« 38. John Canning40. Martha Lavey » AGE: 54 OCCUPATION: President and CEO, Chicago Bears The McCaskeys own the team, but this native East Coaster supervises daily operations and is said to have the ear of principal owner Virginia McCaskey. A 28-year organization vet, he gets credit for the Soldier Field renovation and also was … Read more
« 36. Anita Alvarez38. John Canning » AGE: 61 OCCUPATION: Executive chairman, Hyatt A cerebral and savvy dealmaker, Pritzker (reported net worth: $1.8 billion) spent a good chunk of last year unwinding his extended family’s sprawling business holdings. Today he has more equity in Hyatt, the centerpiece of the Pritzker empire, than any of his relatives. … Read more
« 30. Tom Ricketts32. Larry Goodman » AGE: 53 OCCUPATION: President and CEO, Walgreen Chief of the largest Fortune 500 company in the Chicago area by revenues ($67 billion), Wasson has emerged as a tough risk taker. In January, he broke from Express Scripts, one of the pharmacy giant’s biggest customers, rather than cave on … Read more
« 34. Rick Bayless36. Anita Alvarez » AGE: 54 OCCUPATION: Founder, chairman, and CEO, Ariel Investments By following his idol Warren Buffett’s approach to value investing—and favoring stocks of Chicago companies whose managers he knows intimately—Rogers has created the nation’s largest minority-owned mutual fund company. But his real power is as a connector, and his … Read more
« 79. Linda Johnson Rice81. Patrick O’Connor » AGE: 64 OCCUPATION: Chairman and CEO, McCaffery Interests McCaffery controls development of the last big unused chunk of Chicago’s lakefront—589 acres, which includes a swath that housed U.S. Steel’s South Works until 1992—and with it the thousands of jobs and contracts needed to get the planned $4 … Read more
« 31. Greg Wasson33. Dick Durbin » AGE: 61 OCCUPATION: CEO, Rush University Medical Center In January, the doors officially opened on Rush’s new 14-story hospital, a $654 million achievement that brought Mayor Emanuel and a parade of other political, civic, and financial leaders to the Near West Side. And Goodman, a doctor, continues to … Read more
« 80. Dan McCaffery82. Julia Stasch » AGE: 57 OCCUPATION: Alderman, 40th Ward The City Council floor leader is “by far the alderman whose advice the mayor trusts,” says one City Hall insider. At Emanuel’s behest, O’Connor will chair a powerful new committee overseeing contracts with the city’s union employees. RELATED: Most Powerful Ex-Chicagoans | … Read more
« 82. Julia Stasch84. John Bryan » AGE: 75 OCCUPATION: Senior chairman, Winston & Strawn Illinois’s longest-serving governor may not hold the sway he once did. But he is still Big Jim Thompson, with an iconic Loop building that bears his name, and he wields clout at what is arguably the most influential law firm … Read more
« 35. John Rogers37. Tom Pritzker » AGE: 52 OCCUPATION: State’s attorney, Cook County It’s hard to understate the authority to choose who is and isn’t prosecuted—and to significantly influence the wrongful conviction process. But Alvarez’s sway doesn’t stop there. Last fall, she granted power to the Town of Cicero to pursue civil litigation against … Read more
« 83. Jim Thompson85. Joanne C. Smith » AGE: 75 OCCUPATION: Chairman, NATO/G8 host committee Without this former Sara Lee CEO, who corralled more than $220 million in private contributions, Millennium Park wouldn’t exist. His prowess as a fundraiser is why Mayor Emanuel recruited him to lasso $65 million for the May summits. RELATED: Most … Read more
