If at First . . .
Some of history’s most successful
people were once fl ops who conquered
failure with relentless persistence
Henry Ford
(1863–1947)
He did more than perhaps
anyone else to develop the
automobile and make it an
indispensable feature of
modern life. But Ford’s fi rst
company went bankrupt,
and his second cratered
after a dispute with his
partners.
▽ Albert Einstein
(1879–1955)
The visionary physicist
dropped out of high school
at 16. He cut classes
so often in college, his
reputation prevented him
from getting an academic
post for many years. A
friend offered him a job as
an insurance salesman,
but he dismissed the idea
as “stultifying drudgery.”
“Colonel” Harland
Sanders (1890–1980)
The white-suited
founder of Kentucky
Fried Chicken (KFC) was
an underachiever until
age 66. After losing his
restaurant, he hit the
road with a recipe and
a monthly $105 Social
Security check, hoping to
sell his chicken franchise
model to restaurants. He
hit pay dirt.
Fred Astaire
(1899–1987)
The dance legend received
one of the most infamous
screen-test rejections in
Hollywood history. Wrote
the studio executive:
“Can’t act. Slightly bald.
Can dance a little.”△ Walt Disney
(1901–1966)
The creative and business
genius brought us Mickey
Mouse, Donald Duck,
Snow White and the Magic
Kingdom. But Disney’s fi rst
company, Laugh-O-gram
Films, went bankrupt, and
he faced some lean years
before the rodent roared.Dr. Seuss (1904–1991)
Born Theodor Geisel,
the author of The Cat in
the Hat, How the Grinch
Stole Christmas and other
children’s classics went
for his Ph.D. in literatureat Lincoln College, Oxford,
but dropped out. His fi rst
book, And to Think I Saw
It on Mulberry Street, was
rejected 27 times.Sylvester Stallone
(1946– )
At one point, Sly was
homeless, living for three
weeks in the Port Authority
Bus Terminal in New York.
While writing Rocky, he
sold his dog for $50 just
to pay his rent.Robert T.
Kiyosaki (1947– )
He found monster
success at 50
with his self-help
best seller Rich
Dad Poor Dad. But
Kiyosaki overcame
plenty of setbacks—his
fi rst company, which
marketed the fi rst nylon
and Velcro surfer wallets,
went bankrupt. So didhis second, which made
T-shirts, hats, wallets
and bags for heavy-metal
bands.▽ Oprah Winfrey
(1954– )
Born to a single teenage
mother, she overcame
soul-crushing challenges
including childhood abuse.
Winfrey ran away at 13,
got pregnant at 14 and
lost the baby shortly after
birth. Yet she rose to
become a TV anchor—only
to be fi red from her fi rst
job, in Baltimore, for being
“unfi t for television news.”
Said Oprah, “It shook me
to my very core.”Bill Gates (1955– )
Today, the Microsoft
mogul and tech pioneer is
worth $108 billion, but he
easily might have become
discouraged from the
get-go: at 17, Gates and
friends started a company
called Traf-O-Data, which
analyzed raw traffi c logs—
and it tanked.