The Playboy Interviews: Movers and Shakers

As Calvin Coolidge once said, the business of America is business. Yet no matter what that business is, only a handful of individuals control it. With vision, determination, and passion, these men and women have bent the world to their wills. Some were millionaires from birth; others have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. From computers to shoes to cars, their hands have shaped the fabric of everyday life. Here, 15 of the most important men and women of the last 45 years of American business -- including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Hugh Hefner, Leona Helmsley, Barry Diller, and Calvin Klein -- speak candidly about their rises to power. First published in the no-holds-barred pages of "Playboy," the interviews are in many cases the most thoughtful and direct these men and women ever gave. All represent an intimate visit with the entrepreneurs who have moved America forward and have shaken the foundations of who Americans believe themselves to be.