10 of the Richest People in Georgia and Here's How they Did It (2024)

Anne is the surviving daughter of Cox Enterprises founder James M. Cox. She has the largest controlling interest in her father’s business. The huge media company started from a small evening newspaper and now includes Cox Communications, Cox Media Group, Manheim, and AutoTrader.com.

James Kennedy is the nephew of Anne Cox Chambers and the chairman of Cox Enterprises. He got his beginnings as a production assistant for Cox Newspapers in the early 70s. From there he moved up through a variety of roles until he became the vice president/manager of the Atlanta office. After leaving the company to work at another newspaper company, he came back to be named the executive vice president of Cox Enterprises.

The founder of the famous Chick-Fil-A passed away last year. He left behind a great legacy in his brand. He and his brother started the famous chicken restaurant in 1946 in Atlanta, and named it The Dwarf Grill. In 1967, he opened the first Chick-Fil-A resutaurant in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Shopping Center. The rest is history!

Bernie Marcus was not deterred from success when he grew up in the rough part of Newark, New Jersey. He dreamed of becoming a doctor and even got into Harvard Medical School but couldn't afford the tuition. For the majority of his career he ran retail stores. When he and work associate Arthur Blank was fired from a hardware store, they decided to open a rival retailer. They even handed out $1 bills to get people to come into their store. Well their efforts paid off! Now all of the investors in their store called Home Depot are now billionaires.

Ted Turner is a media magnate who founded CNN, the first 24 hour cable news. Turner was the son of Ed Turner Jr. the owner of Turner Advertising. Even though Ted was born into a well off family, he struggled with the mental illness and suicide of his father. He also struggled with mental illness himself. Throughout it all, he was able to turn Turner Advertising into the Turner empire we now know today.

Arthur is the co-founder of Home Depot, the owner of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, and well-known philanthropy in the Atlanta community. Arthur met his fellow co-founder Bernie Marcus at Handy Dan, a home improvement company. Their being fired created the drive and opportunity for them to create Home Depot.

Lorberbaum is the CEO of Mohawk Industries. Lorberbaum's father founded Aladdin Mills which made bathroom mats. Jeffrey joined the company and became the CEO and President. Later in the 90s, the family made a smart decision to sell the company to Mohawk. Lorberbaum eventually became the CEO of Mohawk.

The son of Truett Cathy, Donald 'Bubba' Cathy is the Executive Vice President of Chick-Fil-A. He started working at the original dwarf house at the age of 7 singing jingles, and later joined the company as a construction apprentice.

Perhaps the most impressive and youngest billionaire on this list, Blakely is the youngest self-made woman billionaire in the world. She is the creator and sole owner of Spanx. With a dream, opportunity, and a bit of luck, recent college graduate Sara sold fax machines door-to-door in her home state of Florida. She was inspired by always having stockings roll up in the hot and humid weather. She took her life savings of 50K and moved to Atlanta where she met Sam Kaplan, the owner of Highland Mills. He did not show interest in Sara's idea, but decided to proceed after his two daughters agreeing to purchase her product. Sara launched her first batch from her home in 2000 and the rest is history!

Dan Cathy is the Chairman, President, and CEO of Chick-Fil-A as well as the son of S. Truett Cathy. A native of Jonesborro, GA, Dan started doing commercials for his father in the 60s. He received his bachelor's degree in business from Georgia Southern University and then started working for Chick-Fil-A as Director of Operations.