Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann (1816 - 1897)

Confectioner. He was one of the founders of the Swiss chocolate and candy company Lindt & Sprüngli. He began making chocolates in the confectionary shop of his father, David Sprüngli, in Zurich, Switzerland in 1845. He opened his own chocolate production company in 1847. In 1892, he turned the company over to his sons, David […]

Claus Spreckels (1828 - 1908)

Sugar magnate.  Family links:  Spouse:  Anna Christina Mangels Spreckels (1830 – 1910)*  Children:  John Diedrich Spreckels (1853 – 1926)*  Adolph Bernard Spreckels (1857 – 1924)*  Claus Augustus Spreckels (1858 – 1946)*  Emma C Spreckels Ferris Hutton (1870 – 1924)*  Rudolph Spreckels (1872 – 1958)* *Calculated relationship

Leo Spitz (1888 - 1956)

President of RKO International Pictures.

John George Taylor Spink (1888 - 1962)

Baseball publicist. Born in St. Louis, he was the son of Charles Spink. Two years before his son’s birth, Charles had abandoned a homesteading venture to assist his brother Alfred in founding Sporting News, a St. Louis-based weekly journal of sporting and theatrical news. Alfred soon left Charles in control of the struggling publication. By […]

Charles C. Spink (1864 - 1914)

With brother Al published the “Sporting News.”  Family links:  Spouse:  Charlotte Marie Taylor Spink (1870 – 1944)*  Children:  Freddie P Spink Christy (1892 – 1969)*  Frances Snaith Spink Merrell (1894 – 1953)* *Calculated relationship

Tobias Spengler (1816 - 1887)

Born in Germany, Spengler was one of the pioneer brewers in St. Louis. He was apprenticed to a soap manufacturer before coming to the U.S. In 1852 he came to Belleville, Illinois & established a small soap manufacturing company. He decided to move across the river to St. Louis in 1856 & purchase a brewery […]

Thomas Spencer (1970 - 1905)

Founder, along with Michael Marks, of the famous British High Street stores Marks & Spencer. (bio by: Kieran Smith)

John McCulloch Spencer (1917 - 1965)

Philanthropist, Political Leader. Born in New York City as Eric Winter, he was orphaned as a boy and adopted into the Troy, Ohio family that produced Spencer Corsets, a top selling women’s undergarment from the late 19th to mid 20th Centuries.  Spencer was educated at Alma College and Yale University.  A heavy drinker, he was […]

Elbridge Gerry Spaulding (1809 - 1897)

Civil War US Congressman. Served as Mayor of Buffalo, New York in 1847. Elected twice to represent New York’s 32nd District in the United States House of Representatives, serving first from 1849 to 1851, then from 1859 to 1863. During his first term he introduced the Legal Tender Act, saving the Union from financial disaster. […]

Samuel Sotheby (1805 - 1861)

Noted Auctioneer.

TV Soong (1893 - 1971)

TV Soong Upon returning to China TV Soong  worked for several industrial enterprises, and was then recruited by Sun Yat-sen to develop finances for his Canton government. After the success of Chiang Kai-shek’s Northern Expedition in 1927, TV Soong served in a succession of offices in the Nationalist Government,including governor of the Central Bank of China […]

Irene Hayes Solomon (1895 - 1975)

She was a Ziegfeld girl and businesswoman who owned Irene Hayes Wadley & Smythe, a leading Manhattan florist and Gallagher’s Steak House after the death of her husband Jack Solomon. She bought the florist Wadley & Smythe on Park Avenue, adding her name, as no new businesses were allowed on Park Avenue at that time. […]

Friedrich Soennecken (1848 - 1919)

Inventor of many office tools like a punch and a marking pen) and businessman, and founder of the Soenecken company that is still a successful business in Germany today.

Sir Michael Sobell (1892 - 1993)

Industrial magnate. Came to England at age of 11. Eventually became Chairman of the Uk General Electric Company  in 1961. Knighted in 1972. A noted philanthropist who donated to a wide variety of Jewish and non-Jewish charities. (bio by: David Conway)

Sam Sniderman (1920 - 2012)

Canadian Music Figure. He is best remembered as the founder of Sam the Record Man, the Canadian record store chain. He was raised in the Jewish enclave known as Kensington Market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He attended high school at Harbord Collegiate Institute and in 1937 began selling records in his brother Sidney’s store, Sniderman […]

Sir Thomas Smythe (1970 - 1625)

Entrepreneur,  Diplomat. First Governor of the East India Company. He was the son of a leading customs officer and made his fortune as a merchant, being a member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers and the Worshipful Company of Skinners. In 1600 he was elected as the first Governor of the newly formed East India […]

Wrede Howard Smith (1921 - 2007)

Business Magnate. He was the grandson and son of American Popcorn Company founders, C.H. Smith and Howard Smith. He began a lifetime career at the company in 1945 and spent six decades as CEO of the Jolly Time Popcorn Company. Recognized as trend expert, his accomplishments included distribution of popcorn packs to theaters, the beginning […]

William Wallace Smith (1970 - 1970)

Business Magnate. He and brother Andrew Smith took over restaurant and cough drop business in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1866 when their father, James Smith, the founder died. Later, to distinguish their brand from other imitations they registered their pictures as trademarks and positioned same on their product packaging above words trade and mark. William […]

William Henry Smith (1792 - 1865)

His mother founded the chain of stationery shops which still bear his name. W.H.Smith is Britain’s leading High Street stationery store. (bio by: Kieran Smith)

Troy N. Smith, Sr (1922 - 2009)

Businessman, Entrepreneur. He was the founder of the Sonic Drive-In food chain, formerly known as Top Hat. Raised in east-central Oklahoma, he served in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War, before returning home to Oklahoma where he worked as a milk and bread delivery man. Between 1948 and 1953 he operated a […]

Roger Bonham Smith (1925 - 2007)

Business executive. Former chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Corporation who began with General Motors in 1949 as an accounting clerk, moved up to treasurer in 1970 and then vice president in 1971. Became chairman and chief executive on Jan. 1, 1981. He led the company as import brands began to expand their […]

Preserved Smith (1820 - 1887)

Partner in the Barney and Smith Railroad Car Company.

Lyman Cornelius Smith (1850 - 1910)

Inventor, Businessman. Smith made his first fortune in the livestock commission business, capitalizing on the westward movement. In 1887 he began manufacturing breech-loading firearms. Rights to the L.C. Smith shotgun were sold to Hunter Arms Company in 1889 which continued to manufacture it until 1945 when the business was sold to Martin Firearms Company. On […]

Jay Hungerford Smith (1855 - 1970)

Businessman. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1877 as a pharmaceutical chemist and became a drugstore operator. He founded the J. Hungerford Smith Company, manufacturers and suppliers of fruit syrups for soda fountains, after discovering an interest in, and talent for, the development of superior syrups while working with drugstore fountains. The company […]

Horace Smith (1808 - 1893)

Born in Cheshire, Massachusetts, Horace Smith was employed by the U. S. Armory service from 1824 to 1842, when he moved to Newton, Connecticut. He was employed by various gun makers up to the 1840s, when he moved to Norwich, Connecticut. He is then listed as a partner of Cranston & Smith. It is known […]

George Hunter Smith (1970 - 1939)

Wealthy industrialist, financier and philanthropist.  Family links:  Spouse:  Clara Boggs Smith (1868 – 1946)* *Calculated relationship

Francis Marion “Borax” Smith (1846 - 1931)

Western Businessman. Born in Richmond, Wisconsin, at the age of 21 he went west to seek wealth and became known as the “Borax King”. In 1872, he discovered a rich supply of ulexite at Teel’s Marsh, Nevada. He staked a claim, started a company with his brother Julius and established a works at the edge […]

Sir Donald Alexander Smith (1820 - 1914)

Canadian fur trader, railway financier and diplomat. Sir Donald Alexander Smith was Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company (1889-1914). Financier behind the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Drove the Last Spike in Canada’s first transcontinental railway on November 7, 1885. Member of the Canadian House of Commons (1871-1878, 1887-1896). President, The Bank of Montreal; […]

Byron Laflin Smith (1853 - 1914)

Founder of the Northern Trust Company, a major financial institution.  Family links:  Spouse:  Carrie Cornelia Stone Smith (1856 – 1929)*  Children:  Walter Byron Smith (1878 – 1945)*  Bruce Donald Smith (1885 – 1952)* *Calculated relationship

Andrew Smith (1970 - 1970)

Business Magnate. He and brother William Wallace Smith took over restaurant and cough drop business in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1866 when their father, James Smith, the founder died. Later, to distinguish their brand from other imitations they registered their pictures as trademarks and positioned same on their product packaging above words trade and mark. […]