People Who Made Fortunes by Selling Businesses

A company sale can turn years of business ownership into cash, shares in a larger company or a mixture of both. These 25 people illustrate different routes to that outcome, from a small founding stake to sole ownership, and from complete takeovers to partial exits. Some were already wealthy before selling. The focus is the transaction and the ownership behind the personal return, not a ranking by current net worth. Deal valuations, shared family proceeds and conditional payments are kept distinct from an individual's take-home cash.