David Murdock

Age: 87
Schooling: Received high school diploma in 2009
Hometown: Wayne, Ohio
Money made: Real estate and acquisitions
Best-known venture: Dole Food Co.

Homeless and with little more than a few cents to his name after serving in World War II, David Murdock borrowed $900 from a Good Samaritan. He bought a diner in Detroit and flipped it for a profit of $700, then used the proceeds to buy a car to drive to Arizona. In the desert Southwest, he started building homes, starting a real estate empire that grew to include Dole Foods Co., Castle — Cooke, and nearly all of the island of Lanai, Hawaii. Murdock's credo is listed on the company website: "To do the impossible, you must see the invisible."