Jeff Bezos. Not only did he build something people wanted (a better bookstore), but he leveraged that to push forward with other ideas -- computing as a utility (Amazon Web Services), electronic books (kindle), commercial manned space flight (Blue Origin) -- which people have dreamed about for decades.
Nothing wrong with wanting to prove a point. If pg hadn't said that single-founder companies rarely work, I probably wouldn't have decided to work on tarsnap.
Peter Thiel. Able to found two companies meant to change the world, both of which have turned out well; able to fund lots of Big Ideas, some of which have been similarly lucrative. I don't think there's anyone else who spends so much time thinking about big ideas (his investment strategy is partly based on odds of a Singularity versus Armageddon) and is still able to make something of value.
Both Brits: Felix Dennis and Richard Branson. Felix Dennis because of his no bullshit attitude (his book is great) and Richard Branson for being a serial entrepreneur with a sense of humour. Both are probably very ruthless in business also, but thats one reason they are where they are
