5 People Who Became Successful After Turning Fifty Years Old

Many business owners assume that their small business opportunities and abilities to succeed dwindle as they age. Fortunately, that is not the case. Some of the most well-known celebrities and business owners alike did not become successful until after they turned 50. If you want to learn more about them and their success stories, continue reading this post. You can use their stories as inspiration as you continue to grow your business.

Another year has passed, and you still can’t call yourself ‘successful’. We all want to find the purpose of life and accomplish something. We forget that everyone has its own timezone. Some people run successful businesses in their twenties; others start families only after forty. There is no schedule or manual on how to live; we all have different paths. When you think you are late in life or you feel like a failure, re-read the stories of people who know how to retire responsibly and prove that it is never too late.

Colonel Harland Sanders

Who doesn’t like crispy Kentucky Fried Chicken? Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of KFC, spent years living in poverty. He was not afraid of learning new things, but no boss could stand Colonel’s character – a few times he was getting into the fights with his coworkers.

In 1930, right at the beginning of the Great Depression, Colonel Sanders started selling chicken dishes at the gas station. He was 40 years old at that time. People liked his recipes, so later Colonel managed to buy his first motel. Unfortunately, it was burned to the ground along with his restaurant in a few years. The other motel was also closed before the beginning of World War II.

Sanders was in his fifties when he decided to find business partners. He offered his secret recipe to business partners and franchised his restaurant. He sent more than one thousand letters and finally got what he wanted at the age of 62. Now we can eat Colonel’s crispy chicken in 136 countries around the world.

Gladys Burrill

Gladys Burrill had a wonderful life. She had been a hiker, mountain climber, horseback rider and an aircraft pilot. Gladys gave life to five children. Right now she has 18 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren. She became truly famous at the age of 92 after completing the Honolulu marathon. It took Gladys 9 hours and 53 minutes to finish, but she didn’t give up. An interesting fact is that it was her first marathon ever.

When people ask her how to be healthy and live a long life, she says: ‘Just get out there and run’. Her positive attitude towards life and willpower helped to write down her name in history – Guinness World Records confirmed her accomplishment in 2008. Glady’s fans call her ‘Gladiator’ even though she is 100 years old now.

Betty White

Dozens of youths move to Hollywood in the hope to find the roles of their lives and become famous. Weeks, months and years pass by, and they go back to their hometowns empty-handed. Betty White started her career in the 1940s. When people were moving in and out of Los Angeles, the actress tried to make up something extraordinary. She became famous at the age of 63 by taking on the role of a famous character in the show ‘The Golden Girls’. Betty White, ‘the golden girl’ is 97 years old right now. She remains America’s Sweetheart and keeps working in front of the camera. Her life motto is ‘You will get there.’

Taikichiro Mori

Taikichiro Mori was born in 1904 in Tokyo. He retired at the age of 55 as a head of the School of Commerce at Yokohama City University. Some considered him successful, but Taikichiro Mori knew that he could do so much more. He founded Mori Building Company and became a real estate investor. At some point, Taikichiro Mori controlled almost 90 buildings in the city center of Tokyo. In 1991 he became the world’s wealthiest person with $15 billion in his pocket.

Despite his fortune and fame, Taikichiro Mori lived a pretty modest life. He didn’t like gold, fancy cars and the taste of alcohol, and Mori never smoked. The richest man on Earth died at the age of 88 in Tokyo. His son, Minoru Mori once said that his father was afraid of getting bored after retirement.

Roy Kroc

Roy Kroc used to say ‘If you work for money, you will never make it. If you work for people, success will be yours’. Today, we know him as a founder of the McDonald’s corporation. Informed consumers think of him when they browse the McDonald’s menu and reflect on the company’s success. The business world didn’t hear of him until he was 52 years old though. Before striking it big with his fast food business, Roy Kroc worked as a musician and salesperson. He was not afraid of changes. For instance, he didn’t want to see any cigarette machines and pinball in his restaurants, even though it was so popular at that time.

He wanted his clients to get focused on food. More than that, he refused to hire people with an MBA degree. Roy Kroc believed that these people missed their time at University. Nowadays business experts call his fast-food company a ‘capitalistic victory’.