On the shores of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, during the 2016 Winterfest U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition, there were delicate sprays of snow showers from various directions. It wasn’t snow flurries or the lake effect. The chilly commotion was generated by a select group of men and women sculpting huge blocks of freshly produced snow with … Read more
What does the crop of new chiefs at Chicago’s biggest companies mean for the civic landscape?
The Power 50, icebreakers of the Chicago River, how CPS failed Laquan McDonald, and more.
Legal scholar Richard Epstein helps handicap the local contenders.
The conservative jurist taught at U. of C. for five years before Reagan appointed him to a coveted position in D.C.
Things have shaken up like never before in our annual list of the most influential Chicagoans. Starting at the top.
As bad a year as Rahm had at the power table, Pritzker seemed to turn over all aces. In October, the billionaire financier burnished his philanthropic rep by dropping a cool $100 million to support scholarships at Northwestern University’s law school, the largest gift ever to a U.S. law school. The ice-skating ribbon in Maggie … Read more
By some measures, the recently divorced Griffin may be the most eligible bachelor in town. Forbes pegs his net worth at $7.2 billion, making him Chicago’s richest man. And he’s getting richer by the minute: Citadel’s main funds rose nearly 13 percent from January 1, 2015 through November, according to Bloomberg, as the S&P closed … Read more
In 2015, Madigan did what he does best: be Mike Madigan. Just as he’s done for, well, practically forever, the wily speaker used his absolute control over the statehouse to stand as the impenetrable roadblock to anything—anything!—that threatens his power source: his 71-seat Democratic supermajority. We defy you to name one of Madigan’s accomplishments last … Read more
When this brass-tacks billionaire talks investing, people listen. Why wouldn’t they? Last year, three publicly traded real estate investment trusts that Zell controls delivered the largest returns of any in town. In October, one of those trusts sold off a quarter of its apartment properties for $5.3 billion, and Zell is reportedly selling more this year, … Read more
