Ken Langone

In 1978, Kenneth Langone made an early investment in Home Depot and became a cofounder with Arthur Blank and Bernard Marcus, now billionaires.The grandson of Italian immigrants, Langone dug ditches for the Long Island Expressway before he went to Bucknell University to study economics.After two years in the U.S. army, he made a name for himself on Wall Street, taking Ross Perot Sr.'s Electronic Data Systems public in 1968.Langone, who gave $200 million to NYU's hospital a decade ago, pledged $100 million to its School of Medicine in August. School will be tuition-free.