Wrote the Harry Potter books, becoming the first billion-dollar author and one of only five entirely self-made female billionaires.

"It was my life's ambition to see a book I had written on a shelf in a bookshop... the mere fact of being able to say I was a published author was the fulfillment of a dream."

The only female African American billionaire on Forbes list, turned her daytime talk show into an empire with a magazine, cable network, and charity.

"Your job is not just to do what your parents say, what your teachers say, Your job is not just to do what your parents say, what your teachers say, what society says, but to figure out what your heart's calling is and to be led by that."

Founded the Virgin record label, an airline, a pay-as-you-go cell phone network, and most recently, a consumer space travel company.

"Ideally, since 80 percent of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion of yours. If you're into kite-surfing and you want to become an entrepreneur, do it with kite-surfing.

Created and sold two tech companies for a nice chunk of change, which he used to buy his favorite NBA team, the Mavericks.

"I spend every day thinking about the Mavericks. That includes time dreaming about the Mavs while sleeping."

The host of four different Food Network TV shows, has her own magazine and eleven cookbooks to her name, but never had any culinary training.

"If you spent one day in a cooking school, you would most definitely see that I do not chop an onion correctly, but I get my jobs done fast. I'm not a chef. I don't cook like a chef."

The Colombian singer/songwriter, has 9 albums to her name and became the youngest goodwill ambassador for UNICEF when she was just 26.

"When I started I didn't have a make-up artist, a hairdresser, an assistant, a marketing plan. I started without having anything, just laying one brick after the other, under the sun, by myself."

Half of the Google duo that created the search engine while working on their PhDs.

"If we were motivated by money, we would have sold the company a long time ago and ended up on a beach."

The co-founder of Microsoft, now focuses his investments in the arts and sciences, funding three museums, a brain research institute, and next-generation computing.

"The definition of the good life is doing creative things, whether making music, trying to figure out how to do a particular piece of code, or putting together investments."

Drafted to the NBA at 18, he already has 3 years with the Cavaliers and an Olympic bronze medal under his... sweatband.

"Once you become a professional athlete or once you do anything well, then you're automatically a role model... I love it. I have kids looking up to me and hopefully I inspire these kids to do good things."

Got his start building PCs in his dorm room and went on to found Dell Computers.

"You've got to be yourself... I wouldn't have done well in a place where I had to conform because I would always be resisting and I still do it today. People say, 'CEOs have to go play golf.' I don't want to play golf. I don't want to play golf!"