The late Toni Morrison was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012 when she was 81.
Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates made business lore for creating their multi-million dollar companies in their teens — but data suggests they are anomalies to the norm.
In fact, the average age of business founders hovers around 40, according to research conducted by MIT professor Pierre Azoulay, who analyzed 2.7 million people who founded companies between 2007 and 2014. Azoulay found a founder at age 50 is approximately twice as likely to experience a “successful exit,” meaning they get acquired or go public, compared to a founder at age 30, the research found.
Business Insider rounded up 28 famous people who didn’t achieve success until well past their 30th birthday.
Renowned fashion designer Vera Wang didn’t design her first dress until she was 40. Henry Ford was 45 when he created the revolutionary Model T car in 1908. Writer Harry Bernstein authored countless rejected books before getting his first hit at age 96.
Here are other successful people who found success later in life.
Stan Lee created his first hit comic, “The Fantastic Four,” just shy of his 39th birthday in 1961. In the next few years, he created the legendary Marvel Universe, whose characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men became American cultural icons.
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Lee passed away in late 2018 at 95-years-old.
Read more: Stan Lee, Marvel legend, dead at 95
Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison wrote her first novel, “The Bluest Eye,” at age 40, while she was working at Random House as an editor. She won her Pulitzer Prize when she was 56, and her Nobel Prize in Literature at 62.FILE – In this Nov. 25, 2005 file photo, author Toni Morrison listens to Mexicos Carlos Monsivais during the Julio Cortazar professorship conference at the Guadalajara’s University in Guadalajara City, Mexico. The Nobel Prize-winning author has died. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf says Morrison died Monday, Aug. 5, 2019 at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. She was 88.
AP Photo/Guillermo Arias
Morrison died in 2019 at the age of 88.
Read more: Late author Toni Morrison quotes on writing, love, life, and race that show why she was so beloved
Emmy-nominated actress and trans rights activist Laverne Cox rose to prominence with her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” in 2013 when she was 41. In 2014, she graced the cover of TIME Magazine at age 42. At 45, she was nominated for her first Emmy.
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Read more: Laverne Cox gave a great answer about what inspired her to get into acting
Samuel L. Jackson has been a Hollywood staple for years now, but he’d had only bit parts before landing an award-winning role at age 43 in Spike Lee’s film “Jungle Fever” in 1991.
Frazer Harrison/Getty
Read more: 15 famous people who had a stutter
Kris Jenner was 52 when she met with Hollywood producer Ryan Seacrest in 2007 to pitch the idea for a reality TV show following her family. The resulting show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” became a hit and Jenner went on to manage her children’s various ventures in fashion, beauty, and media.Kris Jenner at “The Kardashians” Hulu premiere.
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Read more: The incredible evolution of Kris Jenner
Jack Weil was 45 when he founded what became the most popular cowboy-wear brand, Rockmount Ranch Wear. He remained its CEO until he died at the ripe old age of 107 in 2008.
Rick Wilking/Reuters
Read more: 10 CEOs who didn’t find success until later in life
Rodney Dangerfield is remembered as a legendary comedian, but he didn’t catch a break until he made a hit appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” at age 46.
YouTube/The Ed Sullivan Show
Read more: The most famous comedian the year you were born
Betty White was one of the most award-winning comedic actresses in history, but she didn’t become an icon until she joined the cast of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1973 at age 51.Betty White knows how to make you feel good through a television screen.
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White died in 2021 at the age of 99.
Read more: Betty White: A defender of diversity and inclusion
Wally Blume had a long career in the dairy business before starting his own ice cream company, Denali Flavors, at age 57 in 1995. The company reported revenue of $80 million in 2009.
Flickr/Richard Dalton
Read more: 10 CEOs who didn’t find success until later in life
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses, began her prolific painting career at 78. In 2006, one of her paintings sold for $1.2 million.
Arthur Z. Brooks/AP
Read more: 19 highly successful people who changed careers after age 30
Richard Feloni contributed to an earlier version of this article which was originally published in January 2020.
Arianna Huffington founded her namesake news publication, The Huffington Post, at age 55. While she worked as a political commentator and writer for her early career, the success of her digital media publication made her a household name. HuffPost later sold to AOL for $315 million.Arianna Huffington speaks onstage in ‘Digital Detox’ on day 2 of POPSUGAR Play/Ground on June 10, 2018 in New York City.
Brian Ach/Getty Images for POPSUGAR Play/Ground
Read more: FINALLY: We Know How Much Money Arianna REALLY Made From The $315 Million Sale Of Huffington Post
Richard Feloni contributed to an earlier version of this article which was originally published in January 2020.
