The gig: Alfred E. Mann, 85, is an aerospace and biomedical entrepreneur who founded 17 companies over six decades and became a billionaire philanthropist.
Niche man: Although he had no formal business training, Mann has demonstrated a knack for capitalizing on investment opportunities. His secret: Identify an unmet need and come up with a technology to fill it.
The result has been a string of companies with names like Spectrolab, Heliotek, MiniMed and Advanced Bionics. Mann has developed pacemakers, cochlear implants, insulin pumps and other devices.
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