America has always strived to be the land of opportunity, a place where the only limitations on your ambition are your own grit and ability, not your background and anyone who works hard can build a better future for themselves. The unflinching belief that anyone can succeed has its roots in the nation’s founding 250 years ago. While some say the American Dream is fast becoming a thing of the past and that hard work and grit are no longer enough to improve one’s lot, there is no doubt that millions of people in this country have built their own successes. In honor of the semiquincentennial, Forbes has ranked the 250 people who we believe best embody this spirit of upward mobility, individuals who started with next-to-nothing and succeeded beyond measure.

Here we present the top ten self-made people in the U.S., the revolutionaries who came from the humblest of beginnings to rise to the top of American business, culture and politics. Among them are two politicians, two immigrants, a country western singer who grew up without electricity, an oil tycoon whose parents were sharecroppers and an NBA star who moved a dozen times as a kid when his teen mom struggled to support him.

The most inspiring story of all belongs to the list’s No. 1, Oprah Winfrey. A Black woman born in the final years of segregation who survived poverty, rape and the loss of a baby at age 14 to not only become a billionaire, but one of the nation’s most influential voices and tastemaker who........

© Forbes