David Pecker made a good living making the lives of the rich and famous the subject of national scandals. Now, he is the subject of his own. Jane Lewis reports.

Howard Schultz, the man who took the Starbucks coffee chain global, has his eyes on America’s top job. But will he bottle it before the contest even begins?

Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, has died aged 89. He was the wit who invented index-tracking funds and helped destroy the self-serving myths of rapacious experts did all investors a great service. 

Herb Kelleher, the best CEO in America according to Fortune magazine, was the inventor of the original low-cost airline. He died this month aged 87. Jane Lewis reports.

No one, it seemed, believed that online supermarket Ocado would ever survive or thrive. True believer and co-founder Tim Steiner did – and he has been vindicated. Jane Lewis reports.

Albert Frère was a dealmaker with uncanny timing who transformed Europe’s steel, utilities and banking sectors in a career spanning more than 60 years.

In 1988 Alan Yau turned his back on an academic career and opened a Chinese takeaway. The chain of canteen-style restaurants he launched later recently sold for record-breaking sums. Jane Lewis reports.

Mike Lynch is an outstandingly clever and stimulating character who sold his “tech darling”, Autonomy,  for $11.7bn in 2011.  Since then he’s been mired in legal wranglings over that sale.

Denise Coates set up a business from a portable office in a car park in Stoke on Trent in the early 2000s. What she built from there was a money-printing machine. Jane Lewis reports.

Stan Lee may never have written the Great American Novel he dreamed of, but his superhero creations were beloved by millions and he created a franchise that made billions.