(FORTUNE Small Business) – SEPTEMBER 2003 VOL. 13 NO. 7

10 EDITOR'S NOTE

BREAKING BIG BY HANK GILMAN AND BRIAN DUMAINE Meet some of America's most successful entrepreneurs.

14 LETTERS

On classic companies, the next election, and more.

THE VISIONARIES

16 HUGH HEFNER PLAYBOY He created a worldwide brand without shedding his pajamas. How he managed to pull it off.

26 GERT BOYLE COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR After her husband died, this escapee from Nazi Germany inherited his business. She grew the venture into an $800 million company.

32 CHUCK WILLIAMS WILLIAMS-SONOMA Chuck Williams turned a defunct California hardware store into a haven for gourmet cooks and permanently altered the national palate.

40 LES WEXNER LIMITED BRANDS A tale of bras, blouses, and ulcers from a man who took one store and built an $8.5 billion business.

44 EARL GRAVES BLACK ENTERPRISE In 1970, Earl Graves started the first magazine for black executives and entrepreneurs. It became the foundation of a powerful media empire that continues to expand.

50 KATE & ANDY SPADE KATE SPADE Driven by a unique creative vision, this couple turned a simple purse into an icon of style and built a $70 million company.

58 TOM MONAGHAN DOMINO'S PIZZA Determined to transcend his hardscrabble youth, Tom Monaghan built one of the best-known pizza chains. He inspired a posse of competitors along the way.

72 GORDON MOORE INTEL At 39, he co-founded the company that ushered in the computer age by creating the first significant memory chips and microprocessor. How Gordon Moore helped turn Intel into the dominant company of the PC era.

80 TOM GOLISANO PAYCHEX Targeting small clients that his competitors ignored, this single-minded entrepreneur built the nation's second-largest payroll-processing company.

92 FRANK PERDUE PERDUE FARMS He transformed his father's tiny egg farm into a poultry powerhouse. And in doing so, he became the public face of what was once an anonymous industry.

104 CHARLES SCHWAB CHARLES SCHWAB Wall Street tried to drive him out of business. But the king of cheap brokerage fees was too powerful to stop, thanks to his savvy use of technology, marketing smarts, and legions of loyal customers.

118 THE LAST WORD

START-ME-UP BY MAGGIE OVERFELT From Disney to HP to Apple, some of the world's most successful companies were launched in spaces meant for the family car. A look back at garage start-ups that made history.

COVER: Photograph by NATHANIEL WELCH