Naveen Jain | Entrepreneur, Bellevue WA USA

Naveen Jain is probably smarter than you. But don't take offense. He's probably smarter than everyone you've ever met, too. Its something you're forced to acknowledge if you want to understand him and appreciate his story. When Naveen Jain resigned from his position at Microsoft in 1996, he famously stated he was, "tired of making billions for Bill". That he would start a company and become a billionaire himself. Three years later, Naveen was a billionaire. Naveen has attracted lots of attention through the years with such proclaimations. Some pan out, others evolve in other directions. But if you were adventurous, confident and driven enough of a person to go out on the limb and make such public proclaimations, certainly the one about becoming a self made billioinaire would have to rank towards the top of the list of the ones that in retrospect you would hope did pan out. For Naveen it did pan out that way. But not by chance. By shear determination, smarts and drive. Playing by the rules, Naveen in very short order accomplished what to most people is simply a fleating fantasy. Naveen Jain not only accomplished the American Dream in short order, he nearly redefined it in the process. Having such a meteoric rise doesn't come without a cost. Naveen Jain has tolerated his share of detractors along the way. After all, how many pies in the face did Bill Gates have to taste before society came to grips with the fact that Microsoft was here to stay and what he was doing was good for mankind? To be continued...