CEOs & Founders - Profiles Of Humble-Roots Success Stories

EXCLUSIVE: Polo has long been called the “Sport of Kings”—a world of manicured lawns, champagne, and generational wealth. So you’d be forgiven for thinking the CEO of a $2.7 billion global heritage polo brand comes from old money connections, with an Ivy League education and a corner office inherited rather than earned. But U.S. Polo Assn. (USPA Global) CEO J. MICHAEL PRINCE is none of those things. “I grew up in the middle part of the United States, southeastern Oklahoma—which is actually one of the poor parts of the country, there are four or five really poor parts of the United States, and that’s up there with them,” Prince told me. Today, Prince brushes shoulders with Prince William, the future King of England. 👑 For nearly the last decade, he’s been running U.S. Polo Assn. out its global headquarters in Palm Beach, overseeing the $2.7 billion brand spanning 190 countries, 1,200 retail stores, and 15 million social media followers. And it’s all thanks to taking up the “boring” job that millennials and boomers abandoned: accounting. 🔗 Read more about his rise to the top in my latest CEO profile for Fortune And if you’re new here 👋🏻 I run Fortune’s Success desk and interview CEOs, founders and public figures every week about their secrets to success — think Colin Kaepernick, Will.i.am, execs at Grindr, L’Oréal, Chanel and Verizon. If you know a CEO, founder or public figure with a story worth telling, I want to hear it. ✉️ [email redacted]