Business & brands · born 1956Steve Ballmerbusinessman, investor, NBA team ownerMicrosoft's CEO from 2000 to 2014 was born in Detroit, the son of a Ford manager, grew up in Farmington Hills and graduated from Detroit Country Day School.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 270 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
28 people
Clear filtersBusiness & brands · born 1956Steve Ballmerbusinessman, investor, NBA team ownerMicrosoft's CEO from 2000 to 2014 was born in Detroit, the son of a Ford manager, grew up in Farmington Hills and graduated from Detroit Country Day School.
Business & brands · 1881–1956William Boeingaviation pioneer, industrialistFounder of the Boeing airplane company, born in Detroit to a German immigrant who had grown rich from Great Lakes timber and iron ore.
Film & TV · born 1943Jerry Bruckheimerfilm and television producerDetroit-born producer of Top Gun, Pirates of the Caribbean and CSI, a Mumford High graduate who put his school's gym shirt on Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop.
Auto industry · born 1961Mary Barraautomotive executive, engineerMetro Detroit native who rose from a GM co-op student to chair and CEO of General Motors in 2014, the first woman to lead a Big Three automaker.
Sports · born 1943Dave Bingbasketball player, businessman, politicianHall of Fame Pistons guard of 1966–1975 who built a Detroit steel company after his playing days and served as the city's 74th mayor from 2009 to 2014.
Business & brands · 1933–2021Eli Broadhomebuilder, financier, philanthropistRaised in Detroit, he built his first houses in the city's suburbs, founded what became KB Home, and later became a major art and education philanthropist.
Politics · 1814–1892Henry P. Baldwinshoe merchant, banker, governor of Michigan, U.S. senatorDetroit boot and shoe wholesaler and banker who built St. John's Episcopal Church on Woodward, served as governor (1869–1873) and gave Hazen Pingree his first Detroit job.
MusicMike Banksrecord producer, musician, label and distribution founderCo-founder of Underground Resistance and Submerge, the militant, independent heart of Detroit's second techno wave, based on East Grand Boulevard.
Business & brands · 1847–1906James Anthony Baileycircus owner and managerDetroit-born orphan who ran away to the circus from a Pontiac hotel and became the Bailey of Barnum & Bailey, 'The Greatest Show on Earth'.
Politics · 1792–1859John Biddlearmy officer, mayor of Detroit, territorial delegatePhiladelphia-born officer who commanded Fort Shelby, served as Detroit's mayor in 1827–1828 and founded the estate that became the city of Wyandotte.
Press & broadcasting · 1864–1949George Gough Boothnewspaper publisher, arts patronDetroit News publisher who, with his wife Ellen Scripps Booth, founded Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and championed the Arts and Crafts movement in Detroit.
Politics · 1832–1881John J. Bagleytobacco manufacturer, governor of MichiganTeenage tobacco-shop apprentice who built Detroit's Mayflower Tobacco Company and became a reforming governor (1873–1877); his rediscovered statue turned up in DIA storage in 2019.
City history · 1853–1932Clarence M. Burtonlawyer, businessman, historian and collectorDetroit title lawyer and historian whose private archive became the Burton Historical Collection, the backbone of Detroit history research.
Music · born 1982Ben Blackwelldrummer, record label executive, writer, archivistDetroit-born drummer of the Dirtbombs, founder of Cass Records and co-founder of Third Man Records, which opened its Cass Corridor store and pressing plant in Detroit.
Business & brands · 1864–1941Philip Breitmeyerflorist, FTD co-founder, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born florist who co-founded Florists' Telegraph Delivery (FTD), served as parks commissioner and was Republican mayor in 1909–1910.
Business & brands · 1819–1875Kirkland C. Barkertobacco manufacturer, mayor of DetroitFounder of Detroit's KC Barker & Company (American Eagle Tobacco), mayor in 1864–1865, sportsman and friend of George Armstrong Custer.
Business & brands · 1810–1894Christian H. Buhlindustrialist, banker, mayor of DetroitHatter and fur trader who became one of Detroit's leading industrialists and bankers and served as mayor at the outbreak of the Civil War (1860–1861).
Business & brands · 1806–1890Frederick Buhlfurrier, businessman, mayor of DetroitHatter-turned-fur-trader who with his brother Christian built one of Detroit's great fortunes and served as mayor in 1848.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗