The $18-Million Dollar Headache
Seven years ago, Alex Snelius won big in the lottery—and things went steadily downhill from there.
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Should He Run?
We asked local politicos, prominent commentators, and leading Democratic strategists whether Senator Barack Obama should take a shot at the White House in 2008.
The Strange Case of the Dentist and the Pimps
With the right kind of porcelain, the right shade of pearly translucent white, the thinnest of veneers can dazzle away the realities of the most troubled of teeth. Until the day the feds came to take him away, Gary S. Kimmel’s life gleamed with just such a cosmetic smile’s luster. Fifty-six floors above the Loop-in … Read more
Crusader for Cures
Chicago businessman Lou Weisbach—once a major player in Democratic fundraising—has turned his persuasive skills to a new project: creating a medical research institution dedicated to ending chronices diseases.
The Nightmare: A Look at the Riley Fox Case
Five months after three-year-old Riley Fox of Wilmington was brutally murdered, her father, Kevin, confessed following a long night with Will County detectives. He recanted almost immediately, but spent eight months in jail before DNA evidence led to his release. For the first time publicly, Kevin and his wife, Melissa, talk about their ordeal, an account of pain, mystery, and undying faith, wrapped around an enduring tragedy
The Quiet Billionaire: Morningstar CEO Joe Mansueto
After an idyllic Midwestern upbringing, Joe Mansueto founded an enormously successful financial information company on the simple premise that people might like an easy-to-use guide to mutual funds. Now, the Morningstar CEO is turning his skills to the risky world of magazine publishing. Can he succeed again?
2008?
U.S. senator Barack Obama insists he won’t seek higher office in 2008. But that has hardly squelched the buzz among Democratic faithful that he would be perfect atop the party ticket. As the race for the presidency heats up, our reporter parses the possibilities, including the one in which Obama makes history sooner than anyone—even he—expects.
The Merc Effect
How to get rich quick: First, gain part ownership of a 100-year-old trading floor. Next, offer stock to the public. Then, make sure its value goes up tenfold
Foul Trouble
When ex–Bulls star Scottie Pippen needed a new financial adviser, he turned to a smooth-talking investment guru named Bob Lunn, whose clientele included a cross section of Chicago’s elite. For a time the two made a terrific team, whether golfing, socializing, or talking almost daily about money. But then their relationship unraveled into a bitter dispute that has left Lunn bankrupt—and Pippen claiming in court he has lost millions of dollars.
Betting Her Life
Barbara Hermansen found happiness and fulfillment as a North Shore wife, mother, and lawyer—until she started taking a prescription drug for a neurological disorder. Then a trip to Las Vegas set off a crazed gambling addiction that almost brought her and her family down.