Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008
national winners and finalists honored

Matthew Szulik, Chairman of Red Hat, Inc., was honored as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The YearŽ 2008 on Nov. 15 at an awards gala in Palm Springs, Calif. Szulik will represent the United States at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year awards in Monte Carlo in 2009.

Earlier in the evening, Szulik was named the Entrepreneur Of The Year winner in the national Technology category. Entrepreneur Of The Year national winners announced in nine additional categories included: Amin J. Khoury, B/E Aerospace, Inc. (Distribution & Manufacturing); Steven Nichtberger, M.D., Tengion, Inc. (Emerging); Dr. Bernard J. Duroc-Danner, Weatherford International Ltd. (Energy, Chemicals & Mining); Thomas A. James, Raymond James Financial, Inc. (Financial Services); Jay Flatley, Illumina, Inc. (Health Sciences); David Liu, The Knot, Inc. (Media, Entertainment & Communications); Alan D. Gold, BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. (Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction); Tom Sullivan, Lumber Liquidators, Inc. (Retail & Consumer Products); James R. Barnes, OAKLEAF Waste Management (Services).

From start-ups to entrepreneurial stars

For the past 22 years, entrepreneurs from across the United States have vied for the honor of being named national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year at our gala awards event in Palm Springs. Past national winners include names like Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Wayne Huizenga of Huizenga Holdings, Pierre Omidyar of eBay, Inc., Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, and many other household names. Meet some of these innovative men and women in our Road to Palm Springs.

Jean-Paul Clozel, biotech pioneer, named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year

Switzerland’s Jean-Paul Clozel is the 2008 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year, named at our 1 June awards ceremony in Monte Carlo. In 1997 Clozel founded Actelion, now a world leader in the development of small-molecule drugs treating pulmonary disease with a market cap of nearly €4 billion. “Through his leadership of Actelion, Jean-Paul has epitomized the entrepreneurial spirit and improved the lives of thousands,” said Ernst & Young Global Chairman and CEO Jim Turley.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Winners Network

Congratulations winners! You are now a part of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Winners Network. “We are creating the Winners Network as an active community of the country’s most innovative and successful business leaders,” says Larry Haynes, Americas Director, Entrepreneur Of The Year. “We aim to build a legacy of sharing and learning that reconnects and fosters the relationships this group has made while participating in Entrepreneur Of The Year and the Strategic Growth Forum.”

Be prepared for bumps in road post-IPO

Even CEOs who delivered on their earnings forecasts following an IPO admit hitting snags once their company was public according to a survey announced at the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum’s IPO Transformation~CEO Retreat. The results reveal insights on CEOs’ motivations and timing for going public, their changing role, readiness to be a public company, and attracting and retaining investors. Find details in our press release.

How do we define entrepreneur?

From the Industrial Age to the Information Age, to the Age of Connectivity, change increasingly defines our daily lives. And entrepreneurs are the catalysts and keepers of that change. Find out the criteria (pdf, 3.2 mb) our independent panels of judges look for in selecting Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year winners.

Visit the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame

In the 20 years that the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® awards have honored entrepreneurial achievement in business, we've recognized the winners by inducting them into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame. Now the Hall of Fame has both a permanent home at our 5 Times Square office in New York and a searchable online site. See for yourself the entrepreneurial excellence we've been so honored to celebrate.