Politics · born 1947Mitt Romneypolitician, businessmanDetroit-born son of automaker and governor George Romney; grew up in Bloomfield Hills, attended Cranbrook, later governed Massachusetts and ran for president in 2012.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
29 people
Clear filtersPolitics · born 1947Mitt Romneypolitician, businessmanDetroit-born son of automaker and governor George Romney; grew up in Bloomfield Hills, attended Cranbrook, later governed Massachusetts and ran for president in 2012.
Business & brands · born 1956Steve Ballmerbusinessman, investor, NBA team ownerMicrosoft's CEO from 2000 to 2014 was born in Detroit, the son of a Ford manager, grew up in Farmington Hills and graduated from Detroit Country Day School.
Music · born 1975Jack Whiteguitarist, singer, songwriter, producerSouthwest Detroit native who co-founded the White Stripes at the Gold Dollar bar in 1997 and later opened Third Man Records' Cass Corridor store and pressing plant.
Music · born 1940Smokey Robinsonsinger, songwriter, record producer, record executiveNorth End native who founded the Miracles, gave Motown its first million-seller and wrote many of the label's defining hits while serving as its vice president.
Science & invention · born 1954Bill Joycomputer scientist, entrepreneurAuthor of the vi editor, a key developer of BSD Unix and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, born in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills.
Auto industry · 1925–2005John DeLoreanautomotive engineer and executive, founder of DeLorean Motor CompanyDetroit-born GM maverick who created the Pontiac GTO, ran Chevrolet, then built the stainless-steel DeLorean made famous by Back to the Future.
Science & invention · born 1969Tony Fadellengineer, designer, entrepreneurEngineer known as the 'father of the iPod', co-creator of the iPhone and founder of Nest Labs; he grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School.
Auto industry · 1903–1956Preston Tuckerautomobile entrepreneur and designerLincoln Park–raised car dreamer behind the futuristic Tucker 48, whose story became the 1988 film Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Business & brands · born 1963Dick Costolotechnology executive, former CEO of TwitterRoyal Oak–born University of Michigan graduate who co-founded FeedBurner and ran Twitter as CEO from 2010 to 2015.
Business & brands · born 1954Scott McNealytechnology executive, co-founder of Sun MicrosystemsSon of an American Motors executive who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, graduated from Cranbrook and co-founded Sun Microsystems.
Business & brands · 1933–2021Eli Broadhomebuilder, financier, philanthropistRaised in Detroit, he built his first houses in the city's suburbs, founded what became KB Home, and later became a major art and education philanthropist.
Business & brands · born 1962Dan Gilbertbusinessman, founder of Rocket Mortgage and BedrockDetroit-born mortgage billionaire who moved Quicken Loans downtown in 2010 and bought and rebuilt dozens of city landmarks through Bedrock.
Music · born 1964Kevin SaundersonDJ, record producer, label ownerOne of the Belleville Three who invented Detroit techno; his Inner City hits carried the city's sound onto pop charts worldwide.
Architecture & design · 1917–2019Florence Knollarchitect, interior and furniture designerMichigan-born designer who grew up at Cranbrook's Kingswood School under the Saarinens' wing and went on to build Knoll into a modern furniture giant.
Business & brands · 1914–2010John Klugemedia entrepreneur, founder of MetromediaGerman immigrant who grew up in Detroit, studied at Wayne State and built Metromedia into a television empire, once ranked America's richest man.
Politics · 1922–1998Charles Diggsfuneral director, state senator, congressmanDetroit funeral director who in 1954 became Michigan's first Black member of Congress, attended the Emmett Till murder trial and was the founding chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Business & brands · 1924–2015A. Alfred Taubmanshopping-mall developer, owner of Sotheby's, philanthropistPontiac-born developer who helped define the American indoor shopping mall, owned Sotheby's and gave large sums to Detroit-area art and education.
Music · born 1982Ben Blackwelldrummer, record label executive, writer, archivistDetroit-born drummer of the Dirtbombs, founder of Cass Records and co-founder of Third Man Records, which opened its Cass Corridor store and pressing plant in Detroit.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.