David Tran is the Vietnamese‑born entrepreneur and founder of Huy Fong Foods, creator of the iconic Sriracha “Rooster Sauce.” After fleeing Vietnam in 1979 aboard the Huey Fong ship, he started the company in Los Angeles in 1980. With no advertising and relentless quality control, his Sriracha brand grew into a billion‑dollar business, stocked in U.S. supermarkets and cult‑favorite restaurants worldwide.

David Sun is a Taiwanese‑American tech entrepreneur and billionaire who co-founded Kingston Technology in 1987 with John Tu. Educated in Taiwan and emigrating to the U.S. in 1977, Sun built Kingston into the world’s largest independent memory-products company, recognized for its quality-first culture and employee ownership ethos. He serves as COO and is known for philanthropic contributions in education and healthcare.

David Steward is an American billionaire tech entrepreneur who founded World Wide Technology (WWT) in 1990 with minimal capital. A Central Missouri alumnus, he transformed WWT into one of the largest African-American–owned companies in the U.S., generating over $11 billion in annual revenues. Known for his faith-driven leadership and civic engagement, Steward also founded Telcobuy and chairs major nonprofit boards.

David M. Siegel is an American computer scientist turned investor who co-founded Two Sigma Investments in 2001 alongside John Overdeck. With a PhD in Computer Science from MIT and early roles at D. E. Shaw and Tudor, Siegel helped build Two Sigma into a quant trading powerhouse managing roughly $60 billion in assets. He now serves as co-chairman and leads the firm’s technology and philanthropy initiatives through the Siegel Family Endowment.

David E. Shaw is the Stanford‑trained computer scientist turned Wall Street quant and billionaire founder of D. E. Shaw & Co.. Launched in 1988 with $28 million, the firm pioneered algorithmic trading and grew into one of the world’s largest hedge funds—managing ~$65 billion in assets by 2025. Shaw stepped back from daily operations in 2001 to lead D. E. Shaw Research, advancing computational biochemistry and molecular-dynamics simulations.

David Rubenstein is an American lawyer, billionaire investor, and philanthropist who co-founded The Carlyle Group in 1987. From humble beginnings in Baltimore, he built Carlyle into a global private equity powerhouse managing over $426 billion in assets as of 2023. In 2024, he became principal owner of the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles and chairs numerous institutions including the Kennedy Center (until 2025), Council on Foreign Relations, and the National Gallery of Art.

David C. Paul is an American billionaire engineer-turned-entrepreneur who founded Globus Medical in 2003—a leader in spinal-implant and surgical robotics technologies. An immigrant from India with degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras and Temple University, he guided the company to IPO in 2012 and remains its controlling Executive Chairman. Paul holds over 200 patents and built his $1.4 billion fortune through robotics innovation. 

David Martínez Guzmán is a discreet billionaire investor and founder & managing partner of Fintech Advisory, a global advisory and debt investment firm based in New York and London. Known as one of the most influential Mexican financiers on Wall Street, Martínez led major restructurings of Argentina’s sovereign debt and controls sizable stakes in Telecom Argentina, Grupo Clarín, Grupo Televisa, and other Latin American assets. 

David Lichtenstein is a self-made real estate billionaire who founded The Lightstone Group in 1988. He began with a single multifamily unit and grew his firm into a diversified empire—owning 25,000 apartments and over 15 million sq ft of retail, industrial, hotel & life-sciences properties across 25+ states, with more than $9 billion in managed assets. He led major deals such as acquiring Prime Retail malls ($638 M) and Extended Stay Hotels ($8.1 B) and is active in civic service and board leadership across New York institutions. 

David Katzman is the American entrepreneur and venture capitalist behind Camelot Venture Group, and serves as CEO and Chairman of SmileDirectClub. He built Camelot by backing consumer-led disruptors—from Quicken Loans and RealAge to 1‑800‑Contacts and Fathead—and oversaw the Cavaliers business through his vice chair role. Katzman holds a ~10 % stake in SmileDirectClub and maintains a legacy of retail, tech, and sports investing.

David Kaplan is an American billionaire financier and co-founder & Managing Partner of Ares Management Corporation, a leading global alternative investment firm overseeing approximately $419 billion in assets. A University of Michigan finance graduate, Kaplan previously held senior roles at Apollo Management and Shelter Capital before launching Ares in 1997. He oversees the firm’s credit, private equity, and real assets strategies, and serves on multiple corporate and nonprofit boards.

David Kabiller is the co‑founding principal and Head of Business Development at AQR Capital Management, the global quantitative investment firm he launched in 1998 alongside Cliff Asness and others. He spearheaded AQR’s international expansion, retail mutual fund offerings, and educational initiatives such as AQR University and the AQR Insight Award. A former athlete, he holds degrees in economics and finance from Northwestern and continues to support research via prizes at Northwestern and London Business School. 

David Hoffmann founded and served as long-time chairman of the Hoffmann Family of Companies, a global multi-sector family office managing over 200 businesses in real estate, hospitality, logistics, agriculture, media, and more. A self-made billionaire who began DHR International—now the world’s largest privately held executive search firm—after mortgaging his house, Hoffmann has used his wealth to revitalize communities like Augusta, Missouri.

David Hindawi is an Iraqi‑born American software entrepreneur and the co-founder of Tanium, the cybersecurity platform he built in 2007 with his son Orion. Prior to Tanium, he founded and sold BigFix (acquired by IBM in 2010) and several software firms. He holds advanced degrees—including a PhD from UC Berkeley—and his patents in systems-management software underpin enterprise-scale security technology.

David Hall is an American billionaire engineer and entrepreneur who founded Velodyne Acoustics and later pioneered Velodyne Lidar, the leader in 3D scanning sensors for autonomous vehicles. With more than 75 patents in sensor and LIDAR tech, he shifted from audio equipment to robotics and space propulsion—with new ventures like Hall Lidar Inc. He also cofounded Servo Yachts and Shoot the Moon Rocket Technologies. 

David Green is the American founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, the world’s largest privately owned arts-and-crafts retailer. He launched the company in 1971 with a $600 loan from his garage in Oklahoma City and grew it into a multi‑billion-dollar enterprise with over 1,000 U.S. stores and 46,000 employees. Guided by his Christian faith, Green channels half of Hobby Lobby’s pretax profits into evangelical ministry and philanthropy, including the Museum of the Bible and educational causes.

David Golub is the business leader heading Golub Capital, a top-tier direct lender he joined in 2003, and CEO of its NASDAQ‑listed Golub Capital BDC, managing over $75 billion in capital. A Harvard and Stanford MBA alumnus, he helped build Golub into a private-credit powerhouse and serves as longtime board chair of The Michael J. Fox Foundation.

David J. “Dave” Girouard is the American tech executive and fintech innovator who co-founded Upstart in 2012 and has led as CEO through its public listing on Nasdaq. A former President of Google Enterprise, he built Google’s billion‑dollar cloud apps business before founding Upstart to revolutionize consumer lending using AI and alternative data.

David Geffen is an American entertainment mogul, record‑label founder, and philanthropist. He launched Asylum Records (1970), Geffen Records (1980), DGC Records (1990), and co‑founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994. His music and film empire helped define modern pop culture and Hollywood.

David Filo is an American engineer‑entrepreneur best known for co‑founding Yahoo! alongside Stanford classmate Jerry Yang in 1995. As the company’s “Chief Yahoo,” he led the engineering behind early web directories and services. A Sam Houston High and Tulane graduate who earned a master’s in electrical engineering from Stanford, Filo grew Yahoo into an internet pioneer and became a billionaire after its IPO. A longtime tech philanthropist, he has donated millions to sustainability and journalism initiatives.