WeWork Co-Founder

New York, New York

Miguel McKelvey moved to Japan with $1,500 in his bank account in the late 1990s, an experience that spurred him to start a web portal connecting native English speakers with non-native speakers. He then took a job for a small architecture firm in New York, with an office in the same building as a startup run by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann.

The pair started Green Desk, a Brooklyn co-working space that evolved to become WeWork, which was officially launched in 2011. WeWork is now in 51 cities worldwide, and holds a $20B valuation. — Scott Klocksin