John Ripley Myers (1864 - 1899)

Businessman. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1887 and purchased Clinton Pharmaceutical Company in upstate New York with friend and fellow Hamilton alumnus William McLaren Bristol. He continued with the business, renamed Bristol, Myers and Company in 1898, until his death from pneumonia. Bristol, Myers was not immediately profitable, but proved successful after Myers’s death […]

Joseph L. Musso (1880 - 1946)

Restaurateur, co-founder of Musso & Frank Grill.  Opened in 1919 with partner Frank Toulet, it is steeped in Hollywood history, having been the hideout of a host of famous  celebrities from Hollywood’s elite, including movie stars, film directors and producers. In the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s, the golden years in Hollywood, the waiters served Mary […]

Clint William Murchison, Jr (1923 - 1987)

Businessman, Professional Football Team Owner. He and his brother inherited the fortune their father had built in real estate, construction, railroads and oil in the 1920s and 1030s. He established the Dallas Cowboys football team in 1959 for $600,000, and sold them in 1984 to H.R. “Bum” Bright  for $80 million.  He once had a […]

George Huntington Mumford (1805 - 1871)

Business magnate. He was co-financier of the Western Union Telegraph Company with Don Alonzo Watson and Henry Sayre Potter. (bio by: Mount Hope NY)

Charles Stewart Mott (1875 - 1973)

Industrialist, Philanthropist. He was an automotive pioneer who founded the Weston-Mott company which built a factory in Flint, Michigan which supplied axles for Buick automobiles at the adjacent Buick assembly plant. His company was sold to General Motors and he served as a General Motors director for the rest of his life. He established the […]

Lemuel Oscar Motlow (1970 - 1947)

Businessman. He was the owner and operator of the famous Jack Daniel Distillery. Jasper “Jack” Daniel took over the distillery just after the Civil War. It’s ownership eventually passed to Daniel’s nephew Lemuel Motlow. Prohibition had begun in the 1920s and he moved his distillery to St. Louis, Missouri and in 1923 he made a […]

Thomas Richard Mosser (1927 - 2006)

Glassmaker. As a teenager, he learned the glassmaking trade by working at the Cambridge Glass Company. When Cambridge Glass closed in 1954, he began pursuing his dream of opening up his own glass factory by purchasing glass moulds, equipment and saving up the needed capital. Five years later he co-founded Variety Glass which specialized in […]

Enrique Carlos Mosconi (1877 - 1940)

Argentine Army General, Pioneer Aviator, Businessman. He was one of the pioneers of the Argentine Militar Aviation. As the president of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), the national Oil Company, he also oversaw the important role of petroleum in the development of the nation. (bio by: 380W)

Dwight Whitney Morrow (1873 - 1931)

US Senator, US Diplomat. Served as United States Ambassador to Mexico from 1927 to 1930. Elected as a Senator from New Jersey to the United States Senate, serving from 1930 to 1931. He was a partner in J.P. Morgan and Company. His daughter, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, married famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. His wife, Elizabeth Cutter […]

William Morris (1877 - 1963)

Businessman. He was the founder of the Morris Motor Company and a philanthropist. He started his career in a bicycle shop but his genius for business led him to found Morris Motors which made him a multi-millionaire. He retired from the company’s chairmanship in 1952. He was married to Elizabeth Ansley on the 9 April […]

Eric “Mr. World” Morley (1970 - 2000)

The millionaire entrepreneur became known as “Mr. World” after creating the Miss World beauty pageant. He had not intended the Miss World pageant to be an annual event when he organized a bating beauty contest for the 1951 Festival of Britain. But the following year, the United States inaugurated the rival Miss Universe pageant, and […]

Ralph Kuhner Morgan (1883 - 1956)

Actor. He was the brother of Frank Morgan of “Wizard of Oz” fame. He helped found the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and was its first president in 1933 and also from 1938 to 1940.  Family links:  Parents:  George Diogracia Wuppermann (1838 – 1915)  Josephine Wright Hancox Wuppermann (1851 – 1936)  Spouse:  Grace Arnold (1886 – […]

John Pierpont “J.P.” Morgan (1837 - 1913)

Financier, Businessman. One of the richest men in the world during his time, he is considered one of the business titans of the Modern Age. He orchestrated the creation of the companies General Electric, United States Steel and numerous others, creating monopolies that brought him both fame and legendary wealth.  Family links:  Parents:  Junius Spencer […]

John Motley Morehead (1870 - 1965)

Business Executive, Philanthropist and Diplomat. The grandson of North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead, he graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1891 and joined his father James Turner Morehead at the Willson Aluminum Company. They discovered the first practical processes for producing both calcium carbide and acetylene, which led them to reorganize Willson […]

Alexander Pollock Moore (1867 - 1930)

Pittsburgh newspaper publisher who was married to actress Lillian Russell.

Joseph William Moon (1850 - 1919)

Carriage and automobile manufacturer. A photographer by trade for 2 years, Joseph then bought and sold buggies before going into the livery business. He then organized the Moon Bros. Carriage Company, a wholesale manufacturer of carriages and later became the president of the Moon Motor Car Company. (bio by: Connie Nisinger)  Family links:  Parents:  Alva […]

John Corydon Moon (1853 - 1933)

Carriage manufacturer. Mr. Moon began his careeer as a photographer & later engaged in the sale of buggies & wagons. In 1882, he began as a manufacturer of vehicles in St. Louis. He & his brother organized the firm of Moon Bros. Carriage Co. in 1882. The company manufactured carriages for the wholesale trade. Six […]

Mervin Jeremiah Monnette (1847 - 1931)

The seventh of twelve children born to Abraham & Catherine Braucher Monnett on their Marion County Ohio Farmstead, Mervin Monnett followed in his father’s footsteps of farming, stock raising and banking, rising to the Presidency of the Second National Bank of Bucyrus (Ohio), Monnette lost his fortune by 1900 when he “quietly” left town and […]

Kenneth W. “Ken” Monfort (1928 - 2001)

Renown Western Cattleman, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist. Born in Greeley, Weld County, Colorado. Ken Monfort became the CEO of the family owned, Monfort Beef Company in 1970 and remained in that position until the sale of the company to ConAgra Red Meat Companies in 1998. Monfort was also known for his philanthropic generosity. He supported several causes; […]

Robert Gerald Mondavi (1913 - 2008)

Vintner. An icon in the wine industry, after helping his family build a successful winery in California, formerly the Charles Krug vineyard, he was ousted by his brother in 1965. The following year at age 52 he established his own vineyard and brand, Robert Mondavi Winery, in the Napa Valley town of Oakville with the […]

John Molson (1763 - 1836)

Brewer. Entrepreneur. He was the founder of the Molson Brewing Company in Montreal, Canada. He was born in Moulton, a village near Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. His father, who had inherited an estate, died when he was only six years old and when his mother died two years later, he and his siblings were evicted from […]

David Halliday Moffat (1839 - 1911)

Businessman. A railroad tycoon and mining magnate, he was the builder of the world-renowned Moffat Road train route in Colorado. He co-founded the “Woolworth and Moffat” department stores (now known as Woolworth’s). One of the founders of Denver University, he was a close friend of Horace and Baby Doe Tabor. (bio by: Salena Odom)  Family […]

Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody (1838 - 1911)

Businessman, Philanthropist.  Founder of Hong Kong University. Born in Bombay to a Parsi family, Mody started a newspaper business as a teenager. He moved to Hong Kong between 1858 and 1860, thereafter becoming a successful businessman. He founded the company Chater & Mody with business partner Sir Catchick Paul Chater in 1868, starting in stock […]

Darius Ogden Mills (1825 - 1910)

Businessman, Philanthropist. A native of New York, Mills first came to California in 1848 after the discovery of gold and opened a general store in Sacramento. Making large profits, he soon started up the bank of D.O. Mills and Co. In 1864, he went to San Francisco where he co-founded the Bank of California with […]

Bertram Mills (1970 - 1938)

Businessman. Internationally acclaimed British circus impresario and pioneer. Halford Mills, Bertam’s father, was the owner of a coachbuilding works in Paddington, London and was also the owner of two farms, where he sent his horses to rest. It was on these farms that Bertram Mills spent most of his childhood and where he was taught […]

Howard C Miller (1905 - 1995)

Founder of the Howard Miller Clock Company.  Family links:  Parents:  Herman Miller (1868 – 1948)  Nellie Breen Miller (1871 – 1939)  Spouse:  Martha M Muller Miller (1902 – 1999)  Siblings:  Howard C Miller (1905 – 1995)  Margaret Miller Harvery-Smith (1907 – 1970)*  Earl Keith Miller (1912 – 1965)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Natural causes

Giles Edwin Miller, Sr (1920 - 1989)

Professional Football Team Owner. In 1953 he bought the Dallas Texans, the first professional football team in Texas. The Texans moved in the 1960’s to Kansas City and became the Chiefs.  He was editor and publisher of the “Park Cities News” from 1957 to 1963 and later owned Dallas radio stations KPCN, KOKE, KIXZ and […]

Frederick Edward John Miller (1824 - 1888)

Businessman. He founded the Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Family links:  Spouse:  Elizabeth Gross Miller (1841 – 1920)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Cancer

Dr Franklin Miles (1845 - 1929)

Medical Entrepreneur. He was the founder and president of the present-day Miles Laboratories in Elkhart IN, which is world famous for the manufacturing and distribution of over-the-counter medical products such as Alka-Seltzer, Flintstone Vitamins, One-A-Day Vitamins, and Bactine. Originally intending to embark in the practice of law, he attended Columbia College in New York NY […]

Lee Miglin (1924 - 1997)

Real Estate Developer and senior partner in Chicago’s Miglin-Beitler Development Firm. Entrepreneur and Chicago business tycoon married to cosmetics pitch-woman Marilyn Miglin of QVC. Father of character actor Duke Miglin (who appeared in Air Force One with Harrison Ford)  Murdered by serial killer Andrew Cunanan in the garage behind the Miglin home on Chicago’s Gold […]