Ralph Lauren is executive chairman and chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren, his all-American fashion empire. He controls 84% of the voting rights. Lauren started the business in 1967 in a tiny office at the Empire State building. His first breakthrough came when Neiman Marcus ordered 1,200 ties. He stepped down from his position as CEO in 2015. Born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants, Ralph Lifshitz, as he was then known, worked as a part-time stock boy at a department store as a teenager. For 30 years, Lauren has supported breast cancer research, cofounding Georgetown's Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research in 1989.