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.

EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year
Since 2001, the overall country winners from EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programs around the world have gathered in Monte Carlo, Monaco the first week of every June for EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Dubbed "the ultimate global competition and event for entrepreneurs," each year's class of country winners are reviewed by an independent judging panel of business leaders and previous award recipients.

The judges for EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 were Chair of Judges Hernan Kazah, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Kaszek Ventures (Argentina); George Hongchoy, Executive Director and CEO, Link Asset Management Limited (Hong Kong and China); Phyllis Newhouse, CEO, Xtreme Solutions, Inc. (USA); Susan Chong, Founder and President, Greenpac Pte Ltd. (Singapore); Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, Founder and CEO, Malaika (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Michèle Sioen, CEO, Sioen Industries (Belgium); Rafał Brzoska, CEO, InPost Group (Poland); and JungJin SEO, Honorary Chairman, Celltrion Group (South Korea).

Other awards
Periodically, global leaders are bestowed awards during the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year award gala in Monaco.

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Social Entrepreneurship Award
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Social Impact and Social Entrepreneurship awards recognize the achievements of leaders whose legacies have had global impact in areas such as sustainability. This award is peer-selected by EOY alumni that form the Global Alumni Council. Recipients of this award are considered EOY alumni.