白手起家到名利双收：5位最励志美国企业家

 　　A list of the most inspirational entrepreneurs is necessarily subjective¹, but the following is a list of some risk-takers who really left their marks, often despite challenging upbringings.

　　现如今海内外全民创业，人潮涌动，各种创业家排行榜俯拾皆是，诸如“最具影响力的企业家”之类的排行榜更是难免沾染主观色彩。不过，下面看东西为你带来的这组企业家，可是真真正正地青史留名的探险者，尽管成长背景并不优越，但这丝毫没有阻挡他们成功的脚步。

　　白手起家到名利双收：5位最励志美国企业家

　　ANDREW CARNEGIE, THE SELF-MADE PHILANTHROPIST

　　安德鲁·卡内基：自力更生的富一代暨大慈善家

　　As a Scottish immigrant in the 19th century, Carnegie arrived in America as a poor teenager and worked his way through the ranks, starting with a daily 12-hour job changing spools². He eventually made a fortune as an investor³ during the Civil War, including a single $40,000 investment in the oil-rich Story Farm, which earned him $1 million in dividends⁴ by the end of the year. After the war, he launched Carnegie Steel Corporation, which he later sold to J. P. Morgan for $480 million. He increased his wealth and fame with his writing, including his “Gospel of Wealth” describing the philanthropic responsibilities of the self-made rich, and he became well-known for his own philanthropy, including millions of dollars of donations to the New York Public Library, the establishment of the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh (Carnegie-Mellon University today), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

　　19世纪时，卡内基作为苏格兰移民来到美利坚，那时的他还是一个穷酸小青年；从一份每天12小时更换线轴的工作开始，他一步一步逆袭走上人生赢家之路。最终，在美国南北战争期间，他作为一名投资者发了大财，这其中包括投资价值40,000美金的储油丰富的Story Farm，一年之后这笔投资就让卡内基获得了一百万美金的分红。战后他成立了卡内基钢铁公司，之后以4亿美元的价格卖给了JP摩根。此外，卡内基还通过写作出书不断斩获名利，包括著名的《财富的福音》，在书中卡内基讲述了“富一代”们的慈善责任，从此他也开始因自己的慈善事业闻名。他不仅向纽约公共图书馆捐赠百万美金，还成立了匹兹堡卡内基工学院（今天的卡内基梅隆大学；译者注：卡内基梅隆大学是一所位于美国宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡的大学，其前身卡内基理工学院与梅隆工业研究院于1967年合并后成立卡内基梅隆大学）和卡内基国际和平基金会。

　　HENRY FORD⁵, REVOLUTIONIZING AMERICAN LIFESTYLES

　　亨利·福特：推动美利坚生活方式改革的那个人

　　Born into a family of farmers, Ford worked as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating⁶ Company before resigning to form his own company. Although his first company failed and his second company almost went under, Ford Motor Company changed American lifestyles by making affordable⁷ automobiles⁸ and industry by introducing the moving assembly line.

　　出生在务农之家的福特，起先加入了爱迪生照明公司，之后又辞掉工作创立自己的公司。虽然他的第一次尝试失败了，第二个公司差点破产，但他的福特汽车公司却实实在在地改变了美国人的生活，让汽车的价格变得更亲民更大众，同时还为整个行业建立了流水线操作标准。

　　STEVE JOBS, THE BACKYARD BILLIONAIRE OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER REVOLUTION

　　斯蒂夫·乔布斯：在自家后院发动全球个人电脑革命的巨富

　　Raised by adoptive parents who did not graduate from college, Jobs tinkered with electronics at a young age with his father, who worked as a mechanic and carpenter. After dropping out of college, traveling and working, Jobs and high school friend Steve Wozniak formed Apple Computer from Jobs’s parents’ garage. From there, Jobs was influential⁹ in the personal computer revolution, as well as in other consumer electronics including smartphones, music and movies, and Apple eventually became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company in 2011.

　　乔布斯在收养家庭里长大，养父母大学肄业，爸爸是机械工兼木匠，从孩童时期起，乔布斯就开始跟着养父一起围着电子器件修修补补。大学辍学后，乔布斯一边旅行一边工作，和自己的高中朋友斯蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克在自家的车库里创建了苹果电脑公司。从那之后，乔布斯就一发不可收拾，除了领衔全球个人电脑革命之外，也顺便颠覆了其他电子消费品领域，例如智能手机、音乐、电影等，苹果也在2011年的时候成为了最具价值的公开上市公司。

　　OPRAH WINFREY, THE TEENAGE MOTHER WHO BECAME A HOUSEHOLD NAME

　　奥普拉·温弗瑞：从少龄妈妈到家喻户晓

　　Oprah was born into poverty with a single teenage mother and experienced a tough childhood, becoming a teenage mother herself at 14 and losing that son shortly after. In high school she got involved with radio, and at 19 she began co-anchoring the local evening news. After working in a daytime talk show, which went from last-ranked to the top-ranked talk show in Chicago during her time there, she started The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her show, which started as a tabloid¹⁰ talk show, eventually expanded to broader topics, including celebrity¹¹ interviews: her 1993 prime-time interview of Michael Jackson became the most watched interview ever. When her show went national, Oprah became a millionaire at 32, and today she is a billionaire.

　　奥普拉出生于一个贫穷的单身未成年母亲家庭，自小就经历不少困难，14岁的时候奥普拉自己也成为了一名少龄母亲，而不久后又失去了这个儿子。在高中时，奥普拉就开始尝试播音，19岁开始在当地晚间新闻担任联合主播。之后她在一档日间脱口秀栏目工作，其间，这档节目的排名从芝加哥地区的垫底行列直升至榜首；在这之后，奥普拉就成立了与自己同名的《奥普拉·温弗瑞脱口秀》。这档节目最开始还只是小打小闹，做一些小型节目，但是之后其涉及的话题范围越来越广，也包括名人访谈：她在1993年对迈克尔·杰克逊的采访于黄金时段播出，成为了迄今为止收视率最高的访谈。随着她的脱口秀走向全国，奥普拉在32岁年纪轻轻的时候就成为了百万富翁，今天，她已经是十亿级的富婆了。

　　ELON MUSK¹², THE MAN WHO IS DOING IT ALL

　　伊隆·马斯克：全能型人生赢家亮瞎你的眼

　　Born in South Africa, Musk taught himself computer programming at a young age. At 24, he started a web software company with his brother, and a few years later he founded an online financial services and email payment company that became Paypal. He is also the founder¹³ and CEO of SpaceX, which focuses on advancing rocket technology; the chairman of Solar City, the second largest provider of solar power systems in the US; and the CEO and co-founder of Tesla Motors, an electric car company.

　　马斯克出生于南非，小时候就自学电脑编程。24岁时，他和兄弟成立了一家网络软件公司，几年之后，他又成立了一家在线金融服务和电邮支付公司，也就是我们现在熟知的Paypal。他还创建了致力于推动火箭科技的高科技公司SpaceX，并担任CEO；也是美国第二大太阳能系统提供商Solar City的主席；还没完，他也是电力汽车公司特斯拉的联合创始人兼CEO。

1 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

2 spools   

n.（绕线、铁线、照相软片等的）管( spool的名词复数 )；络纱；纺纱机；绕圈轴工人v.把…绕到线轴上（或从线轴上绕下来）( spool的第三人称单数 )；假脱机（输出或输入）

参考例句：

• I bought three spools of thread at the store. 我在这个店里买了三轴线。 来自辞典例句
• How many spools of thread did you use? 你用了几轴线？ 来自辞典例句

3 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

4 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

11 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

12 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。