Entrepreneur: Ray Kurzweil
Company: Kurzweil Technologies and other companies

Starting in 1974, Kurzweil invented in rapid succession a device that recognized printed text; the flatbed scanner; and then a way for machines to connect text to a recorded voice. Combining all three technologies, he developed the Kurzweil Reading Machine to assist the blind. His first customer was Stevie Wonder, who called the reading machine "a breakthrough that changed my life." He sold that business in 1980 to Xerox. Now Kurzweil, 57, is working on technology to help hedge funds execute trades based on instantaneous readings of the market. Though they may seem wildly eclectic, Kurzweil's businesses rely on one basic theme: pattern recognition. "I gather as much data as I can to develop patterns at every different level," he says.

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