Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, previously known as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is an annual award program sponsored by Ernst & Young in recognition of entrepreneurship. Founded in 1986 in Milwaukee as a single award, the program now runs in all 50 U.S. states and in more than 60 countries.

At the country and territory levels, programs begin with nomination of entrepreneurs who demonstrate specific criteria. The award may be given to multiple individuals per year. For example, in the U.S. and other countries, there are multiple regional and category winners, spanning fields such as for retail and consumer products, technology, family business, energy, chemical and mining, food products and services, real estate, hospitality, and construction, financial services, digital media, and transformational ventures. However, in each country, only one company and its leader(s) are recognized as the overall award recipient.

Since 1986, over 10,000 founders, CEOs, and business leaders have received awards, with an average of 400 recipients annually.