If true power in Chicago lies largely in the strength of your connections to other powerful people, this aff able corporate chieftain is tough to beat. Seriously. What key boards is White not on? (See It’s Cozy at the Top.”) What’s more, Wall Street cheered the January spinoff of Abbott’s pharma research business, giving the newly focused Abbott Labs—run by White—a market cap of $52 billion at presstime. That’s higher than that of any Chicago-area public company except McDonald’s.

Photograph: YVETTE MARIE DOSTATNI/CHICAGO TRIBUNE