Lester Crown

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Lester Crown

Age: 87

Occupation: Chairman, Henry Crown and Co.

He may be spending his autumn years in the company of close friends and relatives, but when your family is worth an estimated $4 billion and your social circle is made up of philanthropic leaders from all over town, retirement doesn’t exactly mean sitting still. By all accounts, the Crown patriarch remains the crucial voice on key decisions regarding the investment firm run by his son James (No. 44) and his family’s charitable giving, which benefits more than 600 organizations each year.

Photograph: YVETTE MARIE DOSTATNI/CHICAGO TRIBUNE