S. Truett Cathy is a real-life Horatio Alger story. Growing up in a boardinghouse his mother operated during the Great Depression, he learned the principles of hard work, honesty, loyalty, and respect. When he opened a small restaurant in 1946 with his brother Ben, he put those principles to work and immediately began to experience rewards. Over two decades later, Cathy opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant, which was unique in America in two ways: it served the first boneless breast chicken sandwich, and it was the first fast-food restaurant to operate in a shopping mall. Today, the more than 1,000 Chick-fil-A restaurants boast than $3 billion in sales annually while adhering to a policy previously unknown in the fast-food business: Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.

Along with his wife, Jeanette, Cathy is also the founder of the WinShape Centre Foundation, which offers college scholarships, summer camps for children, a marriage retreat center, and homes for more than 130 foster children. The Cathys live in the Atlanta area.