General Motors

William Crapo "Billy" Durant was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, the founder of General Motors and Chevrolet who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Durant was the grandson of Michigan governor... Henry H. Crapo. William dropped out of high school to work in his grandfather's lumberyard, but by 1885 he had partnered with Josiah Dort to create the Coldwater Road Cart Company. He started out as a cigar salesman in Flint, Michigan, and eventually moved to selling carriages. He founded the Flint Road Cart Company in 1886, eventually transforming $2,000 in start-up capital into a $2 million business with sales around the world. By 1890 the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, based in Flint, Michigan, had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles, which ultimately became number one in the world. Durant also conceived the modern system of automobile dealer franchises. When approached to become General Manager of Buick in 1904, he made a similar success and was soon president of this horseless-vehicle company.
more

Armando Codina , a Cuban-American self-made millionaire, was among the 25 Florida electors for President Bush in the 2000 Presidential Election, and... the 27 electors chosen in the 2004 Presidential Election. A prominent figure in Miami politics, Florida Energy, and real estate, Codina has had a close relationship with the Bush family since the 1980 Presidential Campaign of George H. W. Bush. Codina gave Florida Governor Jeb Bush his first job in Miami in the early 1980s, after acting as the Florida chair of George H. W. Bush's unsuccessful campaign for the Republican Presidential Nomination in 1980. Codina sits on the board for a number of corporations, companies, and organizations. Among these are: As of 2002, he owns 44,554 shares in BellSouth Florida worth $1,135,681.46 as of March 2005. In 2003, he purchased 5,000 shares of interest in the FPL Group, worth approximately $197,450 in 2005.
more