We started the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program to celebrate successful entrepreneurs, so they could share their stories, inspire others and receive the recognition they deserve. Our first program took place in 1986 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States

By 1987 it was held across 11 US cities. And in 1993 the program started to expand internationally. Today the program spans more than 140 cities in 50 countries, which together represent more than 90% of the global economy.

Over the past five years, more than 6,500 entrepreneurs joined the Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni. A “who’s who” of both developed and emerging markets, these alumni include many household names. Over half of today’s top 100 NASDAQ companies have won Entrepreneur Of The Year, and most received the award before they achieved top 100 status.

Twelve years ago we decided to go global and started World Entrepreneur Of The Year. Held annually in Monaco, Entrepreneur Of The Year country winners compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. Past winners include Michael Spencer of ICAP plc, Guy Laliberté of Cirque du Soleil and Narayana Murthy of Infosys Technologies.

http://smileandmobile.com/events/ey-world-entrepreneur-of-the-year-2015/