year. However, the business is currently struggling and the UK arm has recently gone into administration.
1978: Versace
Italy’s flashiest fashion house was established in 1978 when company founder Gianni Versace opened his first store on Milan’s Via della Spiga. The brand exploded in the mid-1990s after actress Elizabeth Hurley was photographed wearing the label’s iconic safety pin dress. The brand was bought by Capri Holdings Ltd. at the end of 2018 for $2.2 billion, and an expansion plan is in place as it aims to double Versace’s annual sales figures. At that time 188 Versace stores existed, but Capri hopes to see 300 of the designer stores open by 2022.
1979: Activision
The world’s first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles started out in October 1979 producing games for the Atari 2600. The firm weathered the video game crash of 1983 and has survived through thick and thin. Activision is still one of the largest third-party video games publishers in the world.
1980: Whole Foods Market
Organic food was the preserve of die-hard hippies when Whole Foods opened its first store in 1980 in Austin, Texas. During the 1980s, the firm established itself as America’s largest retailer of organic food, and can be credited with bringing natural, organic foods into the mainstream. Whole Foods Market was acquired by Amazon for $13.4 billion in 2017, and has more than 500 stores worldwide.
1981: Bloomberg
The leading financial software, data, and media company was founded in 1981 in New York by Michael Bloomberg, who used the cash he’d garnered from the sale of Salomon Brothers to fund the business. A resounding success, the firm now has 176 offices worldwide, turning over billions of dollars a year.
1982: Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems was established in December 1982 in a Mountain View, California garage by two former Xerox PARC employees, Charles Geschke and John Warnock, who started out marketing PostScript page description language. PostScript was picked up by Apple in 1985, and Adobe launched Photoshop, its most famous product, four years later.
1983: AOL
AOL traces its roots back to 1983 when entrepreneur William von Meister (pictured) founded Control Video Corporation, an online service for Atari. In 1989, the firm changed its name to America Online and went on to pioneer the use of the internet in American homes during the 1990s, before it lost the bulk of its market share as result of the switch from dial-up to broadband. AOL was bought by Time Warner in 2000 for $165 billion, but after a difficult run the businesses parted ways in 2009. In 2015 AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications for $4.4 billion.
1984: Dell
In February 1984, Michael Dell, who was just 19 at the time, founded his eponymous computer hardware company in Austin, Texas using a $1,000 investment courtesy of his parents. The firm produced its first PC in 1985 and hasn’t looked back.
1985: Blackstone
The largest alternative investment company on the planet, Blackstone was set up in 1985 by parters Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, along with Richard Bennett, using $400,000 in seed capital. The New York-based firm was one of the first private equity companies to go public and had $649 billion of assets under management as of 2021.
1986: Five Guys
The gourmet burger chain was founded in 1986 by a group of ‘five guys’ in Arlington County, Virginia, but didn’t take off until 2003, when the firm began franchising its business model. The company, which was America’s fastest-growing fast food chain during the 2000s, now has over 1,700 locations worldwide.
1987: Huawei
Chinese networking and telecoms giant Huawei was founded in 1987 in the city of Shenzhen by Ren Zhengfei (pictured), who cut his teeth as an engineer in the People’s Liberation Army. The company expanded internationally in the late 1990s, and today Huawei is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. However, it is not without controversy due to its founder’s political past and accusations of breaching US sanctions against Iran. Despite this the firm reported revenues of $99.5 billion in 2021.
1988: SanDisk
SanDisk was founded in California in 1988 by Jack Yuan, Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra. The company, which was bought in 2016 by competitor Western Digital for a cool $19 billion, pioneered the use of semiconductor-based data storage and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of flash memory, which retains data without a power supply.
1989: Garmin
The GPS company was established in 1989 by engineers Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, and started out supplying GPS devices to the US military, eventually cornering the consumer market in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, Garmin has more than 16,000 employees and made $4.19 billion in revenue in 2020.
1990: WarnerMedia
The world’s third largest entertainment company was created in January 1990 following the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications and known as Time Warner. The firm, which owns HBO, Warner Bros. and more, was acquired by AT&T in 2018 for a whopping $100 billion, subsequently changing its name to WarnerMedia. AT&T is now in the process of merging it with Discovery to form a new media company called Warner Bros. Discovery.
1991: Vodafone
British telecoms firm Vodafone came into being in 1991 following the demerger of Racal Electronics. During the 1990s, Vodafone established itself as one of the planet’s leading phone companies, expanding to a number of countries worldwide. Nowadays, the firm operates in 22 countries and has annual revenues of nearly $51 billion.
1992: NetApp
Storage and data management company NetApp was established in 1992 by James Lau, David Hitz and Michael Malcolm. The firm managed to survive the dot.com bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s and has flourished ever since.
1993: Nvidia
The tech company, which is renowned for manufacturing top-quality graphic processing units, was founded in April 1993 by microprocessor designer Jensen Huang, and engineers Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, with funding provided by Sequoia Capital. Nvidia, which is branching out into artificial intelligence, had revenues of $16.68 billion in 2021.
1994: Amazon
Desperate to get involved in the internet business boom of the 1990s, Jeff Bezos set up online retailer Cadabra in 1994, changing its name to Amazon.com not long after. The retailer, which started out just selling books, is now the world’s largest internet company and was the second American business to reach a $1 trillion valuation in 2018. The business has made its founder Bezos one of the richest people in the world.
1995: eBay
The world’s leading online marketplace was founded in 1995 as the AuctionWeb by California-based entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar (pictured). The business experienced phenomenal growth during the 1990s and became known as eBay from 1997. In 2020, the gross value of goods sold on eBay’s US marketplace was $37.5 billion.
1996: Alexa Internet
Alexa is the best-known web traffic and analytics company in the world. The firm was established in San Francisco in April 1996 by entrepreneurs Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, who named their business after the Library of Alexandria in Ancient Egypt, and lucked out big-time in 1999 when Amazon bought their business for $250 million in stock. The online archive now shares its name with the company’s home voice assistant Alexa, which it launched in 2014, but the two are otherwise unrelated.
1997: Netflix
Back in 1997, most people were still renting movies from Blockbuster and similar video and DVD rental stores when Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded Netflix in August of that year. Netflix pioneered DVD rental by mail before it moved into streaming media. Nowadays, the company dominates the ever-growing streaming sector and has expanded into movie and TV production.
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