Satya Nadella and Microsoft’s West Des Moines data centers
Satya Nadella became Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, the third in its history after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
Kim Sanders
Taylor Swift and the economics of the Eras Tour
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ran from March 2023 to December 2024 and became the highest-grossing concert tour ever, passing $2 billion.
Zach Johnson, the Cedar Rapids golfer with two majors
Zach Johnson grew up in Cedar Rapids and played golf at Drake University in Des Moines. He wasn’t a big-name prospect, and spent years on mini tours…
Mary Barra, the GM chief who started on the factory floor
Mary Barra started at General Motors at 18 as a co-op student, inspecting fender panels and hoods at the Pontiac plant. In 2014 she became the first woman…
Jeff Bezos, from a garage bookstore to rockets
Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994 in a garage in Bellevue, Washington, selling books online. It grew into the country’s biggest online retailer, and…
Mark Zuckerberg and the Meta data center in Altoona
Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his Harvard dorm room in 2004 and has run it ever since. The company renamed itself Meta in 2021.
Ashton Kutcher, the Cedar Rapids kid who became a tech investor
Ashton Kutcher grew up in Cedar Rapids and Homestead, in the Amana Colonies, and graduated from Clear Creek Amana High School. He enrolled at the…
Shawn Johnson, the West Des Moines gymnast who won Beijing gold
Shawn Johnson trained at Chow’s Gymnastics in West Des Moines and became one of the faces of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Kurt Warner, from Hy-Vee shelves to the Hall of Fame
Kurt Warner’s story is told in every Iowa grocery store break room.
Dan Gable and the wrestling culture he built in Iowa
Wrestling matters in Wright County, and much of the reason runs back to Dan Gable.