The MacArthur “genius” is rapidly expanding her sphere of influence beyond Chicago. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City selected her to design a new center, and her plans for a twisted tower in San Francisco take the undulating Aqua look to another level. Her roster of local projects includes an ambitious … Read more
Discreet, well-connected, and reliable as a blizzard in January, Waddell is a rich-people’s banker straight from central casting. Last year, he proved that he’ll do the cost cutting that’s necessary to keep the 125-year-old Northern Trust—where he has spent his entire 40-year career—managing the assets of the world’s wealthy for years to come.
He hit Boeing’s supposed mandatory retirement age last year, but McNerney, now in his ninth year at the aerospace giant, shows no signs of stepping down. And why should he, when the company’s commercial planes division notched record performance in the fourth quarter? McNerney’s seat on the President’s Export Council is icing on one powerful … Read more
This seasoned chieftain has been a blizzard of activity in recent months: selling off a portion of Abbott’s generics business, acquiring Chile’s CFR Pharmaceuticals, and expanding into new technology areas within vascular-device and eye-care fields. While revenues and profits were essentially flat in 2014, as of presstime, the drug maker’s stock was on the rise.
Last year, the Star Wars director—who now lives partly in Chicago, where his wife, Mellody Hobson, works—demonstrated that he has the power to transform the city’s public lakefront. True, preservationists have filed a lawsuit to block construction of the $300 million Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. But with Rahm behind it—and Lucas’s pledge to use … Read more
It’s our fourth annual list of the Chicagoans who have the most clout—and why.
Last year, Chicago asked about Hobson, then No. 29, “How much more powerful can she get?” Plenty, it turns out. Second in command at the country’s largest minority-owned investment firm, a director of three corporate giants, and an on-air contributor to CBS News, she has also become a Chicago benefactress par excellence. In 2014, she … Read more
Delany leads the biggest cash cow of college conferences, generating $318 million annually, according to Forbes. And when he goes shopping for a new football TV contract in a couple of years (the current one with ESPN is reportedly worth $1 billion), it won’t hurt that he has a national champion (Ohio State) to brag … Read more
Thanks in part to serious cost cutting and lower fuel prices, the airlines giant posted a profit of nearly $2 billion last year, up 89 percent from 2013. Too bad Smisek is so unpopular with fliers (United sits second from the bottom in J.D. Power’s airline satisfaction rankings) and employees (furious about continued layoffs, they … Read more
Why would Griffin jump 16 spots on this list, given his very public, very contentious pending divorce from fellow hedge fund manager Anne (see our Power Smackdown)—a split that could take a sizable chunk of his estimated $6.5 billion net worth? The main reason: The richest man in Chicago donated an eye-popping $13 million (including … Read more
