Emerson Foote (notactually a Wikipedia link...no wiki entry on him)
These are the proto Cooper, Sterling, and Draper. Not exact biographic inspirations, but these are three of the early giants in advertising, and their stories are compelling. Lasker began as an office clerk in 1898. Just 14 years later, he bought the company. When it came time for him to retire, he sold it at a gift price to Cone, Foote, & another gent named Gentry.
Cone appears to be the advertising creative (Draper-ish), with an extensive portfolio. Interestingly, it was Foote who served as an inspiration for this season's Draper moment where Don wrote an industry letter all Jerry McGuire-style saying he'd never advertise for Big Tobacco again. Foote actually did it, distancing himself and his agency from Tobacco after their messy divorce from Lucky Strikes!
These three are #s 9,80, & 83 on Advertising Age's list of 100 Top People of the Century.
Also interesting to me is that these men were dealing with accounts ranging from $250K To $12M. I just read that their company (now known as Draftfcb) has annual billings of $9.5B, more than 1,100 agents, and more than 100 Fortune 500 businesses as clients.
