John Griffin, founder of Blue Ridge Capital, became one of the most respected hedge fund managers of his generation through his disciplined long/short equity strategy and reputation for deep fundamental research. A protégé of legendary investor Julian Robertson at Tiger Management, Griffin launched Blue Ridge in 1996 and built it into a multi-billion-dollar “Tiger Cub” fund known for concentrated bets on high-quality growth companies and sharp downside hedging. After closing the fund in 2017 to devote himself to philanthropy, he became CEO of Blue Ridge Foundation and a leading donor to education and medical research, combining investment principles with data-driven social impact initiatives.

John Goff, billionaire investor and founder of Crescent Real Estate and Goff Capital, built one of the most successful real estate and private investment enterprises in Texas. After joining the fledgling Crescent Realty Trust in the early 1990s, he helped grow it into a multibillion-dollar office and mixed-use portfolio, later engineering its sale to Morgan Stanley and reacquiring major assets during the financial crisis at steep discounts. Through Goff Capital, he has expanded into hospitality, aviation, and energy, while backing high-growth ventures and serving as chairman of luxury travel company Omni Hotels & Resorts. Known for contrarian timing, discipline, and opportunistic dealmaking, Goff remains a defining figure in modern Texas business and real estate.

John Foley, cofounder and former CEO of Peloton, turned a home-fitness concept into a global connected workout phenomenon by merging high-end hardware with subscription media. After launching Peloton in 2012 through Kickstarter, Foley pushed a bold bet on streaming-based fitness communities, leading the company through rapid growth, a blockbuster IPO, and a surge in demand during the pandemic. Known for visionary product design and premium branding, he later stepped down amid supply-chain and post-pandemic challenges but remains a defining figure in the evolution of consumer wellness technology. Through subsequent ventures in textiles and wellness, Foley continues to pursue innovation at the intersection of lifestyle, brand, and retail.

John Fisher, billionaire investor and owner of the San Francisco Giants–affiliated interests through Pisces, Inc., manages one of the most diversified private investment portfolios linked to the Fisher family, heirs to the Gap retail fortune. As president of Pisces, Fisher oversees long-term capital allocation across real estate, private equity, and strategic sports holdings, including his majority stake in Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics. Known for his discreet, media-averse style, he has built influence in professional sports ownership and large-scale development projects, while maintaining a complex role in the Athletics’ future and broader West Coast commercial investments.

John Fish, chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction, has built one of the largest and most innovative privately held construction firms in the United States, known for its advanced use of technology and data in large-scale building projects. Since taking over the company in the early 1980s, Fish has expanded Suffolk beyond its Boston roots into a national powerhouse with work spanning commercial, healthcare, aviation, and residential megaprojects. A prominent civic leader, he has chaired major business organizations, led education and workforce initiatives, and played key roles in economic development across Massachusetts. Fish’s blend of entrepreneurial growth, tech-driven strategy, and civic engagement has made him one of the most respected voices in American construction and urban policy.

John Doerr, chairman of Kleiner Perkins, is one of the most influential venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, backing industry-defining companies that helped shape the modern internet and clean-tech revolutions. Since joining the firm in 1980 after a successful career at Intel, he led investments in Amazon, Google, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, and later climate-focused innovators such as Beyond Meat and QuantumScape. Doerr is also a leading voice for mission-driven entrepreneurship, championing OKR management frameworks and ambitious climate policy through philanthropy and his book Speed & Scale. His decades-long impact continues to steer technology, leadership, and climate innovation on a global scale.

John Collison, cofounder and president of Stripe, is one of the youngest self-made billionaires in tech, helping build the financial infrastructure that powers much of the modern internet economy. Alongside his brother Patrick, he launched Stripe in 2010 to simplify online payments for developers and businesses, growing it into a global platform used by millions of companies—from startups to industry giants like Amazon and Lyft. Known for his product discipline, engineering rigor, and long-term focus on expanding digital commerce, Collison has positioned Stripe as a cornerstone of global fintech, enabling seamless payments and financial services across over 100 countries.

John W. Childs, founder of private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, is a veteran investor known for building middle-market companies into national consumer and retail brands. After leading buyout efforts at Thomas H. Lee Partners, he launched his own Boston-based firm in 1995, backing companies such as Golden Gate Capital–acquired Mattress Firm, shoe retailer K•Swiss, and consumer products businesses across food, health, and household categories. Over decades in the leveraged buyout industry, Childs became recognized for his disciplined deal selection, long-horizon operational focus, and ability to reshape underperforming companies into profitable market contenders.

John Catsimatidis, billionaire businessman and founder of the Red Apple Group, built a diversified empire spanning supermarkets, energy, real estate, and aviation. After immigrating to the United States from Greece as a child, he left college to take over a small grocery store and expanded it into the Gristedes supermarket chain, later branching into oil refining and fuel distribution through United Refining. Catsimatidis also became a major New York real estate developer, adding residential towers and mixed-use properties to his portfolio. A prominent political donor, radio host, and philanthropist, he remains one of New York’s most outspoken and influential entrepreneurial figures.

John Calamos, founder and global CIO of Calamos Investments, is a pioneering figure in convertible securities and risk-managed equity investing. After serving as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, he launched his investment firm in 1977 with a strategy centered on convertibles—an overlooked asset class he helped bring into mainstream institutional portfolios. Under his leadership, Calamos Investments grew into a multibillion-dollar asset manager serving global institutions, public funds, and private wealth clients, while Calamos became known as a leading author and educator on volatility, capital structure, and portfolio construction. His disciplined, analytical approach has earned him a reputation as both an innovator and one of the most respected long-term investors in modern finance.

John W. Brown, former president, CEO, and chairman of Stryker Corporation, is widely regarded as one of the most effective long-tenured CEOs in modern medtech. Taking the helm of the family-run company in 1977, when sales were around $17–23 million, he led Stryker through a landmark IPO, a series of strategic acquisitions, and relentless product expansion, growing revenues into the multi-billion-dollar range and turning it into a global medical technology powerhouse. Under Brown’s three decades of leadership, Stryker evolved from a niche hospital-bed manufacturer into a diversified leader in orthopedics, surgical equipment, and neurotechnology, setting a benchmark for disciplined, long-horizon value creation.  

John Bicket, co-founder and CTO of Samsara, turned a PhD-level tech project at MIT into a multibillion-dollar industrial Internet-of-Things company. After earlier selling his first startup, Meraki, to Cisco for $1.2 billion, Bicket teamed up with Sanjit Biswas in 2015 to build Samsara—fusing sensors, AI, and cloud software to monitor fleets, equipment, and field operations across thousands of enterprises. With stakes valued at around $3 billion each post-IPO, Bicket reflects the rare path from academic research to top-tier tech billionaire, while steering product strategy, engineering culture, and long-term innovation at the heart of the connected-operations era.

John Arnold, former hedge fund trader and cofounder of Arnold Ventures, built one of the most successful careers in energy trading before devoting his wealth to large-scale philanthropy. After rising quickly at Enron’s trading desk, he launched Centaurus Energy in 2002 and became known for prescient bets on natural gas markets that produced billions in profits, earning a reputation as one of the most skilled traders of his generation. Retiring from finance in his 30s, Arnold shifted his focus to philanthropic work through Arnold Ventures, targeting data-driven policy reform in criminal justice, healthcare, education, and public finance. His rare trajectory from billionaire trader to systems-change philanthropist has made him a uniquely influential figure in both markets and public policy.

John A. Sobrato, founder of the Sobrato Organization, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential real estate developers, building a multibillion-dollar portfolio that houses many of the world’s leading technology companies. After selling one of the Bay Area’s earliest tech office parks in the 1970s, he expanded aggressively into commercial and multifamily properties across the region, creating a dominant privately held enterprise now managed alongside the second generation. A dedicated philanthropist, Sobrato has devoted much of his wealth to education, housing, and community development, with the family pledging to give away the majority of its net worth, solidifying his impact on both the business and social fabric of Northern California.

Joel Greenberg, cofounder of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), is one of the most influential and discreet figures in quantitative trading and options market making. Launching SIG in 1987 with a small group of poker-playing colleagues, Greenberg helped pioneer a probabilistic, game-theory-driven approach to trading that became the firm’s hallmark and propelled it into a global powerhouse across equities, options, fixed income, private equity, and venture capital. Known for his analytical rigor and long-term investment vision, he also helped lead major early bets such as SIG’s stake in ByteDance. Greenberg remains a defining, though intentionally low-profile, architect of the modern quantitative finance ecosystem.

Joe Shoen, longtime chairman and CEO of AMERCO, the parent company of U-Haul, has spent decades shaping one of America’s most iconic consumer and logistics brands. Taking the helm in 1986 after a highly publicized family dispute, Shoen streamlined operations, expanded the truck and trailer fleet, and strengthened U-Haul’s nationwide network of rental centers, storage facilities, and retail locations. Under his leadership, the company grew into the dominant force in do-it-yourself moving and storage, serving millions of customers each year. Known for his frugal discipline, operational focus, and deep understanding of middle-class America, Shoen remains one of the most enduring and influential leaders in the transportation and self-storage industries.

Joe Ricketts, billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, is the founder of TD Ameritrade, the online brokerage he launched in 1975 and grew into one of America’s largest trading platforms through early adoption of discount brokerage, digital tools, and retail investor empowerment. After taking the company public and expanding it through major acquisitions, Ricketts became a prominent figure in finance and later sold TD Ameritrade to Charles Schwab in a landmark multibillion-dollar deal. Beyond business, he has invested heavily in journalism, conservation, and civic initiatives through the Ricketts family foundation, and the family also owns the Chicago Cubs. Ricketts remains a defining voice in entrepreneurship, public policy, and philanthropy.

Joe Kiani, founder, chairman, and CEO of Masimo, is a pioneering medical-technology entrepreneur whose innovations in noninvasive monitoring have transformed modern patient care. Since launching Masimo in 1989, he has built the company into a global leader in pulse oximetry and hospital automation, driven by breakthrough signal-processing technology that set new clinical standards worldwide. Kiani has also become a prominent advocate for patient safety and healthcare transparency, founding the Patient Safety Movement Foundation to reduce preventable hospital deaths. With a blend of engineering vision, mission-driven leadership, and bold industry advocacy, he remains one of the most influential figures in medical technology.

Joe Gebbia, cofounder of Airbnb, helped transform a simple idea—renting air mattresses in a San Francisco apartment—into one of the world’s most influential travel and hospitality platforms. As the company’s design visionary, he shaped Airbnb’s user experience, trust systems, and brand identity, guiding its growth from a scrappy startup to a multibillion-dollar public company operating in more than 190 countries. Beyond Airbnb, Gebbia founded Samara, a design lab focused on housing innovation, and became a major philanthropist supporting refugees, homelessness initiatives, and global social causes. His blend of creativity, product instinct, and mission-driven leadership has made him a defining figure in modern tech.

Jimmy Rane, founder and CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, built the YellaWood brand into one of America’s largest and most recognizable producers of pressure-treated lumber. Starting the business in 1970 with a small operation in rural Alabama, Rane expanded it into a multibillion-dollar enterprise supplying building materials across the United States and beyond. Known for his marketing savvy—especially YellaWood’s iconic advertising—he is also widely recognized as “the Yella Fella,” a persona that helped cement the brand’s place in American home-building culture. Beyond business, Rane is a major philanthropist and a leading supporter of education and community development in the Southeast.