RJ Scaringe, founder and CEO of Rivian, is an engineer-entrepreneur building one of the most ambitious electric vehicle companies focused on trucks, SUVs, and commercial fleets. After earning a PhD from MIT, Scaringe founded Rivian with a vision to electrify adventure-oriented vehicles and scalable delivery platforms. Under his leadership, Rivian secured major backing from Amazon and other investors, launched its flagship R1T and R1S models, and positioned itself as a key player in the transition to electrified transportation. Known for technical depth and long-term product focus, Scaringe represents the new generation of American EV leadership.

Rick Caruso, founder and CEO of Caruso Affiliated, is one of America’s most prominent real estate developers, best known for building ultra-premium retail and mixed-use destinations that blend luxury, design, and community experience. A former attorney and civic leader, Caruso developed landmark projects in Southern California such as The Grove, Americana at Brand, and Palisades Village, redefining high-end experiential retail at a time when traditional malls declined. Known for meticulous attention to detail, brand curation, and long-term asset quality, he has built a real estate empire centered on place-making. Caruso has also become a high-profile public figure through philanthropy and political involvement in Los Angeles.

Richard Saghian, founder and CEO of Fashion Nova, built one of the most disruptive fast-fashion brands in the world by mastering social media, influencer marketing, and ultra-fast product cycles. Starting from a family retail background, Saghian scaled Fashion Nova into a global e-commerce powerhouse known for trend velocity, celebrity partnerships, and direct-to-consumer execution. His model reshaped the fashion industry’s marketing playbook, proving that Instagram-era distribution and data-driven design could outperform legacy brands. Beyond fashion, he has become a major luxury real estate buyer, making headlines for high-profile property acquisitions.

Richard Peery, founder of the Peery family real estate enterprise, built one of Silicon Valley’s most influential commercial property portfolios by specializing in high-quality office and industrial developments in Northern California. Known for acquiring and developing strategic assets near the world’s leading technology corridors, Peery helped shape the physical infrastructure that supported the region’s growth for decades. Operating with a low public profile, he expanded through long-term ownership, disciplined management, and a deep understanding of location-driven value. Peery is also recognized for philanthropy supporting education, community development, and civic initiatives.

Richard Kayne, cofounder and CEO of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, built one of the leading U.S. alternative investment firms focused on real assets, with deep expertise in energy infrastructure, real estate, and credit. Since founding Kayne Anderson in 1984, Kayne has guided the firm through multiple market cycles by emphasizing asset-backed investing, disciplined underwriting, and long-term partnerships with operators. Under his leadership, the platform expanded across private equity, direct lending, and public market strategies tied to essential infrastructure. Kayne’s career reflects a long-horizon approach to capital deployment in sectors where durability and cash flow matter most.

Riaz Valani, founder and CEO of Global Asset Capital, is an emerging market-focused investor known for building diversified portfolios across real estate, private equity, and global public markets. With a background in finance and cross-border investing, Valani has developed a reputation for identifying value in complex international environments, combining macro awareness with disciplined asset allocation. Through his firm and family office activities, he has participated in large-scale transactions and long-term holdings spanning multiple jurisdictions. Valani’s profile reflects quiet influence, global reach, and a patient capital approach.

Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential entrepreneurs and investors, known for shaping professional networking at global scale. After early roles at PayPal and Socialnet, Hoffman launched LinkedIn in 2002, turning it into the world’s dominant platform for career identity, recruiting, and business relationships before its landmark acquisition by Microsoft. As a partner at Greylock, he backed major companies including Airbnb and Facebook, while also becoming a prominent public intellectual through books, podcasts, and AI advocacy. Hoffman’s work blends network economics, venture investing, and strategic thinking about the future of technology.

Reed Hastings, cofounder and former CEO of Netflix, reshaped global entertainment by transforming a DVD-by-mail startup into the world’s dominant streaming platform. Under his leadership, Netflix pioneered subscription streaming, disrupted traditional media distribution, and later reinvented television again by investing heavily in original programming and global content production. Known for his bold strategic pivots, data-driven culture, and the influential “Netflix culture deck,” Hastings helped build one of the most impactful consumer technology companies of the modern era. Beyond business, he is a major philanthropist focused on education reform and civic initiatives.

Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential and contrarian thinkers, known for backing companies that challenge consensus and reshape entire industries. As an early investor in Facebook and the first outside investor in several category-defining startups, Thiel helped popularize a philosophy centered on building monopolies through deep technology rather than incremental competition. Through Founders Fund, he has backed transformative ventures across software, defense, biotech, and space. Thiel’s impact extends beyond investing into ideas, shaping debates around technology, globalization, and the future of innovation.

Peter Szulczewski, founder and former CEO of Wish, built one of the world’s largest mobile-first e-commerce platforms by reimagining online shopping around price discovery and global supply chains. A former Google engineer, Szulczewski launched Wish to connect value-seeking consumers directly with manufacturers, prioritizing personalization, scale, and mobile engagement over traditional retail norms. Under his leadership, Wish grew rapidly worldwide and went public, becoming a defining—if unconventional—player in cross-border e-commerce. His career reflects a willingness to challenge entrenched retail models through engineering-led experimentation.

Peter Gassner, cofounder and CEO of Veeva Systems, built one of the most successful vertical software companies by focusing exclusively on cloud solutions for the life sciences industry. After an early career at Salesforce, where he helped scale enterprise cloud adoption, Gassner launched Veeva in 2007 to serve pharmaceutical and biotech companies with regulated, mission-critical applications. Under his leadership, Veeva became a publicly traded, highly profitable software company known for deep industry specialization, long-term customer relationships, and disciplined execution. Gassner’s approach exemplifies the power of focus and vertical expertise in enterprise software.

Paul Sciarra, cofounder of Pinterest, helped build one of the most distinctive consumer internet platforms by focusing on visual discovery and intent-driven inspiration. After early roles in venture capital and startups, Sciarra partnered with Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp to launch Pinterest, shaping its early product vision, fundraising, and growth into a global platform used by hundreds of millions. Following his time at Pinterest, he returned to investing and advising entrepreneurs, bringing a founder’s perspective to early-stage technology companies.

Paul Merage, cofounder of Chef America Inc., built one of the most iconic consumer food brands in the U.S. by transforming a simple frozen snack into a mass-market staple. Alongside his brother David, Merage created Hot Pockets in the 1980s, pioneering the handheld frozen-meal category and scaling distribution nationwide through grocery and convenience channels. The success of Chef America culminated in its multibillion-dollar sale to Nestlé, marking one of the most successful exits in packaged foods. Since then, Merage has focused on private investing, real estate, and philanthropy, particularly in education and community development.

Paul Marciano, cofounder and longtime chief creative officer of Guess, helped build one of the most recognizable global fashion brands by blending European sensibility with bold American marketing. After launching Guess in 1981 with his brothers, Marciano shaped the brand’s visual identity, provocative advertising, and denim-driven style that propelled rapid international expansion. Under his creative direction, Guess became synonymous with aspirational imagery and celebrity campaigns, turning a niche denim label into a worldwide lifestyle brand. Marciano’s influence has left a lasting imprint on fashion branding and retail aesthetics.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, physician, biotech entrepreneur, and investor, built one of the most consequential careers at the intersection of medicine, science, and capital. After developing the cancer drug Abraxane, which he sold to Celgene in a multibillion-dollar deal, Soon-Shiong went on to found and back numerous life-sciences companies focused on immunotherapy, data-driven medicine, and personalized healthcare. Beyond biotech, he is the owner of the Los Angeles Times and has invested heavily in medical research, AI-enabled health systems, and pandemic preparedness. His work reflects a long-term ambition to reengineer healthcare around biology, data, and scalable innovation.

Patrick Hanrahan is a pioneering computer graphics researcher and Stanford professor whose work helped define modern real-time rendering and GPU-driven visual computing. Best known as a co-creator of Pixar’s RenderMan rendering system, he laid the technical foundations for photorealistic computer animation used across film and media for decades. In academia and industry, Hanrahan’s research bridged graphics hardware and software, influencing the evolution of programmable GPUs and real-time graphics pipelines. Widely respected for translating deep theory into practical systems, he remains one of the most influential figures in computer graphics and visual computing.

Patrick Collison, cofounder and CEO of Stripe, built one of the world’s most important financial infrastructure companies by making online payments programmable, global, and developer-friendly. Launching Stripe in 2010 with his brother John, Collison focused on simplifying complex banking rails into clean APIs, enabling millions of businesses—from startups to global enterprises—to transact online. Under his leadership, Stripe expanded into billing, fraud prevention, payouts, and financial tooling that power a large share of the internet economy. Known for intellectual rigor and long-term thinking, Collison has become a defining architect of modern fintech.

Parker Conrad, founder and CEO of Rippling, is a serial entrepreneur who built one of the fastest-growing workforce management platforms by unifying HR, IT, and finance into a single system of record. After early ventures including Zenefits, Conrad launched Rippling in 2016 with a focus on deep integration, automation, and global scalability, helping companies manage employees’ devices, payroll, benefits, and access from one platform. Known for product intensity and operational rigor, he has positioned Rippling as a category-defining company in modern enterprise software.

Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries, is a technologist and defense entrepreneur who has reshaped both virtual reality and modern defense technology. After creating Oculus VR as a teenager and selling it to Facebook, Luckey launched Anduril to apply Silicon Valley software principles to national security, building autonomous systems, AI-driven surveillance, and advanced defense platforms for governments. Known for bold ideas and rapid execution, he has become a polarizing but highly influential figure at the intersection of technology, defense, and geopolitics.

Osman Kibar, founder and CEO of Samara, is a biotech entrepreneur focused on regenerative medicine, aiming to restore organ function rather than manage disease. Trained as a materials scientist, Kibar launched Samara to develop therapies that activate the body’s innate repair mechanisms, starting with severe osteoarthritis. By combining developmental biology with advanced drug discovery, he has positioned the company at the frontier of tissue regeneration. Kibar’s work reflects a long-horizon approach to biotech innovation centered on curative science.