Twist, A Business Success Story

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — He became a father at 18, dropped out of school and found a factory job to make ends meet, until hard work and a twist of fate led him to a fortune he’d never imagined. 

It's almost like a fairytale. A little Jewish street kid from the wrong side of the tracks buys some defunct assets and grows the enterprise into what today amounts to a $600 million a year company.
Gerry Shreiber’s success began at the ballpark, home not only to the hallowed hot dog, but that other classic stadium snack: the salty jumbo pretzel. This doughy concoction might never have been a hit were it not for Shreiber’s vision of a pretzel empire.

From Junkie to Software Success

 

Accidental entrepreneur Bob Williamson, 61, is projecting his company, Horizon Software International, will hit $32 million in revenue this year.

Bob Williamson fled a broken home in Mississippi at age 17 to hitchhike around the country. He landed in Atlanta in 1970 at 24, homeless, broke, and addicted to heroin and methamphetamine. When he got a job there cleaning bricks for $15 a week, no one would have guessed that he would start a $26 million software company someday.