Donald Trump

Before his catchphrase "You're fired!" became the "Talk to the hand!" of the early 2000s, Trump became famous in the '80s when he took the respectable real-estate business he inherited from his father and turned it into an empire. Astutely aware of the currency of fame, Trump marketed his own image and became an unlikely celebrity, with his torrid affair with B-actress Marla Maples and subsequent bitter divorce from first wife Ivana only serving to increase his visibility. After almost going bankrupt in the '90s, he bounced back in 2004 by executive-producing and starring in The Apprentice, a hugely successful reality show that once again made the Donald as ubiquitous as late-night jokes about his hair.