This is a nice profile of Dennis Gillings, a statistician who started a small company in the 1980s with only 5 employees. This company, Quintiles, is now the world’s largest CRO (Clinical Research Organization). The article appeared in May 2013, shortly before Quintiles offered an IPO that would turn Dr. Gillings into a billionaire.
Herper M. The Next Billionaire: A Statistician Who Changed Medicine. Forbes. 2013-05-08. Available in html format. This article may be behind a paywall.
You can find an earlier version of this page on my blog.