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.
81 Tom Wilson Age: 56 Occupation: Chairman and CEO, Allstate The Northbrook-based insurance giant Wilson runs doesn’t loom quite so large anymore. Geico recently toppled Allstate as the nation’s second-biggest auto insurer—helping push his rank on this list down from No. 65 last year. The pressing question now: Can the bespectacled Michigan native get the business … Read more
2 Mike Madigan Age: 71 Occupation: Speaker, Illinois House Madigan clings to his No. 2 spot on this list, but barely. In 2013, he was hounded by a Metra patronage scandal and embarrassed by a rare public feud with Attorney General Lisa Madigan (No. 52), his daughter, over her much-anticipated candidacy for governor, which he squashed. … Read more
85 Gigi Pritzker Age: 51 Occupation: Founder and CEO, OddLot Entertainment A “movie mogul rising,” according to The New York Times, in November this producer (and sister of Tom Pritzker, No. 22) released her biggest film yet: Ender’s Game, a sci-fi adventure starring Harrison Ford, made for a reported $110 million (it took in $61.7 million … Read more
50 Pat Quinn Age: 65 Occupation: Governor, State of Illinois Like Sam Zell (No. 8), the governor is moving up on the list more from a spate of good luck than his own machinations. His formidable primary challengers have all but disappeared from the governor’s race. His suspension of legislators’ pay to push pension reform … Read more
