2007: Roger Penske

Owner, Penske Racing and Penske Corporation

In our words: “Roger Penske is not a character. He’s not a colorful iconoclast, he doesn’t smoke cigars or tell jokes, he’s not a brilliant enginner or a cowboy or even a very public figure outside of his beloved racing community. But Roger Penske, a promising racing driver who walked away at the age of twenty-eight to sell Chevrolets, is a hero in the automotive world. We want to make wristbands (in Marlboro red) stamped with the initials WWRD (What Would Roger Do?).”

What happened next: Penske’s failed bid to buy Saturn out from under a failing General Motors is but an aberration in a long line of successes, including his Penske Automotive Group dealership empire and Penske Racing, which continues to do well.