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Union Pacific Corporation General details • Founders: Oakes Ames, Oliver Ames, and Thomas C. Durant  • Distinction: Helped bridge east and west with first transcontinental railroad.  • Primary products: Transportation services by train and truck.  • Annual sales: $11.273 billion.  • Number of employees: 52,000.  • Major competitors: Burlington Northern, Santa Fe, FedEx, Norfolk Southern.  • Chairman, president, and CEO: Richard K. Davidson.  • Headquarters: Omaha, Neb.  • Year Founded: 1862.  • Web site: www.up.com . Union Pacific Corporation. When delegates arrived at the Republican and Democratic presidential conventions in August 2000, they were treated, among other things, to a rarely seen display of railroad opulence. As many as 25 classic rail cars—refurbished to the sheen they boasted when the railroad was America’s preferred mode of travel—sat directly beside both convention halls. Two or three times eac...

Groupon Turning coupons into cash Founders: Eric Lefkofsky, Andrew Mason and Brad Keywell (shown, left to right) Age of founders: 42, 30 and 42 Background: Serial entrepreneurs and law students (Brad and Eric) and entrepreneur and public policy student (Andrew) Founded in: 2008, USA Headquarters: Chicago, USA Business type: E-commerce Chicago, USA Business type: E-commerce V ouchers and coupons have been around since the late 1800s, when Coca-Cola began sending out free Coke offers. More than 100 years later, a new company would put an internet spin on coupons – and create one of the fastest-growing companies ever seen. Sales exploded from $5,000 (£2,700) in 2008 to top $1 billion (£647 million) in 2011. Groupon offered a new marketing avenue for small merchants: the online daily deal. The wild popularity of Groupon's deals attracted over $1 billion (£647 million) in venture capital, spawned legions of competitors, and led to an IPO that ...

Wikipedia A fount of knowledge Founder: Jimmy Wales Age of founder: 34 Background: Day trader Founded in: 2001, USA Headquarters: California, USA Business type: Online encyclopaedia W ikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, has opened up a whole world of information to us and has changed the way we access information for ever. Instead of turning to oversized, out-of-date books for answers, we can now search an online database of more than three million articles – and edit that information ourselves. Founder Jimmy Wales was inspired by his love of encyclopaedias, and his thirst for knowledge. He envisioned a world where everyone could have access to information in their own language, and by using new technology in innovative ways, Jimmy was able to create a unique information source. Not your typical business story, Wikipedia is run as a not-for-profit company, a result of the vision of its founder and loyalty of its users. A thirst for knowle...

Flickr Capturing the moment Founders: Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake Age of founders: 30 and 34 Background: Web programming; blogging and online community development Founded in: 2004, Canada Headquarters: San Francisco, California Business type: Image sharing I t's easy to take your digital camera for granted, or never think about how easy it is to share photos with friends and family from anywhere across the globe. We're now so used to being able to view other people's images online, as well as commenting, tagging or liking them. However, the access to images we are so accustomed to now had very humble beginnings: when, in 2004, a start-up from Canada paved the way for today's social networking phenomenon. Flickr, founded by then-husband and wife team Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake, didn't invent photography, or the idea of posting images online. But they did create the world's first global social network, bu...

LinkedIn Connections are key Founder: Reid Hoffman Age of founder: 35 Background: Technology and product development Founded in: 2003, USA Headquarters: California, USA Business type: Professional networking site T here's an old saying in business: it's not what you know but who you know. LinkedIn set out to make this a reality in the online world, creating a site aimed at helping professionals connect with each other. Set up in 2003 in the wake of the dot-com crash, the business survived a harsh economic climate and became profitable four years after launch. Today the company has more than 51 million members in over 200 countries and it is reported that someone joins LinkedIn every second. Technology guru Reid Hoffman grew up in California, and it seems ironic now that during his childhood his father never let him have a computer, thinking it was irrelevant. It wasn't until Reid went to college, where he studied artificial intell...

Twitter How 140 characters changed the world Founders: Jack Dorsey, Christopher Isaac ‘Biz’ Stone and Evan Williams Age of founders: 29, 31 and 33 Background: Software developers/Google employees/serial entrepreneurs Founded in: 2006, USA Headquarters: California, USA Business type: Social media/microblogging I n five short years, Twitter grew – and grew – into a tool that revolutionised global communications. It became so ubiquitous that using it became a verb: to tweet. The brief status updates of Twitter would change the way news is reported, governments are toppled, and charitable donations are solicited. But Twitter is almost as famous for what it hasn't done: turn a profit. Despite attracting a huge audience and raising over $1 billion (£647 million) in venture capital, Twitter continues to struggle to find a business model that will let it cash in on its popularity. Three geek dropouts and how they grew As a teenager growing up in ...

J.P. Morgan & Company Important details. • Founder: J. Pierpont Morgan. • Distinction: Preserved and expanded the American financial system. • Primary products: Commercial banking and investment services. • Annual sales: $18.110 billion. • Number of employees: 15,512. • Major competitors: Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch. • Chairman and CEO: Douglas A. “Sandy” Warner III. • Headquarters: New York, N.Y. • Year founded: 1854. • Web site: www.jpmorgan.com. J.P. Morgan & Company             The fabled House of Morgan first surfaced as a financial powerhouse in the mid-19th century. It was instrumental in the formation of corporate icons such as U.S. Steel and General Electric. At one time, it controlled a significant portion of America’s railroads. It loaned millions to the governments of France, England, Mexico, and Russia. It helped preserve America’s monetary system more than once when it was threatened with collapse. It en...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. • Founder: Sam Walton. • Distinction: Parlayed retailing innovations into worldwide dominance. • Primary products: Softgoods, hardgoods, electronics, groceries. • Annual sales: $165.013 billion. • Number of employees: 1,140,000. • Major competitors: Costco Wholesale, Kmart, Target. • Chairman: S. Robson Walton; Chairman of the Executive Committee: David D. Glass; CEO and President: H. Lee Scott Jr. • Headquarters: Bentonville, Ark. • Year founded: 1962. • Web site: www.wal-mart.com. • Distinction: Parlayed retailing innovations into worldwide dominance. • Primary products: Softgoods, hardgoods, electronics, groceries. • Annual sales: $165.013 billion. • Number of employees: 1,140,000. • Major competitors: Costco Wholesale, Kmart, Target. • Chairman: S. Robson Walton; Chairman of the Executive Committee: David D. Glass; CEO and President: H. Lee Scott Jr. • Headquarters: Bentonville, Ark. • Year founded: 1962. • Web site: www.wal-mart.com.   Wal-Ma...

Pixar Doing the impossible Founders: Ed Catmull, John Lasseter and Steve Jobs Age of founders: 41, 29 and 30 Background: Computer graphics PhD, Disney animator and Apple computer founder Founded in: 1986, USA Headquarters: California, USA Business type: Computer-animated motion pictures At first glance, Pixar seems an almost magically successful company. It's turned out an unprecedented, unbroken string of hit animated movies: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and many more. It's hard to imagine, but the company that is now Hollywood's most reliable mega hit factory faced a gruelling 10-year climb to success. Pixar's founders faced a daunting obstacle: when the company started, their dream – to create a full-length, animated feature entirely on the computer – was simply impossible. The technology did not yet exist. It took a few strokes of luck, a very generous benefactor an...

Neon Play A gaming sensation Founder: Oli Christie Age of founder: 39 Background: Copywriter/creative director Founded in: 2010, UK Headquarters: Cirencester, UK Business type: Mobile gaming A s a student, Oli Christie had a dream: to forge a successful career in the advertising industry. After a slow start in the industry, Oli eventually got his ideal job as a creative director of an online ad agency, where he became increasingly focused on developing simple, addictive Flash games. When he saw the growing popularity of the iPhone and the opportunities it represented, he took the cue to leave the comfort and prestige of his advertising work and use his knack for creating addictive games to make his fortune on the new platform. Despite starting with minimal investment and no employees, office or experience, within 20 months Oli had created one of the fastest-growing mobile app developers in the UK, with 60 apps across all platforms and 11 different games that hav...