You may not necessarily agree with their actions, with their guiding principles, with their affiliations. But never the less there is something to be learned from each of the 7 persons on the list below.
3 Americans, 1 German, 1 French/Tunesian, 1 Lebanese, 1 Israeli. All of them have been exposed to different cultures and different countries throughout their formative years. Non of them have been born with silver spoon in the mouth. But they all made a significant contribution in each their way.
In no particular order:
1. Niklas Luhmann
German sociologist.
Click here to go to the Niklas Luhmann blog post!
2. Steve Jobs
American businessman in the tech industry
Click here to go to the Steve Jobs page!
3. Nicholas Nassim Taleb
Lebanese / American philosopher and former trader in the financial service industry
Click here to see page of Taleb!
4. Steve Bannon
American naval officer, banker, movie producer, and CEO of Breitbart news. Chief strategist for POTUS 45.
Click here to go the page dedicated to Steve Bannon!
5. Jean Touitou
French / Tunesian fashion designer and founder of the super cool brand A.P.C.
Click to go to page dedicated to Jean Touitou!
6. Yuval Noah Harari
Israeli historian
Click here for the page of Sapien and future Home Deus Harari!
7. Peter Thiel
American tech entrepreneur of German origin.
Check out the Thiel page! simple click once!
There should be many more out there. Also from within the world of sports. But often sporting personalities inspire in a different way. A few do cross the boundary between athletics and broader issues of society though.