Ricardo Semler heads up the Brazilian company, Semco, which is involved in such diverse ventures as manufacturing mixing equipment, making cooling towers, managing Latin American properties, and environmental consulting.

Semler has authored two best-sellers, Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace and The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works.

Semler is a Harvard Business School alumnus, and has been named Brazil's Business Leader of the Year two times.