29 Mellody Hobson Age: 44 Occupation: President, Ariel Investments President of America’s biggest minority-owned investment firm. Member of three blockbuster corporate boards (Starbucks, Estée Lauder, and DreamWorks). On-air contributor for CBS News. And, as of last year, wife of a superrich Hollywood legend (Star Wars director George Lucas, 69) and mother of their baby, Everest. In … Read more
30 J. Christopher Reyes Age: 60 Occupation: Cochairman, Reyes Holdings When this publicity-shy Lake Forest billionaire isn’t overseeing the second-largest private company in Chicago—a $22 billion, 15,000-employee food and beverage distributorship he owns with younger brother Jude (No. 31)—he sets the course for Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he’s cochairman. Reyes has quietly forged valuable connections to … Read more
31 M. Jude Reyes Age: 58 Occupation: Cochairman, Reyes Holdings So private that he makes big brother Christopher (No. 30) look like an oversharer, Jude is, according to Crain’s, “Mr. Inside, concentrating on financial issues” for their distributorship. Raised in a large Hispanic-Irish family in Maryland, he lives in Kenilworth. Forbes estimates Jude’s net worth at … Read more
77 Robert Gallucci Age: 68 Occupation: President, MacArthur Foundation After being hired away from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown five years ago, this former dean and veteran diplomat has skillfully managed the foundation’s nearly $6 billion endowment. What’s in it for Chicago, the philanthropic juggernaut’s headquarter city? Gallucci has steered millions to big data … Read more
78 Terry Duffy Age: 55 Occupation: Executive chairman, CME Group At the beginning of 2013, the head of the world’s largest futures exchange faced stiff competition from rival exchanges. The South Side native fought hard, introducing 162 new products, and won: Over the year, the firm’s total volume grew 10 percent (three billion contracts worth $1 … Read more
38 Neil Bluhm Age: 76 Occupation: Chairman, Rush Street Gaming Until a Chicago casino bill gets passed, this gambling tycoon will have a lock on the local market with his Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the state’s highest-grossing casino and the closest blackjack table to the Loop (Bluhm owns other casinos in Pennsylvania and New … Read more
36 Michelle Grabner Age: 51 Occupation: Artist; cocurator, Whitney Biennial “She has busted her ass for 20 years,” the gallerist Shane Campbell told Chicago last fall when this artist/ curator/critic became the rare Chicagoan picked to cocurate the Whitney Biennial, that landmark American art showcase. For which locals could get their break there, see “Cultural Clout.” … Read more
80 Joanne Smith Age: 53 Occupation: CEO, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago This physician armed with an MBA is a fundraising force: In July, against the protests of some Streeterville residents (and with the help of M. Jude Reyes, No. 31), she plowed ahead with a $550 million expansion plan that, when completed in 2017, will triple … Read more
82 Michael Kasper Age: 49 Occupation: Lobbyist and attorney, Fletcher, O’Brien, Kasper & Nottage Kasper is quietly clout heavy. He is a close adviser to the mayor and one of the most powerful lobbyists in the state—his client roster is loaded with corporate titans, who are paying for Kasper’s inside access to Madigan (No. 2), his … Read more
79 James Franczek Age: 67 Occupation: Attorney, Franczek Radelet Mayor Emanuel’s first choice for difficult labor contract negotiations had his hands full last year with the city police union. Talks stalled late in 2013 when union leaders called the mayor’s wage offer an insult. Touch-and-go situation? Go to Franczek.
