\u201cThe American Dream is built on the audacious belief that anyone can make it to the top. Every elementary school kid is imbued with the belief that anyone can become president of the United States. Or a hip-hop megastar. Or a space-faring billionaire,\u201d according to Forbes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe notion is as old as the Republic and stands self-consciously in contrast to class-ridden Europe where one\u2019s prospects were often determined at birth.\u201d<\/p>\n
To come up with the list, Forbes dug deep into its archive. It asked its current beat reporters for ideas. It ran hundreds of queries through ChatGPT and Gemini. <\/p>\n
After that, it ran the names past a panel of judges: DeAngela Burns-Wallace, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation; Keith Dunleavy, founder of Inovalon; Rich Karlgaard, Forbes former publisher; Steven Klinsky, founder and CEO, New Mountain Capital; Jim McKelvey, cofounder of Block (formerly Square); and Ryan Rippel, CEO of NextLadder Ventures.<\/p>\n
Forbes\u2019 Self-Made Score, a 1-to-10 ranking that quantifies the \u201cdistance traveled\u201d by each individual, separated those who started with nothing from those with a big head start. Only those ranking nine or 10 made the cut. The final list encompasses financial success, obstacles overcome and enduring impact.<\/p>\n
Who tops the 250 Greatest Self-Made Americans ranking?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we put a heavy emphasis on rags-to-riches billionaires, we also included pioneering scientists, Supreme Court justices and others whose \u2018wealth\u2019 is measured in influence and impact, not just dollar signs,\u201d per Forbes.<\/p>\n
The ranking is peppered with athletes, actors and singers, not all of them in the billionaire club.<\/p>\n
The top six, though, are billionaires, led by Oprah Winfrey. <\/p>\n
\u201cBorn to a teen mother, Winfrey grew up on a rural Mississippi farm without indoor plumbing. At 9 she was raped by a cousin; at 14 she gave birth to a son, who died soon thereafter. Thanks to a federal program, she attended a rich suburban school where she discovered a knack for public speaking and debate, which earned her a part-time radio gig and, later, a scholarship to Tennessee State University. In 1984 she took over a struggling morning talk show in Chicago and eventually turned it into a national media brand,\u201d Forbes wrote.<\/p>\n
NBA star LeBron James checked in at No. 5. Dolly Parton is the first non-billionaire on the list at seventh. Former President Bill Clinton ranks eighth, while current Vice President JD Vance is tenth.<\/p>\n
Martha Stewart made the list at No. 250.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe queen of entertaining, who put herself through Barnard by modeling, was a stockbroker before opening her catering business. Despite spending five months in prison, she continues to expand her lifestyle empire,\u201d per Forbes.<\/p>\n
Who with Utah ties made the Forbes list?<\/p>\n
Five people with connections to Utah appeared in the ranking. Two were born in Utah \u2014 one\u2019s family moved when she was a child, while the other still lives in Salt Lake City. One taught at the University of Utah and one graduated from Brigham Young University, while the other got his advanced degree at the University of Utah.<\/p>\n
In the spirit of Forbes, we ran the 250 names through ChatGPT and Gemini looking for connections to the Beehive, along with our own research.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we came up with: (Words in quote marks are Forbes\u2019 description of each individual.)<\/p>\n
No. 43 Frank VanderSloot, 77<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Melaleuca founder labored on the family farm while his father worked the railroad; he lived in a laundromat during college.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vandersloot was the first person in his family to go to college, earning a degree in business management from BYU. His company is headquartered in Idaho Falls, Idaho.<\/p>\n
No. 54 Mario Capecchi, 88<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GCX7FHQRDJAALBTB6EFKEPIB4Y.JPG\")
Mario R. Capecchi, distinguished professor of human genetics and biology and 2007 Nobel Laureate in physiology or medicine, gives the commencement address at the University of Utah at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, May 2, 2008.\u00a0\u00a0 | Ravell Call, Deseret News <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile his mother was incarcerated in Germany, possibly at Dachau, during World War II, the Nobel winner spent his childhood on Italy\u2019s streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Capecchi is a world-renowned molecular geneticist and was a professor at the University of Utah. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine<\/a> in 2007 for his work on gene targeting. A street on the university campus bears his name.<\/p>\n No. 63 Gail Miller, 82<\/p>\n \u201cRaised in a house with one light bulb that was moved from room to room, the billionaire and her husband risked their savings to buy their first business, a Toyota dealership.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller is perhaps the most prominent Utah figure on this list. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she and her late husband, Larry H. Miller, built an auto empire. The Millers owned the Utah Jazz for decades before selling the team in 2020. After also selling the car dealerships, the Miller family now owns men\u2019s and women\u2019s pro soccer teams<\/a>, movie theaters and real estate. Gail Miller is a pillar of the business and philanthropic community<\/a>. <\/p>\n No. 103 Jewel, 51<\/p>\n \u201cThe singer-songwriter grew up in a one-room Alaskan cabin and once lived in her van.\u201d<\/p>\n Jewel Kilcher was born in Payson, Utah, while her father was attending BYU. The family moved to Alaska shortly after her birth. <\/p>\n No. 122 James Clark, 81<\/p>\n \u201cThe Netscape founder dropped out of high school and joined the Navy to escape a turbulent childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark earned his bachelor\u2019s and a master\u2019s degrees in physics at the University of New Orleans, followed by a doctorate in computer science at the University of Utah. His work in computer graphics led to the development of systems for the fast rendering of three-dimensional images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forbes put together a ranking of the\u00a0 250 ‘greatest’ self-made Americans.Oprah Winfrey tops the list that includes business…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,40215,16474,139,69,437],"class_list":["post-372025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news-division","tag-news-feed-national","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OZDTWDNTLVFKFPKJ4TTJWHJXAI.JPG\")
Jewel, the singer behind hits such as “Who Will Save Your Soul,” “You Were Meant for Me” and “Foolish Games.” | Jeremy Harmon, Deseret News <\/p>\n