Test your knowledge of influential American business leaders who helped shape the nation’s progress and entrepreneurial spirit.
What Makes an Entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs are people who create, organize, and manage businesses or business ventures. These creative individuals stand out because they accept significant risks and face possibilities of failure in pursuit of advancements, opportunities, initiatives, and innovation to build something of value.
Why Entrepreneurs Matter
In the United States, entrepreneurs, like those in this quiz, play vital roles in shaping society and the economy. Their work helps:
- Drive economic growth, create jobs, and improve the nation
- Introduce new products, services, and ideas
- Encourage competition and provide consumer choice
- Support progress through invention, leadership, and bold decision-making
Enjoy this 15-question multiple-choice quiz on famous American entrepreneurs. An answer key is included at the end so you can check your results. Go ahead, test your knowledge!
Quiz Questions:
1) Which entrepreneur was born into the lower class, immigrated from Scotland, and built a steel empire by using vertical integration to expand steel production during America’s industrialization?
a. Walt Disney
b. Andrew Carnegie
c. Henry Ford
d. John D. Rockefeller
2. Which entrepreneur built a business empire around her television show, the OWN network, and a broader multimedia and lifestyle brand?
a. Olivia Wilde
b. Gayle King
c. Martha Stewart
d. Oprah Winfrey
3) Which entrepreneur briefly hit trillionaire status after SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering?
a. Jeff Bezos
b. Larry Page
c. Elon Musk
d. Mark Zuckerberg
4) Which entrepreneur pioneered assembly-line production methods that helped make automobiles more affordable to the public?
a. George Eastman
b. Henry Ford
c. Thomas Edison
d. Charles Kemmons Wilson
5) Which Apple co-founder helped shape personal computing, digital music, smartphones, and media devices through products such as the Macintosh, iPod, and iPhone?
a. Larry Page
b. Steve Jobs
c. Jeff Bezos
d. Walt Disney
6) Which entrepreneur co-founded Facebook while he was a college student and became one of the best-known leaders in social media?
a. Elon Musk
b. Larry Page
c. Mark Zuckerberg
d. Steve Jobs
7) Which entrepreneur founded Amazon, helping revolutionize e-commerce, cloud computing, and the way people shop online?
a. Jeff Bezos
b. George Eastman
c. Andrew Carnegie
d. Thomas Edison
8) Which entrepreneur co-founded Google (along with Sergey Brin) and helped develop the PageRank system that improved internet search results?
a. Steve Jobs
b. Larry Page
c. Henry Ford
d. John D. Rockefeller
9) Which Ohio-born inventor and entrepreneur is associated with the phonograph, the practical electric light system, and hundreds of patents?
a. Walt Disney
b. Thomas Alva Edison
c. George Eastman
d. Charles Kemmons Wilson
10) Which hotelier created Holiday Inn after recognizing that travelers needed clean, consistent, family-friendly lodging?
a. Andrew Carnegie
b. John D. Rockefeller
c. Charles Kemmons Wilson
d. Henry Ford
11) Which New York-born entrepreneur worked in his family’s real estate business, built a national brand, and later became President of the United States?
a. George W. Bush
b. Donald Trump
c. Barack Obama
d. Elon Musk
12) Which self-educated photography pioneer founded what became one of the world’s largest film and camera manufacturers and helped make photography affordable and accessible to everyday people?
a. George Eastman
b. Thomas Edison
c. Steve Jobs
d. Mark Zuckerberg
13) Which animator and entertainment entrepreneur co-founded the Walt Disney Company with his brother Roy and became one of the most honored figures in Academy Awards history?
a. Elias Disney
b. Flora Call Disney
c. Walter Elias Disney
d. William Elias Disney
14) Which hair-care entrepreneur is recorded as America’s first female self-made millionaire and built a business serving Black women’s beauty needs?
a. Oprah Winfrey
b. Janice Bryant Howroyd
c. Madam C. J. Walker
d. Gayle King
15) Which entrepreneur combined technology, electric vehicles, space exploration, and other ventures to become one of the most influential business leaders of the 21st century?
a. Elon Musk
b. Henry Ford
c. Andrew Carnegie
d. George Eastman
Answer Key and Scoring Guide
Scoring Guide
- 13–15 correct: Entrepreneur expert
- 10–12 correct: Strong knowledge
- 7–9 correct: Solid start
- 4–6 correct: Keep learning
- 0–3 correct: Try again and review the answers
Correct Answers
- b: Andrew Carnegie — Carnegie built a major steel empire and helped shape American industrial growth.
- d: Oprah Winfrey — Winfrey built a multimedia brand through television, publishing, production, and the OWN network.
- c: Elon Musk — Musk is associated with major ventures such as SpaceX, Tesla, and other technology-focused companies. He recently hit the trillion-mark following SpaceX’s historic initial public offering. However, his net worth fluctuates with the market.
- b: Henry Ford — Ford popularized assembly-line production, helping to make automobiles more affordable.
- b: Steve Jobs — Jobs co-founded Apple and helped lead influential products such as the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
- c: Mark Zuckerberg — Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook while in college and became a major figure in social media.
- a: Jeff Bezos — Bezos founded Amazon, which transformed online retail and expanded into cloud computing and other services.
- b: Larry Page — Page, along with Sergey Brin, helped develop PageRank, a key search-ranking system (later renamed Google).
- b: Thomas Alva Edison — Edison was a prolific inventor and entrepreneur associated with the phonograph, electric lighting systems, and many patents.
- c: Charles Kemmons Wilson — Wilson founded Holiday Inn to offer travelers more consistent and family-friendly lodging.
- b: Donald Trump — Trump worked in real estate, built a national business brand, and later became President of the United States.
- a: George Eastman — Eastman founded the Eastman Kodak company and helped make photography more affordable and accessible.
- c: Walter Elias Disney — Disney co-founded the Walt Disney Company and became a major figure in animation and entertainment.
- c: Madam C. J. Walker — Walker built a successful hair-care business and is widely recognized as one of America’s first female self-made millionaires.
- a: Elon Musk — Musk’s work spans electric vehicles, space exploration, and other technology ventures.
We hope you enjoyed this quiz!
Only missed one. Didn’t know that I remembered so much history and common knowledge.
13 of 15, missed #8 and #14 !
Didn’t think I’d know much, but only missed one. That’s an ego booster!
The choices were fairly obvious as to the best answer and I had 15 out of 15. However, since Madame CJ Walker was one of the entrepreneurs perhaps another quiz could include John H Johnson, Barry, Gordy, and Tyler Perry, all of whom had to take risks at starting or producing projects that were new or unheard of. Just saying. All three have had a prolonged and widespread influence on American culture of all levels and identities . think Ebony, Motown , and Madea.(among others.)!!
Got them all
Yay! I got 14!
This is an area young people are not aware of so when i go into classrooms as a sub, i tell the kids about how much Americans have invented. Most of them don’t know because the teachers don’t teach about it. I don’t think a country in the history of the world has invented as much as America and has had as much influence in the world as the US either…
Perfect score! Only one was a guess and proved good! ????
14 correct. Never heard of C.J. Walker
I GOT ½ RIGHT!