Full List: Fortune's 12 Greatest Entrepreneurs Of Our Time

About the "Fortune's 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time" List

• This list of the world's greatest entrepreneurs is subjective and largely on social and economic impact; the world-changing vision of a founder who has inspired employees and other entrepreneurs alike; a record of innovation; and the actual performance of their companies over time. 
• These founders created and then nurtured healthy, sustainable organizations that now have a combined market value of more than $1.7 trillion. 
• They directly employ more than 3 million people, ranging from a high of 2.1 million at Wal-Mart to just over 3,000 at Facebook.
• Each of their companies sits at the nucleus of a thriving ecosystem that has cultivated and nurtured dozens if not hundreds of other enterprises. Small companies have thrived as suppliers, for example, to Whole Foods, which, among other things, buys produce from more than 2,000 local farms. So the power of each of these organizations extends far beyond its own walls. 
• Some of the obvious choices
• Late Steve Jobs, who helped make Apple the hottest and most valuable company on the planet
• Mark Zuckerberg, who will take Facebook public in what is anticipated to be the biggest IPO of all time (at a value of more than $80 billion). 
• Surprises:
• N.R. Narayana Murthy, the visionary founder of Infosys who has built one of the largest companies in India, helping to transform that economy and put it on the world stage.
• Not a single woman makes the list of the top 12

The Full List of Fortune's 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time

1. Steve Jobs

Company: Apple

Sales: $108.2 billion

Market Value: $546 billion

Employees: 63,300

2. Bill Gates

Company: Microsoft 

Sales: $69.9 billion 

Market Value: $273.5 billion 

Employees: 90,000 

Advice: Find very smart people and create small teams.

3. Fred Smith

Company: FedEx 

Sales: $39.3 billion 

Market Value: $30 billion 

Employees: 255,573 

Advice: Rely on "first-level" managers

4. Jeff Bezos

Company: Amazon 

Market Value: $84.0 billion 

Sales: $48.1 billion 

Employees: 56,200 

Advice: Take regular mini-retreats.

5. Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Company: Google 

Sales: $37.9 billion 

Market Value: $203.2 billion 

Employees: 32,500 

Advice: Spare no expense on innovation.

6. Howard Schultz

Company: Starbucks 

Sales: $11.7 billion 

Market Value: $40 billion 

Employees: 149,000 

Advice: Always challenge the old ways.

7. Mark Zuckerberg

Company: Facebook 

Sales: $3.71 billion 

Market Value: $75 billion-$100 billion (estimate) 

Employees: 3,200 

8. John Mackey

Company: Whole Foods 

Sales: $10.1 billion 

Market Value: $15.5 billion 

Employees: 56,200 

9. Herb Kelleher

Company: Southwest Airlines 

Sales: $15.6 billion 

Market Value: $6.4 billion 

Employees: 45,392 

Advice: Make your customers No. 1.

Advice: Purpose inspires people.

Advice: Embrace paranoia.

10. Narayana Murthy

Company: Infosys 

Sales: $6.0 billion 

Market Value: $32 billion 

Employees: 145,088 

Advice: Sacrifice today, cash in tomorrow.

11. Sam Walton

Company: Wal-Mart Stores 

Sales: $446.9 billion 

Market Value: $36.5 billion 

Employees: 2.0 million 

Advice: Give the people what they want.

12. Muhammad Yunus

Company: Grameen Bank 

Advice: Small gifts can equal big impacts.