7 Patricia Woertz Age: 60 Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Archer Daniels Midland Welcome to the neighborhood! With her December announcement that she’s moving the headquarters of $90 billion agri-giant ADM from Decatur to Chicago, this ambitious Pittsburgh native (who announced as a child that she aimed to be a CEO) gave the mayor and all those … Read more
88 Martin Cabrera Jr. Age: 43 Occupation: Founder and CEO, Cabrera Capital Markets Singed by his part in the recent UNO charter school network scandal (his firm underwrote some of the bonds that fueled the group’s expansion, and he parachuted in as chairman), Cabrera held on to his public appointments, including a seat on the Public … Read more
59 Sally Blount Age: 52 Occupation: Dean, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Since arriving in 2010 to run her alma mater, Blount has performed major feats of transformation, from shaking up the administration to luring big names to the faculty. Example: Linda Darragh, whom she poached from the U. of C.’s Booth School to lead Kellogg’s … Read more
5 Michael Sacks Age: 51 Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Grosvenor Capital Management Sacks lands high on this list not just because he runs a thriving $44 billion hedge fund but because he’s Rahm’s fixer on a range of economic issues, from underfunded city pensions to the nascent Chicago Infrastructure Trust. The unpaid adviser is said to … Read more
86 Luis Gutiérrez Age: 60 Occupation: U.S. representative This son of Puerto Rican immigrants has emerged as a charismatic speaker on immigration reform, drawing large crowds at rallies nationwide and acting as a fearless gadfly to the president on the issue. As Gutiérrez recounts in his 2013 memoir, Obama recently pulled him aside to say, “Why … Read more
13 John Rogers Jr. Age: 55 Occupation: Founder, chairman, and CEO, Ariel Investments Obama’s bud preaches what he practices: Wealth brings security and power, and building it takes research and patience. Rogers’s 85-employee firm (which has $9 billion in assets under management) notched 2013 returns of 46 percent for its Ariel Midcap Appreciation Investor Fund and … Read more
14 Steve Koch Age: 58 Occupation: Deputy mayor, City of Chicago This former investment banker is one of Emanuel’s closest aides and the person CEOs call to talk business in the city. Insiders give him megacredit for nabbing ADM (see No. 7). Among his major tasks this year? Attracting tenants for all those shuttered Dominick’s stores. … Read more
15 Miles White Age: 58 Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Abbott Laboratories After spinning off its pharma research business in January 2013, Abbott shrank in size but not in clout. Its connected CEO still sits on a bazillion boards, and the company—which has paid shareholders a dividend for 42 years straight—paid White a hefty $17.2 million in … Read more
16 Joe Mansueto Age: 57 Occupation: Founder, chairman, and CEO, Morningstar “I’ve been extremely fortunate in life, and it’s [a] way to give back by funding causes that are making a positive impact in the world,” says this financial research firm founder of his pledge to give half his fortune to charity. Access to information is … Read more
20 Jeanne Gang Age: 50 Occupation: Principal, Studio Gang Architects This will be the year that Chicagoans start associating the city’s only female starchitect with something besides Aqua, the undulating tower that has riveted the international design community since the late 2000s. Last October, to effusive praise in the architectural press, this MacArthur “genius” unveiled a … Read more
