CEOs Under 40: Born to Lead

Some are born entrepreneurs, others had entrepreneurship thrust upon them. A few made tried-and-tested career moves on the way to the boardroom of a major multinational, others went off-piste, imagining their own route to success. Each has an interesting tale to tell. No cookie-cutter MBA grads these, our eight founders have varied backgrounds. From graduates of the best universities to those who entered the workforce at a very early age. While some dreamed of running a company since they were kids, others got there almost by accident.

Make it happen
It takes audacity to try various combinations of an email address of a potential investor before hitting on the right one, as was the case for Jade Frommer with Xavier Niel, or thinking you have the best business idea in Italy and laying it before Flavio Briatore on national TV, as Muhannad Al Salhi did on The Apprentice.

Then there is vision and persistence. It takes vision to understand that marketing techniques that work for Gen X need updating for Gen Z, as 16-year-old Brazilian Luiz Menezes realized, then having the persistence to bring that vision to a market that was quick to write him off as just another upstart from the smartphone generation.   

The drive and enthusiasm of this new crop of CEOs is contagious, and one can’t help come away from learning of their entrepreneurial adventures feeling energized, with the desire to move mountains and the certainty that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. From Lyon to São Paulo, from Lima to Milan, our featured CEOs are proof-positive that the adage, “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” still holds true in today’s corporate world.