Randal Schwartz and the Intel VP with "Pre$ident" as a password was the first thing that sprung to my mind too.

Randal is also a great example of someone who used adversity to become greater -- "oh, shit, my legal bills are hundreds of thousands of dollars" to he went out and did a lot of high-value consulting, becoming even more well known as one of the best Perl developers out there.

He's also a good example of how a cult of personality can adversely affect one's humility.