Farouk Shami, a Palestinian-American entrepreneur, is worth $700 million.
The Farouk Systems, a hair-care and spa products company, is his most well-known name.
Despite dropping out of the University of Arkansas to pursue cosmetology, Shami’s career in hair-care product development didn’t require him to have a degree.
The first ammonia-free hair color was invented by him. Presently, Farouk Systems, a Houston-based company with 2,000 employees, markets its hair and skin care products under the names BioSilk, SunGlitz, and Cationic Hydration Interlink (CHI) brands.
They are distributed to more than 106 countries around the globe.
In addition to launching a lucrative cosmetics business, Shami entered politics in 2009 by running for the Texas gubernatorial election in 2010.
Unfortunately, he was not able to secure a win in the Democratic primary.