List of Famous people who born in 1940

Nursultan Äbishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician currently serving as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan who previously served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in office from 24 April 1990 until his formal resignation on 19 March 2019. He is one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having ruled Kazakhstan for nearly three decades. He was named First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR in 1989 and was elected as the nation's first president following its independence from the Soviet Union. He holds the title "Leader of the Nation".

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra, and is widely known for her 1965 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".

Prudence Margaret Leith, is a British-South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, businesswoman, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She is Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She was a judge on BBC Two's Great British Menu for eleven years, before joining The Great British Bake Off in March 2017, replacing Mary Berry, when the television programme moved to Channel 4.

Michael H. Steinhardt is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. In 1967, he founded a hedge fund, Steinhardt Partners, that averaged an annualized return for its clients of 24.5% from 1967 to 1995. His fund lost 1/3 of its value in the 1994 bond market crisis. In 1995, after finishing up 25%, he closed his fund stating, "I thought there must be something more virtuous, more ennobling to do with one's life than make rich people richer," before making a 2004 comeback to head WisdomTree Investments, a fund with nearly US$64 billion in assets under management.

Samuel Little was an American serial killer who was convicted in 2012 of the murders of three women in California between 1987 and 1989 as well as in 2018 of the murder of one woman in Texas in 1994. He claimed to have killed as many as 93 women, and investigators have linked him to over 60 murders. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed Little's involvement in at least 60 murders, the largest number of proven cases for any serial killer in United States history. He allegedly murdered women across 19 states over a third of a century ending around 2005. The number of murders he confessed to, if confirmed, would make him the most prolific serial killer in United States history, according to Ector County, Texas District Attorney Bobby Bland.

Sir Thomas John Woodward, known professionally as Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. His career began with a string of top-ten hits in the mid-1960s. He has toured regularly, with appearances in Las Vegas (1967–2011). Jones's voice has been described by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic as a "full-throated, robust baritone".

Tarō Asō is a Japanese politician who has been Deputy Prime Minister of Japan and Minister of Finance since 2012. He is the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister in Japanese history. Asō previously served one year as Prime Minister of Japan from September 2008 to September 2009 and was also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications.

Sir Clive Marles Sinclair is an English entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Stanley Patrick Johnson is a British author and former Conservative Party politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wight and Hampshire East from 1979 to 1984. A former employee of the World Bank and the European Commission, he has written books on environmental and population issues.

Marlène Jobert is a French actress and author.