Jorge Mas Santos, chairman and former CEO of MasTec, has transformed the engineering and infrastructure firm founded by his father into a multibillion-dollar leader in energy, telecommunications, and utility construction across North America. Under his stewardship, MasTec expanded from a regional contractor into a diversified powerhouse building renewable-energy projects, 5G networks, oil and gas pipelines, and critical power-distribution systems. Beyond MasTec, Mas Santos is an influential civic and political figure within the Cuban-American community and a principal owner of Inter Miami CF, helping shape the growth of Major League Soccer alongside global partners. His blend of business leadership, cultural advocacy, and sports ownership defines him as one of Miami’s most prominent modern leaders.

Jon Oringer, founder and executive chairman of Shutterstock, is one of the earliest pioneers of the digital content marketplace economy. In 2003, he launched Shutterstock as a one-man operation—personally shooting the site’s first 30,000 stock photos—before scaling it into a global platform offering millions of images, videos, and creative assets to customers in more than 150 countries. Oringer took Shutterstock public in 2012, becoming New York’s first tech billionaire, and has since focused on building Pareto Holdings, an investment firm backing early-stage startups in Miami and beyond. Known for his product intuition and bootstrap discipline, he remains a central figure in the evolution of digital media licensing.

Jon Oringer, founder and executive chairman of Shutterstock, is one of the earliest pioneers of the digital content marketplace economy. In 2003, he launched Shutterstock as a one-man operation—personally shooting the site’s first 30,000 stock photos—before scaling it into a global platform offering millions of images, videos, and creative assets to customers in more than 150 countries. Oringer took Shutterstock public in 2012, becoming New York’s first tech billionaire, and has since focused on building Pareto Holdings, an investment firm backing early-stage startups in Miami and beyond. Known for his product intuition and bootstrap discipline, he remains a central figure in the evolution of digital media licensing.

Jonathan M. Nelson, founder and managing partner of Providence Equity Partners, has built one of the world’s most successful private equity firms specializing in media, communications, education, and technology investments. Since founding Providence in 1989, he has overseen hundreds of transactions and managed billions in assets, backing major companies like Hulu, Univision, Warner Music Group, and Sotheby’s. Known for long-term sector-focused investing and operational support, Nelson has shaped entire industries—particularly media and telecom—while steering Providence as a top-tier global investment house.

Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, is one of the most influential investors in modern finance, credited with building the firm’s real estate arm into the world’s largest private property platform. Joining Blackstone in 1992, he pioneered the company’s massive expansion into opportunistic real estate, logistics, hospitality, and large-scale global acquisitions, including the Hilton Hotels deal—one of the most profitable private equity investments in history. As COO, Gray now helps steer Blackstone’s multi-trillion-dollar asset management strategy across private equity, credit, infrastructure, and insurance. Known for his analytical discipline, bold dealmaking, and philanthropic leadership in cancer research, Gray is a central architect of the firm’s rise to global dominance.

Jon Yarbrough, founder of Video Gaming Technologies (VGT), built a fortune by transforming a niche market—Class II gaming machines for tribal casinos—into one of the most profitable segments in the gaming industry. Launching VGT in 1991, he focused on underserved Native American casino operators, combining tailored game design with revenue-sharing partnerships that allowed tribal gaming to scale rapidly across the United States. After decades of growth and recurring revenue dominance, Yarbrough sold VGT to Aristocrat Leisure for $1.3 billion, becoming one of America’s wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs. Low-profile and disciplined, he has since expanded into private investments, technology ventures, and philanthropy.

Jon Stryker, architect, philanthropist, and heir to the Stryker medical-technology fortune, has built one of the most influential private foundations advancing social justice and conservation worldwide. As founder and board president of the Arcus Foundation, he has directed hundreds of millions toward LGBTQ+ rights, racial equity, and primate wildlife protection, establishing Arcus as a leading global grantmaker in both human rights and biodiversity. Trained as an architect, Stryker has also financed major cultural, educational, and civic projects through organizations like the New College Institute and the John Stryker Institute for Gender and Sexuality. His work reflects a distinctive combination of design thinking, impact philanthropy, and values-driven legacy building.

John Sall, cofounder and executive vice president of SAS Institute, helped transform a university statistics project into the world’s largest privately held analytics software company. An expert in statistical methods and visualization, Sall led the development of JMP, SAS’s widely adopted exploratory analysis software used across science, engineering, and industrial research. Alongside cofounder Jim Goodnight, he has championed long-term, employee-centric management and reinvestment in research over short-term profit, making SAS a model of sustainable tech growth. A major philanthropist in education, nature conservation, and science innovation, Sall’s impact spans both the global analytics industry and public access to scientific literacy.

John H. Ruiz, founder and CEO of MSP Recovery, transformed a boutique health-care-law practice into a leading national firm specializing in recovery of Medicare, Medicaid and insurance reimbursements. Since launching MSP Recovery in 2014, Ruiz has built the company into a multibillion-dollar enterprise using proprietary data analytics and legal expertise to reclaim improperly paid claims on behalf of providers and payers. Under his leadership, MSPR has expanded into adjacent services and continues innovating in health-care compliance and recovery, establishing Ruiz as one of America’s foremost entrepreneurial leaders in health-care litigation and finance.

John Pritzker, hospitality investor and member of the Pritzker family behind Hyatt Hotels, has built a distinct legacy in luxury travel and lifestyle ventures through Geolo Capital, the private equity firm he founded in 2005. After early leadership roles at Hyatt and the family’s travel assets, he shifted toward boutique hospitality, backing high-end brands such as Two Roads Hospitality—later acquired by Hyatt in a landmark deal that returned him to the business his family helped create. Pritzker has focused on experiential hotels, wellness properties, and entertainment-driven real estate while maintaining a strong philanthropic presence in arts, education, and community causes. His career reflects a blend of entrepreneurial independence and deep industry heritage.

John Paulson, founder of Paulson & Co., is one of the most storied figures in modern hedge fund history, best known for his legendary 2007 bet against subprime mortgages that generated profits of more than $15 billion and made him a symbol of prescient, contrarian investing. After building his firm on merger arbitrage and event-driven strategies, Paulson’s success in the financial crisis cemented his reputation as a master of timing and risk management. In recent years, he has shifted toward private investments and family-office operations while becoming a major philanthropist across healthcare, education, and the arts. Paulson’s rise from modest beginnings to one of the wealthiest hedge fund investors underscores the enduring power of disciplined conviction in global markets.

John Paul DeJoria, cofounder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón Spirits, is the self-made billionaire whose journey from homelessness to global entrepreneurship has become one of America’s most iconic business stories. After sleeping in his car while starting Paul Mitchell in 1980, he helped turn the professional hair-care brand into a salon staple sold in more than 100 countries, later launching Patrón and redefining premium tequila worldwide. Known for his “success unshared is failure” philosophy, DeJoria has invested heavily in social entrepreneurship, environmental initiatives, and philanthropy, embodying a rare blend of luxury business leadership and mission-driven activism.

John P. McConnell, executive chairman and former CEO of Worthington Industries, has carried forward one of America’s most respected manufacturing legacies, expanding the steel-processing company founded by his father into a diversified industrial group. Under his leadership, Worthington broadened into pressure cylinders, automotive components, and consumer products, while maintaining its signature “Golden Rule” corporate culture rooted in employee-first values, profit sharing, and conservative financial discipline. McConnell has also played a significant civic role in Ohio, including ownership of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, reinforcing his influence in both regional economic development and professional sports. His long-term stewardship reflects a blend of operational rigor and community-focused leadership uncommon in modern industry.

John Oyler, cofounder and chairman of BeiGene, is one of the most prominent figures in global oncology drug development, helping build a multinational biopharmaceutical company centered on innovative, accessible cancer therapies. After successful ventures in medical technology and data analytics, he launched BeiGene in 2010 with a mission to integrate world-class research with large-scale clinical operations across Asia, Europe, and the United States. Under his leadership, the company has developed breakthrough cancer drugs, secured major partnerships with industry leaders like Novartis and Amgen, and scaled into a global enterprise listed on multiple exchanges. Known for his scientist–entrepreneur mindset, Oyler has reshaped how biotech innovation and commercialization connect across continents.

John Overdeck, cofounder and co-chairman of Two Sigma, is one of the key architects of quantitative hedge fund investing, bringing machine learning, distributed computing, and massive data science into the heart of portfolio management. After an award-winning math background and early leadership roles at D.E. Shaw and Amazon, he partnered with David Siegel in 2001 to build Two Sigma into a global multi-strategy platform managing tens of billions across equities, private investments, insurance tech, venture capital, and market-making. A champion of mathematics and education, Overdeck is also a leading philanthropist through the Overdeck Family Foundation, advancing STEM learning and research at scale.

John Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, turned a small fishing gear corner inside his father’s liquor store into one of America’s most iconic outdoor retail empires. Launching the brand in 1972, he built Bass Pro into a destination experience, combining expansive stores, conservation messaging, and immersive outdoor attractions that attract more than 200 million visitors annually. Through acquisitions such as Cabela’s and collaborations with leading conservation groups, Morris expanded the company’s influence across retail, manufacturing, resorts, and wildlife preservation. Known for his passion for nature and customer experience, he has become a transformative force in outdoor recreation and conservation philanthropy.

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, is one of the most influential and strategic dealmakers in media and telecommunications, credited with shaping the cable industry and modern pay-TV economics. Often called the “Cable Cowboy,” Malone built Tele-Communications Inc. into the largest U.S. cable operator before selling it to AT&T, then expanded Liberty Media into a sprawling portfolio spanning entertainment, sports, broadband, and satellite broadcasting. Known for his complex tax-efficient structures, minority control positions, and long-term compounding strategy, Malone has influenced everything from streaming competition to global sports ownership. His low-profile persona contrasts sharply with his outsized impact on the business of media.

John Liew, cofounder of AQR Capital Management, is one of the intellectual architects behind quantitative investing, helping bring academic finance into large-scale asset management. Working alongside Cliff Asness and David Kabiller, Liew transformed ideas rooted in factor research, risk premia, and systematic portfolio construction into a multi-hundred-billion-dollar investment platform serving institutions worldwide. With a PhD from the University of Chicago under Nobel laureates, he has championed evidence-based strategies in equities, alternatives, and global macro, while remaining a leading voice in the dialogue between academia and asset management. Liew’s work has been pivotal in cementing quant finance as a mainstream discipline.

John Krystynak, cofounder and former chief technology officer of AppLovin, helped turn a small mobile ad startup into a multibillion-dollar public company at the center of the app economy. An ad-tech and engineering specialist, he architected the core technology that powers AppLovin’s marketing, monetization, and analytics platforms, which serve thousands of mobile developers and support a large portfolio of hit games. After years guiding product and infrastructure behind the scenes, Krystynak stepped back from day-to-day operations but retained a significant ownership stake, placing him among the wealthiest figures in the global mobile technology sector.

John W. Henry, billionaire investor and principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, built his fortune as a pioneering commodities trader before reshaping the global sports industry through Fenway Sports Group. After founding the quantitative hedge fund J.W. Henry & Co., he acquired the Red Sox in 2002 and led the team to multiple World Series championships, breaking the “Curse of the Bambino.” Expanding his sports empire internationally, Henry later bought Liverpool FC, guiding the Premier League club to Champions League and English title victories. Known for his data-driven, value-focused leadership, he has become one of the most influential owners in modern professional sports.