There is strength in great partnerships and that’s what these couples are about. Not only real life partners, these successful couples are also partners in business and founded the biggest businesses known today. Some came from humble beginnings and others got together from their wealth of experience to become entrepreneurial partners as well.
Here are 5 Couple Entrepreneurs Who Founded Successful Companies:
Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang – Forever 21
This couple who became immigrants from South Korea, literally worked their way to success as Do Won Chang had to work 19-hour shifts in gas stations and as a janitor to save up $11,000 as capital for the then “Forever 21” apparel store. All hard work paid off as they hit $700,000 in its first year. They eventually opened up a store every six months due to its success. Today, Forever 21 brings in about $4.4B and the couple is about $2.9B in net worth. All hard work pays off indeed.
Kevin Eventbrite and Julia Hartz – Eventbrite
The couple behind the biggest events management platform Eventbrite, Kevin and Julia Hartz founded the company with Renaud Visage in 2006. They wanted to make events management accessible to everyone by using online payments. With Julia’s experience as a creative executive, and Kevin’s background in online payments (being the co-founder of Xoom and getting involved with Paypal), the couple founded the company with Visage, who created the site platform. The couple, who practices “rules of road” has made the company a success and hit their first billion dollar ticket sales in 2011. Currently, they process about 2 million tickets weekly and over 2 million events annually in over 180 countries!
Stewart and Lynda Resnick – The Wonderful Company
Lynda, who had a successful career in advertising, and Stewart, who was already an established entrepreneur started their business as a couple in 1979 when they purchased Teleflora, a floral wire delivery company. They went on to acquire and establish 12 more companies (including Fiji Water which has overtaken Evian as the leading premium bottled water in the U.S.) until they founded the Wonderful Company in 2015 to facilitate their other business ventures. Although the couple businesses were involved in a few controversies, the couple’s net worth is now $4B.
Tom and Judy Love – Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores
Their business venture started in 1964 when they leased a gas station. Staying true to their mission to provide professional truck drivers and motorists with 24-hour access to clean and safe places to purchase almost everything they need, they eventually added a convenience store a few years after and went on to open 30 more gas stations. The business grew and the company now has over 400 gas stations in the 41 states of the U.S. Currently worth $5.5B, Tom and Judy Love are currently one of the richest couples in the U.S.
Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi – Syntel
Bharat and Neerja founded Syntel, an IT solutions company, in their humble apartment in Troy, Michigan in 1980 with just $2,000. They met in the U.S. while working for a pioneering IT firm. Their venture was successful they brought $30,000 in sales during the first year. Although it took over three decades to reach their first billion dollars, Syntel has had a steady growth over the years, and currently, has over 20,000 employees.
