10 CEOs who didn’t find success until later in life

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Not all CEOs were as young as Mark Zuckerberg when their businesses took off.
Some of the biggest names in business didn’t have their million-dollar ideas until their late 30s or past their 40s.
CEOs like Ray Kroc (McDonald’s), Sam Walton (Walmart), and Robin Chase (Zipcar) all founded their companies after a series of setbacks in their youths.
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Many business leaders found success early in life, some before turning 30 (think Mark Zuckerberg or Jack Dorsey). Other chief executives, however, didn’t get a big break until after 30 or 40.

Many of them worked odd jobs before they found their true calling, or they struggled as entrepreneurs for years before a business idea took off. Despite many setbacks, entrepreneurs like Ray Kroc (McDonald’s), Sam Walton (Walmart), and Robin Chase (Zipcar) all made their businesses successful.

Here are 10 CEOs who didn’t find success until later in life.

Gary Heavin founded Curves Fitness at age 39

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Gary Heavin founded Curves Fitness, the women’s-only gym, with his wife Diane in 1994, when he was 39. Curves would go on to open another 10,000 locations by 2006, its commercial peak. Today, Curves has only 409 locations, and Heavin has turned his focus to producing Christian films like "Amerigeddon."

Robin Chase helped start Zipcar at age 42

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Robin Chase worked as a consultant before cofounding car-rental company Zipcar in 2000, at age 42.

Zipcar was based on the concept of renting cars in a quick and affordable way before smartphones made car-sharing even easier. The very first Zipcar sat outside Chase’s Massachusetts home, and a set of keys was hidden under a pillow on her front porch. Zipcar went on to be valued at $1.2 billion when it went public in 2011.

After leaving Zipcar in 2003, Chase continued building transportation companies like Buzzcar and GoLoco.

Ray Kroc met the McDonald brothers at age 52

Ray Kroc helped create the biggest fast-food chain in history, McDonald’s — but he didn’t meet the McDonald brothers until 1954, when he was 52 years old.

Dick and Mac needed a franchising agent to expand their store to new locations, and Kroc saw his big opportunity. After 30 years of odd jobs (paper-cup salesman, piano player, milkshake-mixer salesman), he founded McDonald’s Systems Inc. in 1955.

Since then, McDonald’s has opened over 36,000 eateries and feeds 70 million people a day.

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Source: Business Insider – ideluce@businessinsider.com (Ivan De Luce)