Business Visualizations

The Largest Companies in America That Are Still Run by the Person Who Founded Them

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In the corporate world, leadership changes are practically expected. CEOs come and go, boards shuffle seats, and strategies pivot with the seasons. For most large corporations, the founding vision eventually gives way to the influence of successors, but every once in a while, a company manages to scale the peaks of the Fortune 1000 while still being led by the very person who dreamed it up in the first place.

Going from running a business out of your garage to managing a multi-billion-dollar operation requires an impressive mix of genius, grit, and endurance that most would struggle to sustain across decades of board meetings, bold bets, and bottom-line pressure.

So, what does it take to build a business worth billions and still be the one calling the shots? To find out, our team at The Chartistry has pulled together a graphic that maps out the largest companies in the U.S. that are still being run by the same people who started them.

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Businesses Still Run by Their Founders

Tech Giants Still Calling the Shots

The tech industry can be a volatile market, especially when billions of dollars are at stake every year, making founder-CEOs in this space a rare species. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook (now Meta), is a headline example. From the scrappy days of coding in his Harvard dorm to overseeing Meta’s $134.9 billion revenue machine, he hasn’t let go of the reins. His company now ranks 30th on the Fortune 1000 list, but it continues to operate under the umbrella of Zuckerberg’s vision.

Jensen Huang of NVIDIA is another powerhouse. He co-founded the company in 1993 and continues to lead it as CEO and President. NVIDIA is now a central player in the AI boom, raking in over $60.9 billion in 2024. The company landed at #65 on the Fortune list, and much of that momentum can be traced back to Huang’s technical savvy and leadership style.

Another founder-CEO of a big tech company is Michael Dell. After founding Dell Technologies in 1984, Dell stepped away briefly before returning to steer the company through its privatization and subsequent return to public markets. With $88.43 billion in revenue, it holds spot #48 on the list.

Long-Hauler Founders of the Biggest U.S. Companies

Wall Street can be brutal, yet some of the longest-tenured company founders make the ranks in this industry. Richard Fairbank has run Capital One since 1987, long before online banking was the norm. Under his leadership, the company pulled in $49.48 billion last year.

Larry Fink’s story is equally impressive. He co-founded BlackRock in 1988 and helped turn it into the world’s largest asset manager. It now generates $17.86 billion annually.

Then there’s Mark Millett, who co-founded Steel Dynamics in 1993. It might not make splashy headlines like tech and finance, but this steel manufacturer generated $18.8 billion last year, proving that innovation can lead to immense success in any space.

Is Elon Musk Actually the Founder of Tesla?

Elon Musk is arguably the most high-profile figure on the list, but his relationship with Tesla’s origins is less straightforward than the others on our list. Tesla was actually founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Musk joined shortly after as an investor and took a more active role over time. It wasn’t until a legal settlement in 2009 that Musk was “officially” determined to be a co-founder, along with four others. Today, he serves as the CEO and public face of Tesla, a company that posted $96.77 billion in revenue in 2024.

Why Are They Still Here?

While circumstances vary and some CEO-Founders stick around long after what’s best for the company, research seems to support that many of them remain the right person for the job. A Harvard Business Review study found that companies led by their founders outperformed others in market valuation by 10% over the long term. Especially in the early days when the potential rewards are higher, founders tend to prioritize innovation, take bigger strategic bets, and maintain a stronger emotional commitment to the company’s mission.

Additionally, founder-CEOs often make faster decisions, have deeper customer intuition, and are more adaptable when navigating new markets. These traits help fuel long-term growth and can serve as a stabilizing force in times of disruption. That said, success depends on their ability to scale alongside the business. The most effective founders seem to grow their leadership style as the company matures, surrounding themselves with experienced teams while staying grounded in the original vision.

In many cases, large companies will also adopt dual-class stock structures, which help founders maintain some control even as ownership becomes more distributed.

Out of the 1,000 biggest companies in America, only 59 are still run by their founders. Amounting to less than 6 percent, it’s both inspiring and daunting how successful many of their companies have become.

Along with shaping industries and building legacies, they’re keeping their original visions alive in a world that often trades the leadership of innovative founders for business-savvy executives. Their stories serve as a reminder that leadership is about commitment and conviction as much as it is about keeping a business running.

At The Chartistry, we know that there’s a great story behind every dataset. Explore more trends in executive leadership, company growth, and market innovation in America’s largest companies on our Business Visualization page. Or, if you’re looking for more inspiring stories of success, check out our Finance Visualizations.

Founders of Major Corporations Still Serving as CEO

The list of America’s largest companies that are still run by the person who founded them is based on data from Fortune’s list of the 1,000 biggest companies in the United States. Just 59 of the 1,000 biggest U.S. companies are still run by the person who founded them. The founder must be the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, as of June 2025, to be included.

 

Rank Company Forbes 1000 Rank
(as of July 2024)
Revenue
in Billions
(as of July 2024)
CEO Name Year Founded Title
(as of June 2025)
1 Meta Platforms 30 $134.90 Mark Zuckerberg 2004 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
2 Tesla 40 $96.77 Elon Musk 2003
(Musk was designated as one of five co-founders in 2009 via a settlement.)
Co-Founder, CEO
3 Dell Technologies 48 $88.43 Michael Dell 1984 Founder, CEO, Chairman
4 NVIDIA 65 $60.92 Jensen Huang 1993 Co-Founder, CEO, President
5 Capital One Financial 91 $49.48 Richard Fairbank 1987 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
6 Salesforce 123 $34.86 Marc Benioff 1999 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
7 Apollo Global Management 136 $32.64 Marc Rowan 1990 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
8 Coupang 168 $24.38 Bom Kim 2010 Founder, CEO, Chairman
9 Block 186 $21.92 Jack Dorsey 2009 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
10 Steel Dynamics 221 $18.80 Mark Millett 1993 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
11 BlackRock 231 $17.86 Larry Fink 1988 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
12 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals 311 $13.12 Leonard Schleifer 1988 Co-Founder, CEO, President, Co-Chairman
13 Wayfair 346 $12.00 Niraj Shah 2002 Co-Founder, CEO, Co-Chairman
14 Carvana 377 $10.77 Ernest Garcia III 2012 Co-Founder, CEO, President, Chairman
15 Airbnb 396 $9.92 Brian Chesky 2008 Co-Founder, CEO
16 Intercontinental Exchange 397 $9.90 Jeffrey Sprecher 2000 Founder, CEO, Chairman
17 Sanmina 433 $8.94 Jure Sola 1980 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
18 DoorDash 443 $8.64 Tony Xu 2013 Co-Founder, CEO
19 Prologis 463 $8.02 Hamid Moghadam 1983 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
20 Blackstone 464 $8.02 Stephen Schwarzman 1985 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
21 Skechers U.S.A. 465 $8.00 Robert Greenberg 1992 Founder, CEO, Chairman
22 Super Micro Computer 498 $7.12 Charles Liang 1993 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
23 Insperity 541 $6.49 Paul Sarvadi 1986 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
24 Under Armour 577 $5.90 Kevin Plank 1995 Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
25 SS&C Technologies Holdings 600 $5.50 William Stone 1986 Founder, CEO, Chairman
26 Fortinet 622 $5.31 Ken Xie 2000 Founder, CEO, Chairman
27 Urban Outfitters 635 $5.15 Richard Hayne 1970 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
28 Ares Management 644 $4.99 Michael Arougheti 1997 Co-Founder, CEO, Director
29 Nexstar Media Group 648 $4.93 Perry Sook 1996 Founder, CEO, Chairman
30 Compass 654 $4.89 Robert Reffkin 2012 Co-Founder, CEO
31 EPAM Systems 669 $4.69 Arkadiy Dobkin 1993 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
32 Antero Resources 670 $4.68 Paul Rady 2002 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
33 Snap 679 $4.61 Evan Spiegel 2011 Co-Founder, CEO, Director
34 Zoom Video Communications 683 $4.53 Eric Yuan 2011 Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
35 Rivian Automotive 692 $4.43 RJ Scaringe 2009 Founder, CEO
36 PriceSmart 697 $4.41 Robert Price 1993 Co-Founder, CEO (until Sept. ‘25), Chairman
37 eXp World Holdings 708 $4.28 Glenn Sanford 2008 Founder, CEO, Chairman
38 Toast 766 $3.87 Aman Narang 2012 Co-Founder, CEO, Director
39 Akamai Technologies 771 $3.81 Dr. Tom Leighton 1998 Co-Founder, CEO
40 ScanSource 776 $3.79 Michael Baur 1992 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
41 Dream Finders Homes 784 $3.75 Patrick Zalupski 2008 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
42 Century Communities 794 $3.69 Robert Francescon 2002 Co-Founder, CEO, President, Director
43 Euronet Worldwide 796 $3.69 Michael Brown 1994 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
44 DraftKings 798 $3.67 Jason Robins 2011 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
45 Atlassian 811 $3.54 Mike Cannon-Brookes 2002 Co-Founder, CEO
46 Roku 820 $3.49 Anthony Wood 2002 Founder, CEO, Chairman
47 Cheesecake Factory 828 $3.44 David Overton 1972 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
48 Chefs’ Warehouse 830 $3.43 Christopher Pappas 1985 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, President
49 AppLovin 847 $3.28 Adam Foroughi 2012 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
50 PACS Group 869 $3.11 Jason Murray 2013 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
51 Coinbase Global 870 $3.11 Brian Armstrong 2012 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
52 CrowdStrike 883 $3.06 George Kurtz 2011 Founder, CEO
53 Matador Resources 930 $2.81 Joseph Wm. Foran 2003 Founder, CEO, Chairman
54 Viasat 932 $2.80 Mark Dankberg 1986 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
55 Roblox 935 $2.80 David Baszucki 2004 Co-Founder, CEO
56 ProFrac Holding 971 $2.63 Ladd Wilks 2016 Co-Founder, CEO
57 Playtika Holding 982 $2.57 Robert Antokol 2010 Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman
58 Stagwell 993 $2.53 Mark Penn 2021 Founder, CEO, Chairman
59 Dropbox 997 $2.50 Drew Houston 2007 Co-Founder, CEO

 

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/

Corporate Websites

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Business Visualizations

Chart Tracks E-Commerce Brands with the Biggest Gains and Losses

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Online shopping, known as e-commerce, took the shopping world by storm. Today, one-fifth of all retail sales come from e-commerce. Economists predict e-commerce will only continue to grow in the coming years. This industry can be lucrative but not without risks. The competition is tight as the team at LLCAttorney proves with this chart tracking the e-commerce brands with the biggest gains and losses. The results show the shifting e-commerce landscape and just how much of a difference there is between leading retailers and struggling brands.

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Worldwide eCommerce Brands That Had the Highest Earnings and the Biggest Losses Over the Past Year

As we would expect from this global-dominant brand, Amazon leads the e-commerce industry with the biggest gains. In 2025, Amazon’s revenue amounted to a whopping $95.22 billion. Ever since Amazon debuted as a bookseller in 1994, it has had a meteoric rise, earning more each year. The biggest leap in the company’s earnings occurred between 2017 and 2018, with a 172.8% increase. Amazon only suffered one year in the red after it invested heavily in Rivian, a failed electric vehicle venture. Amazon’s massive catalog of over 12 million products, its entertainment subscription services, digital books, and convenient, fast delivery service make Amazon the powerhouse it is today.

Right behind Amazon, we find the Chinese brand, Alibaba, which earned $21.76 billion in 2025. Alibaba sells a wide range of products at wholesale prices. You’ll find electronics, home goods, beauty products, and even industrial supplies in their offerings. Alibaba’s business-to-business marketplace, which connects small and mid-size businesses directly to manufacturers, allows them to source bulk goods and makes this brand a popular choice. Other Chinese brands top the e-commerce earnings list too, like PDD Holdings (Pinduoduo) and Jingdong Mall (JD.com). Each of the top four e-commerce companies earned over 5 billion in revenue.

Turning to the other end of the chart, we find the brand with the most losses in 2025: Lightspeed POS. They reported a devastating $670 million loss. They earned $1.15 billion, but it wasn’t enough to cover their expenses. This Canadian e-commerce brand is a point-of-sale system for retailers and restaurants. It was once considered a promising company with rapid growth, but its revenue has shrunk significantly in the past few years as competitors have taken bites out of Lightspeed POS’s market. The British brand, ASOS, a clothing retailer, also suffered a massive $500 billlion loss in 2025. American brand Wayfair suffered losses, too, which is surprising considering its past popularity as an affordable home goods retailer with a big selection.

The figures we see here demonstrate that e-commerce is an industry with diverse companies and varying success rates. With tremendous gains and equally earth-shattering losses, we can see e-commerce is volatile, competitive, full of opportunities and challenges alike. The team’s data show that the industry’s biggest giants will be difficult to surpass. Companies like Amazon have set an astronomically high bar for success.

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Business Visualizations

Map Displays Unemployment Rates Around the World

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The unemployment rate is a percentage that reflects the number of people in the labor force who are without a job. This is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the labor force and multiplying by 100. Because unemployment can have a drastic impact on a nation’s economy, the team at Qualtrics examined global patterns and mapped unemployment rates. To be considered unemployed for this study means a person doesn’t have a job but is available for work. That means people who are retired, disabled, or laid off don’t count in the figures.

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Unemployment Rates Around the World

According to the team’s data, the country with the highest employment rate is Eswatini at 37.64%. This is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa, formerly known as Swaziland. This is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies, and it suffers economically like many of its neighbors, including South Africa, Botswana, and the Republic of the Congo. In particular, the youth of Eswatini are unemployed. The unemployment crisis is attributed to skill gaps in eligible workers.

It’s good to be at the low end of the unemployment spectrum. The nation Qatar has the lowest unemployment rate in the world at .13%. This comes as no surprise from a nation rich in petroleum and natural gas. Qatar has valuable real estate and has long been a haven for the wealthy, which lends itself to a booming economy with plenty of employment opportunities. Other nations that aren’t struggling with unemployment are Cambodia, Niger, and Thailand, due to high manufacturing production and/or a bustling tourism industry.

These countries have the lowest unemployment rates:

  • Qatar
  • Cambodia
  • Niger
  • Thailand
  • Burundi
  • Chad
  • Bahrain
  • Cuba
  • Laos
  • Benin

We see a very wide gap between the countries with the highest and lowest unemployment rates. Many factors can affect unemployment, but one of the biggest is changes in the size of the labor force. A struggling economy doesn’t necessarily indicate a high unemployment rate. If it’s difficult enough to find a job, people will give up, and they’ll no longer be counted in the unemployment numbers. That said, the unemployment rate does tend to increase in hard times. Global unemployment peaked in 2009 during the financial crisis.

In summary, unemployment rates reveal much about the economic health and social dynamics of countries worldwide. While nations like Eswatini face challenges due to skill gaps and limited job opportunities, others, such as Qatar, benefit from abundant resources and thriving industries. The disparity highlights how factors such as labor force size, economic stability, and industry growth affect employment levels. Understanding these global patterns is essential for policymakers and organizations aiming to address unemployment and foster sustainable growth. By analyzing the causes and consequences, we can better support individuals and communities striving for economic security and opportunity.

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Business Visualizations

Key Statistics Help Us Understand Customer Churn

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Customers have an abundance of choice in all industries these days. When customers switch to a new option, companies call this “customer churn.” Customer churn can be a major detriment to business. In nearly every industry, loyal repeat customers can make or break a business. The team at Qualtrics helps us understand the state of customer churn in the past year with 30 key statistics illustrating the landscape. They took a well-rounded approach to their research, using facts that reveal how many customers are leaving, which industries have high churn, and other factors that help us understand why customer churn happens and how to prevent it.

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30 Statistics About Customer Churn

Customer churn gives businesses a way to quantify how well they’re retaining customers. Churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers lost over a set period of time by the total number of customers at the start of that period. This calculation yields the number of customers who didn’t return to do business. High churn rates often signal poor retention strategies or a mismatch between what customers expected and received. We can’t underestimate competitor appeal, though. The team’s data shows that 71% of businesses list price increases as their number one reason for losing customers.

The data make it clear that churn rates vary widely across industries. 61% of retail companies say churn rates are one of the biggest challenges in their quest for success. This could be due to the high level of competition and vastly different prices found in the retail sector. Financial, cable, and credit companies experience high churn rates too, around 25%. We can conclude that spending and saving may have the greatest impact on churn, based on industry rates. The big-box electronics industry only has an 11% churn rate, possibly due to fewer choices, but it may have stronger brand loyalty. For example, you’ll rarely see an X-Box fan make the switch to PlayStation. Speaking of the gaming space, apps don’t enjoy the same low churn rate as consoles might. With a 27.7% churn rate, many people give up on gaming apps and try something new after 30 days.

Data might point the way to solutions to reduce customer churn. We can see subscription-based companies with an exceptionally low churn rate of 3.27%. Software and business subscriptions have lower churn rates than digital media and entertainment subscriptions, but they are still among the lowest we’re seeing. A subscription-based service works hard to keep its subscribers, so maybe other types of businesses could learn something from its strategies. For example, social media apps have an enormous churn rate of 93.3% over 24 months. It’s clear that whatever value customers hoped to get from the platform didn’t materialize.

This information-rich graphic leaves us with a lot to think about. By comparing churn rates across industries, we can reflect on key differences that affect these numbers. Perhaps the most important statistic to hold on to is that U.S. companies could save over $35 billion per year by reducing their churn rates.

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