NO.10 - GERARD MULLIEZ (AUCHAN)

Age: 87

Years at current company: 57

Industry: Retail

Turnover: $60.5bn

Rate of growth: 42.5% over the last 10 years

Joining the family business in 1954 as a simple foreman, Gerard Mulliez had to wait until the 1960s to open his first Auchan store in a former factory in Roubaix. Inspired by the strategy employed by Carrefour and Leclerc, he quickly understood the importance of price cutting. And it worked. The group now owns several brands - Decathlon, Saint-Maclou, Norauto, Leroy Merlin, Kiabi, Alinea – and has 180,000 employees, 723 hypermarkets and 2,027 supermarkets in twelve countries.

Notable success: The Auchan Group founder has created a real empire with the Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM) which works in the economic interests of family members whose fortune is estimated at 30 billion dollars.