New York is without a doubt the business capital of the world. The city has the nation’s third largest economy and its GDP is higher than the one produced by entire countries like Canada, Russia, or South Korea. In this article we take a look some of the most influential business people who are currently contributing to the city’s phenomenal success story.

1. Larry Fink, Blackrock

California-born Larry Fink currently serves as CEO and Chairman of New York-based investment management corporation BlackRock, also known as world’s largest money management company where managed assets are taken into account. After studying Political Science at UCLA and completing an MBA, Fink began a successful career in investment banking in New York. His business acumen is behind some of the largest deals in the city’s asset management history. Fink has acted as consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Google, AT&T, and the United Kingdom’s Treasury. In addition to his role at BlackRock, his influence extends to other executive boards such as New York University, Langone Medical Center, and the Partnership for New York City.

2. Lee Bollinger, Columbia University

Lee Bollinger has been President of Columbia University since 2002 and is one of the most influential CEOs in New York’s not-for-profit sector. Although he has a legal background, Bollinger has been mainly involved in the management of higher education institutions. Under his leadership, Columbia made it to the top-5 business schools in the country. He also led Columbia’s expansion plan with a focus on green building practices and on accommodating some of the university’s most innovation-focused departments. Bollinger is on the board of directors of Graham Holdings and is a board member of Pulitzer Prize.

3. Lynne Doughtie, KPGM LLP

Lynne Doughtie has spent much of her career (approximately 30 years) working for KPGM, known as one of the Big Four accounting corporations. She was put in charge of the Advisory division in 2011, and was behind the team that achieved annual revenue growth rates of 17 per cent. Doughtie is considered to be behind one of the company’s most rapid period of revenue growth. She has been Chairman of the New York-based firm since 2015 and currently serves as KPGM’s Chief Executive Officer. Moreover, she is a member of KPGM’s Executive Committee and Global Board and plays an instrumental role in high-level decision making within the firm. Doughtie has received several awards in recognition of her professional caliber, including the 2015 Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business Award and the 2016 Accounting Today Top 100 Most Influential People Award.

New York City could be considered the home of philanthropy. The city has a long history of giving by its many wealthy residents. The majority of the city’s many parks exist due to the efforts of giving women. Betsy Head Park was named after the British immigrant who bequeathed the city a large amount of money when she died in 1907 for building recreational facilities. Half of her estate was dedicated to children’s welfare improvement and the other half to purchasing grounds for healthy recreation.

In 1961 the estate of Loula D. Lasker provided $600,000 to build Lasker Rink in Central Park. While she was alive, Ms. Lasker worked actively in Hadassah and took great interest in alleviating housing problems within the city.

New York City is known for a lot of different things. One of the things that New York City is most famous for is the long list of well respected inventors that have called the city home over the years. Many inventors that have changed the world came out of New York City. Also, many of the most widely used products in the world were invented in New York City by New Yorkers. The following is a short list of some of the more widely acclaimed inventors to come out of New York City.

George Herman Babcock

Mr. Babcock was a mechanical engineer from New York City. He was born in 1832 and he was the 6th president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and had many patents. He patented quite a few different types of pumps and steam engines. Despite his many accomplishments, he’s best known for his invention of a specialized water boiler. The boiler was a unique “tube” design that avoided the explosions that were far too common at the time with most boilers. This design was used for everything from steam heating to steam power. The business he created has sustained throughout the years to become a multifaceted energy concern. The company that Babcock created is now heavily involved in the development of nuclear power and nuclear technologies.

Numerous entrepreneurs either come from or live and work in New York City. These are examples of just three who are famous throughout the world.

Josephine Esther Mentzer—Estée Lauder—was born in Queens, New York in 1946 and learned assertive selling techniques, promotion of quality in products, attention to the appearance of the product, and perfectionism from helping in her father’s hardware store. She acquired her skills in producing lotions and skin creams from an uncle who was a famous European skin specialist. As his apprentice, she helped him develop new products using natural ingredients.

She married Joseph Lauder and they founded Estée Lauder, Inc. in 1946. The initial beauty products they created were skin treatments, rouge, and makeup. Advertising agencies didn’t want the account with its budget of only $50,000. The Lauders decided to provide samples to those attending fashion shows and through mailings. It worked well to establish their company. By 1973 they had sales of $100,000 and employed 1,000+ people. Sales of cosmetics and fragrances by Estée Lauder became international by 1960.