Mikhail Prokhorov: Businessman, owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center
Estimated net worth: $7.6 billion
First job: Unloading cargo from train cars
"When I finished my obligatory service in the Soviet army, I took a job unloading train cars while I completed my education. We made good money - 40 to 120 rubles per car, depending on the cargo. For comparison, the average monthly salary in the Soviet Union was around 200 rubles.
"Sometimes, if we did good work, we would be tipped in the product we had unloaded, as a kind of bonus. So I'd bring home a sack of tomatoes or apples to my parents and that made everyone happy. After a little while, I started to organize various brigades and sort of run the operation.
"It was hard physical labor, but looking back, I can say it was the first time I realized my leadership abilities as a businessman. It all happened kind of naturally, not consciously. I just became the organizer and ran the thing. Basically been the same way ever since!"