George Joseph may have been born into poverty in the Great Depression in September 11, 1921 in Beckley, West Virginia but he was to become one of his country's most successful businessmen.

Joseph is the American billionaire businessman who founded the general-line insurance firm Mercury General Corporation in Los Angeles, an insurance provider with $4.6 billion in annual revenues.

Raised in the midst of the worst economic crisis in the US, Joseph was a flight navigator during World War II. After the war he graduated from Harvard with majors in math and physics in 1949.

After he graduated, he took a job with the Occidental Life Inusrance Company in California and in the evenings, he sold life insurance door-to-door.

Noting that many of his customers would inquire about other lines of insurance (cars, property), Joseph proposed for Occidental to expand its offerings but they turned down his idea.

After being rebuffed in 1954, he left and started his own insurance agency that bundled the life insurance policies he was already selling with property, casualty and car insurance policies.

At the time, the automobile insurance industry was not flexible, with all drivers paying the same rate, regardless of their driving record or experience ao Joseph founded Mercury Insurance in 1962 offering insurance policies with differing rates, based on a driver's record and experience, a first in the industry.

Now at the ripe old age of 103 Joseph remains actively involved in the operations of Mercury Insurance as the chairman of the board.

He owns a 35% stake in Mercury General, which is publicly traded. Currently the world's oldest billionaire, he has a net worth of $1.7 billion (£1.4 billion)according to Forbes.

He has a home in the exclusive Hancock Park area of LA and another in Santa Barbara.

Joseph and wife Vicky have made philanthropic contributions to USC, Harvard University, Cal State Fullerton, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Good Samaritan Hospital.