9 accountants who changed the world

Try these names on for size: Pop crooner and music producer extraordinaire Lionel Richie studied accounting before he went on to become of of the best-selling recording artists in the world.

Best-selling novelist John Grisham and hirsute horn-blower Kenny G graduated as accountants, comedy legend Bob Newhart balanced the books for an Illinois manufacturer, and movie villain Lee Van Cleef supported himself as an accountant before his clients advised him that his facial features were more suited to playing Hollywood bad guys than crunching numbers. It proved to be sound advice. He went on to play the bad part of the equation in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.