Success stories far too often focus on the youth. Mark Zuckerberg (age 19 when starting Facebook). Elizabeth Holmes (age 19 when launching Theranos). Well, it doesn’t always work out.   

Not enough air time is given to the late bloomers. While this list only focuses on 9 success stories after 40, there are many other examples. And there’s an obvious reason why. 

With age comes experience and wisdom. 

Many of these people tried numerous jobs before finally landing in a place where they triumphed. 

They failed often. But crucially – they didn’t quit. 

As I inch ever closer to the 40-year-old threshold, this issue has admittedly weighed on me. Is all hope lost if I haven’t “made it” by age 40? Could I still find entrepreneurial success? Writing success? 

Do people stop caring what you create or put out into the world after a certain age? 

These were the questions that kept me up at night after turning 36 this past month. 

So I went down the rabbit hole of 40 and over success stories. Some may call them late bloomers, but honestly, they are probably more like fine wine. Or the tune of a fiddle that only gets sweeter with age.

Success is also relative, so the way I’ve defined “making it” or “finding triumph” is never having to worry about money again. Not everyone on this list was/is filthy rich, but their star power alone basically guaranteed they were forever employable.

Before we get into the list, let me preface it by saying: there’s hope for every motivated person, regardless of age.     

Anthony Bourdain

Tony is one of my heroes. I wrote a review of his famous book, Kitchen Confidential, which gained him international notoriety and set him on the celebrity chef path (ironically, he despised celebrity chefs). 

He was 44 when he published Kitchen Confidential. Before its publication, he had wandered from one restaurant to the next, primarily in Manhattan. Everything from the “bigs” – one and two Michelin star joints to humbler French brasseries like the restaurant he’s most known for: Les Halles (note: it’s back again in Manhattan, renamed Chez Francis after a brief stint as Les Brasserie).   

All of that wandering in his 20s and 30s led to his famous book. Then to his travel shows and superstardom. The anniversary of his death still pains me every June, but I take solace in the fact he brought all of us hope – that simple things like a well-executed meal could bring people together and serve as powerful storytelling vehicles. 

Vera Wang

The world-renowned wedding dress designer didn’t open her first bridal gown boutique until she was 40. Before that, she had pursued careers in figure skating and journalism.    

It’s not like she wasn’t good at both. She was featured in Sports Illustrated as a figure skater and was the youngest editor at Vogue when she was hired. Wang worked at the latter for 17 years before quitting to work for Ralph Lauren. Two years later she opened her own boutique and the rest is history. 

Vera Wang – although very successful in her other endeavors – didn’t find her main triumph until she crossed the 40 threshold. Undoubtedly, the competitive lessons from figure skating and the fashion industry background from Vogue and Ralph Lauren equipped her with the requisite skills when she was ready to go independent. 

Henry Ford

One of the greatest American entrepreneurs of all time was largely a business failure before the age of 40. Ever heard of the Detroit Automobile Company? You probably haven’t unless you’re a Ford historian because it failed quickly due to low quality and high prices. 

To be clear – Henry Ford was a successful machinist and designer of automobiles before the age of 40, but he couldn’t make them work from a business perspective until 1908 with the introduction of the Model T. He was 45. 

Perhaps even more revolutionary was his introduction a few years later of the assembly line, which transformed factory work forever. All of which was likely fueled by the lessons he learned from business failures and from tinkering with numerous engines and automobile designs. 

Toni Morrison

One of the greatest American novelists. It’s crazy to think some people want to ban her books. If anything, that means we should be reading them even more. 

Toni Morrison published her first novel – The Bluest Eye – in 1970, shortly before her 40th birthday. She didn’t receive serious critical acclaim though until she published Song of Solomon (1977) and Beloved (1989), which won her a Pulitzer. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, long after her 40th birthday. 

She never stopped writing. When writing The Bluest Eye she would often wake up at 4 AM to write, while raising two children as a single mom. Even when that book didn’t sell well initially, Morrison kept at it. 

In 2006, The New York Times Book Review named Beloved the best work of American fiction published in the previous 25 years. 

Reminder: Toni Morrison was almost 60 when she published that book.    

Sam Walton

While he had several successes in retail during his early years – including owning a chain of Ben Franklin franchises – it wasn’t until 1962 at the age of 44 that Sam Walton opened the first official Wal-Mart. It would become the first discount one-stop shopping chain in America, which Walton placed in small towns instead of big cities. 

This strategy created an empire that became the world’s largest corporation by revenue as well as the largest private employer in the world at the time. For a period, Sam Walton was the richest man in America.

But he hadn’t even come close to that level of success before turning age 44. As with the other folks highlighted on this list though, the foundation he had built positioned him to succeed later in life. 

Martha Stewart

Some of the people on this list had strong connections. They knew powerful people.

While Martha Stewart is without question a talented person, it helped that her husband Andrew was the president of a prominent New York City publisher. It also helped that his company hired Martha’s catering business at the time to cater book release parties. And it definitely helped that one publisher in particular – Alan Mirken of Crown Publishing Group – took an interest in her. 

With that said, Martha Stewart had to perform at a high level. When she got her first book deal that set her on the path to stardom she was 41. Prior to that, she had been a stockbroker and owner of multiple catering businesses. 

She used the success of her book, Entertaining, as a springboard that launched a series of media empires from the Martha Stewart Living magazine to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart is still one of the strongest female brands in the world, and it all happened after the age of 40.      

Samuel L. Jackson

Thank you, Spike Lee. Had it not been for Spike including him in films like Jungle Fever (1991), the world may not know the Samuel L. Jackson it does today. 

Do you know how old Samuel L. Jackson was in Jungle Fever? 

43. 

Most of the work that preceded the Spike Lee movies was in the theater. Samuel L. Jackson was a drama major at Morehouse College, where he was also heavily involved in civil rights activism following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. 

Of course, his big breakout didn’t come until 1994 in a little film by Quentin Tarantino called Pulp Fiction. He was 46. The man just kept acting and didn’t quit.  

Regis Philbin

I have a soft spot in my heart for this guy because my mom watched him and Kathy Lee almost every morning of my childhood. It shocked me to learn that Regis Philbin didn’t have any major successes before that show, which started in 1988 when Regis was age 57. 

Prior to that, he had hosted The Regis Philbin Show, which ultimately failed. Then for years, he was Joey Bishop’s sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show.

Often called “the hardest-working man in show business” who once held the Guinness World Record for most hours spent on camera, Regis Philbin is the perfect example of persistence paying off later in life.   

Julia Child

I love Julia. As the proud owner of her cookbooks, I’m so happy her ideas, recipes, and personality were put out into the world. Although her Whole Roast Chicken almost sent me over the edge.

She was almost 50 when her first cookbook – Mastering the Art of French Cooking – was published (after having been rejected by the first publisher). And she was 50 during the pilot season of The French Chef.

It should go to show: regardless of age, if you have a skill and idea, go for it. Child never let anyone get in her way, from book publishers to the male-dominated media personalities that tried to influence her television show. At age 50, Julia Child was just hitting her prime. 

What these success stories mean for the rest of us  

Anyone can be a late bloomer. It’s scary getting older – the hair falls out more, the skin wrinkles, and the motor skills fade. 

But what we lose in age, we gain in wisdom and experience. 

The key is to never give up no matter what punches life throws your way. From Toni Morrison writing consistently even as a single mom, to Regis Philbin experiencing one failure or slight after the next until finally reaching the mountaintop at age 57, we’re all on our own timelines. 

You cannot judge yourself by any of these success stories directly. Each of us has our own unique traits and talents. We each have different backgrounds and upbringings too. 

Use what you have. And think critically about what you can do with it. 

It’s never too late.