The first documented person to climb the "Seven Summits" — the tallest mountain on each continent — was Dick Bass. He wasn't a professional athlete or mountaineer of any kind, just an American businessman with a dream.
Throughout most of his attempts at the summits, Bass was accompanied by another American businessman with a dream, Frank Wells. Wells missed out only on summiting the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, despite his best efforts. Shortly after abandoning Everest, Wells summited another type of mountain: he was appointed president of The Walt Disney Company (DIS), a role he served for a decade before his death in a helicopter crash.
