Victoria Mars, a fourth-generation member of the Mars family, is a former chair of Mars Inc. and one of the heirs to the private candy, pet care, and food empire behind M&M’s, Snickers, Pedigree, Whiskas, and Royal Canin. She began working in the family business in France in 1978, later held roles at Mars Electronics and Dove, served as Mars’s first corporate ombudsman, and chaired the company’s board from 2014 to 2017.

Valerie Mars, a fourth-generation member of the Mars family, is an heir to the private candy, pet care, and food fortune behind brands such as M&M’s, Snickers, Pedigree, Whiskas, and Royal Canin. Unlike lower-profile family heirs, she has held senior roles inside Mars Inc., including leadership positions in corporate development and governance, giving her profile both ownership and operating depth within one of America’s largest family-controlled companies.

Marijke Mars, great-granddaughter of Mars Inc. founder Frank C. Mars, is an heir to one of America’s largest private fortunes. Her wealth comes from the family-owned candy, pet care, and food giant behind brands such as M&M’s, Snickers, Pedigree, Whiskas, and Royal Canin. Unlike some members of the Mars family, she keeps a very low public profile, with her influence tied primarily to ownership in the privately held company.

Jane Lauder, granddaughter of Estée Lauder and daughter of Ronald Lauder, is a longtime executive and board member of Estée Lauder Companies. She joined the family business in 1996, later leading brands including Origins, Ojon, Darphin, and Clinique before becoming executive vice president, enterprise marketing, and chief data officer. She stepped down from her executive role at the end of 2024 but remains part of the Lauder family’s next-generation influence over one of the world’s largest beauty companies.

Aerin Lauder, granddaughter of Estée Lauder and eldest daughter of Ronald Lauder, is an heir to one of the world’s great beauty fortunes and founder of the luxury lifestyle brand AERIN. She serves as style and image director at Estée Lauder while building her own business across fragrance, beauty, home décor, and accessories. Her profile combines family ownership, inherited beauty-industry influence, and a personal brand built around taste, design, and luxury living.

Adam Norwitt, president and CEO of Amphenol, has helped turn the connector and sensor maker into a major supplier for the AI, data-center, automotive, aerospace, and communications markets. An Amphenol employee since 1998, he became president in 2007 and CEO in 2009, leading the company through years of acquisitions, global expansion, and rising demand for high-performance electronic components.

Sanjay Gajendra, cofounder, president, and COO of Astera Labs, helped build the company into a key supplier of semiconductor connectivity solutions for AI and cloud data centers. Before launching Astera in 2017 with Jitendra Mohan and Casey Morrison, he led Texas Instruments’ High Speed Interface business and held senior roles serving cloud, data-center, and server customers. Astera went public in 2024, riding demand for chips that remove bottlenecks in large-scale AI systems.

Jitendra Mohan, cofounder and CEO of Astera Labs, helped build the company into a key supplier of semiconductor connectivity solutions for AI and cloud data centers. An IIT Bombay and Stanford-trained engineer, he previously held senior roles at Texas Instruments and National Semiconductor before launching Astera Labs in 2017. The company went public in 2024, riding demand for infrastructure that removes performance bottlenecks in large-scale AI systems.

Michael Hsing, founder, president, and CEO of Monolithic Power Systems, built the semiconductor company into a major supplier of high-performance power management chips. Born in China and trained as an engineer, he founded MPS in 1997 and took it public in 2004, growing it into a key player serving markets such as data centers, automotive, industrial, communications, and consumer electronics. His fortune is tied to the long rise of specialized chips that make modern electronics more efficient.

Piero Ferrari, vice chairman and second-largest shareholder of Ferrari, is the only living son of founder Enzo Ferrari and one of the enduring custodians of the world’s most iconic luxury automotive brand. Long involved in the company’s engineering and strategic direction, he became a billionaire as Ferrari’s public-market value soared, while preserving a rare direct link to the marque’s founding family. With a significant ownership stake and decades inside the business, Ferrari remains one of the most influential figures behind the company’s legacy and long-term identity.

William "Bill" Crown, a general partner at Henry Crown and Company and longtime leader of CC Industries, represents one of America’s most quietly influential business dynasties. As part of the Crown family’s investment empire, he has helped oversee interests spanning industrial companies, private investments, and real estate, extending the legacy built by one of Chicago’s most powerful families. Known for a low public profile and long-term ownership approach, Crown remains a key figure in one of the country’s most enduring private investment organizations.

David MacNeil, founder and CEO of WeatherTech, built a garage-born automotive accessories business into one of America’s most recognizable aftermarket brands. Since launching the company in 1989, he has turned WeatherTech into a manufacturing-driven powerhouse known for premium floor liners and a strong made-in-America identity, while retaining full ownership of the business. MacNeil stands out as a self-made industrial entrepreneur who transformed a simple product category into a billion-dollar brand.

Scott Watterson, cofounder and longtime chairman of iFIT, helped build the company from its 1977 origins as Weslo into a global force in connected fitness. Over more than four decades, he steered the evolution of the business—formerly known as ICON Health & Fitness—into a major player spanning exercise equipment, digital training, and subscription fitness technology. Known for long-term control and product-driven growth, Watterson remains one of the defining entrepreneurs behind the modern home fitness industry.

Norman Asbjornson, founder of AAON, built the Tulsa-based company into one of America’s most successful HVAC manufacturers by focusing on semi-custom, high-performance heating and cooling systems for commercial buildings. After founding AAON in 1988 and taking it public three years later, he led the company for decades, turning it into a major force in energy-efficient climate control. Known for disciplined growth and long-term ownership, Asbjornson stands out as one of the most successful self-made industrial entrepreneurs in the HVAC sector.

Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, turned a New Zealand startup into one of the most important commercial space companies in the world. Known for making orbital launch more frequent and affordable, he built Rocket Lab from its Electron rocket business into a broader space systems platform spanning satellites, components, and deepening ambitions in larger launch vehicles. Beck has emerged as one of the defining entrepreneurs of the private space era, combining engineering credibility with relentless execution.

Charles Liang, founder, president, CEO, and chairman of Supermicro, built the company into one of the biggest winners of the AI infrastructure boom by supplying the high-performance servers and data center systems powering cloud, enterprise, and artificial intelligence workloads. Since founding the business in 1993, he has turned Supermicro from a Silicon Valley hardware specialist into a global force in server architecture, storage, and energy-efficient computing, making him one of the most prominent executives riding the explosive demand for AI infrastructure.

David Humphreys, chairman, president, and CEO of TAMKO Building Products, leads one of America’s largest independent roofing manufacturers and one of the country’s biggest privately held building-products businesses. A third-generation steward of the family company founded in 1944, he took over in 1994 and helped expand TAMKO from a regional manufacturer into a national force in residential roofing. Known for long-term control, disciplined growth, and deep influence in the building materials sector, Humphreys has remained one of the industry’s most powerful low-profile operators.

Don Ahern, founder of Los Arcos Equipment and longtime leader of Ahern Rentals, built his fortune by supplying the machinery behind Las Vegas’s skyline and major construction projects across the U.S. Starting with a small fleet of lifts in 1978, he expanded his business into one of the country’s largest equipment rental companies before selling Ahern Rentals in 2022, cementing his status as one of the most successful figures in the construction equipment industry.

Abel Avellan, founder, chairman, and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, is building one of the most ambitious companies in satellite communications: a space-based broadband network designed to connect ordinary mobile phones directly from orbit. A veteran telecom entrepreneur who previously sold Emerging Markets Communications, Avellan has positioned AST SpaceMobile at the intersection of wireless infrastructure, aerospace, and global connectivity, making him one of the most closely watched figures in the race to eliminate cellular dead zones.

Rick Smith, founder and CEO of Axon Enterprise, has spent more than three decades turning a garage startup into the dominant force in public safety technology. After launching the company in 1993, he expanded it far beyond TASER devices into body cameras, digital evidence software, and a broader mission-driven platform built around protecting life and, in his words, making bullets obsolete. With Axon now a central player in law enforcement technology, Smith has become one of the most consequential entrepreneurs in the intersection of hardware, software, and public safety.