Lorenzo Zambrano

Zambrano, grandson of a founder of Cemex in Monterrey, ran it from 1985 until his death in 2014 and turned a regional Mexican cement maker into one of the world's largest. He bought two big Spanish producers in 1992, then plants across Latin America, the US and Britain, and used satellite tracking and dispatch software so ready-mixed concrete trucks could deliver within a narrow window. The 2007 purchase of Australia's Rinker loaded the company with debt just before the financial crisis, which it took years to work off.