W. C. Bradley

He, along with partner G. Gunby Jordan, co-founded two banks that eventually merged to become the present-day Synovus Financial Corp.

He also formed the W. C. Bradley Co. in 1885 by purchasing a cotton factoring firm and immediately expanding it into a diverse business spanning many different industries.

[1] Bradley also played a prominent role in the early history of The Coca-Cola Company, serving as its chairman of the board from 1919 to 1939.

In 1885, he moved to nearby Columbus, Georgia, and began work as a clerk at the cotton factoring firm Bussey-Goldsmith and Company.

They changed the name of the company to Carter and Bradley and immediately began to diversify its line of business into other areas including fertilizer sales and groceries.