The Ledger / Tom Golisano
Tom Golisano
◼ Origin
Founded Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX) in Rochester, NY, in 1971 with $3,000, after being turned down for a pay raise at his payroll-processing employer; built Paychex into the second-largest US payroll processing company with $5B+ annual revenue, 730,000+ clients, and a NYSE Blue Chip market capitalization exceeding $40B. Stepped down as CEO in 2004.
◼ Self-Made Verdict — YES
Founded Paychex in 1971 with $3,000 in savings after being denied a raise; built it to a $40B+ market-cap company purely through operational execution.
◼ Documented marks
01
Founder of Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX), the second-largest US payroll processor, serving 730,000+ small- and medium-sized businesses; Paychex processes payroll for approximately 1 in 12 US private-sector workers.
02
Ran for Governor of New York three times (1994, 1998, 2002) on the Independence Party ticket, spending $93M of his own money across three campaigns; his candidacies drew support away from both major parties without winning, illustrating the structural barriers of US third-party politics.
03
Majority owner of the Buffalo Sabres (NHL) since 2003; the Sabres have not won a Stanley Cup championship in the franchise's history and rank among the NHL's lower-revenue franchises, sustained by Golisano's subsidy of a franchise in a small market.
No inheritance, or primary accounts documented for this billionaire yet.
◼ List of charges
No documented charges yet.
These are moral charges, not legal ones. The actual legal system has not — and will not — bring them.
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