Kavitark Ram Shriram
Category: Billionaires
Company: Sherpalo Ventures
Industry: Venture Capitalism
What Makes Him Haute: He’s called the Sherpa of Google not just because he wrote a six-figure check for its growth, but also because he was involved in the formation of the DNA of the company (he still sits on the board). The self-made billionaire started at Netscape, launched shopping site Junglee (sold to Amazon in 98), and then founded Sherpalo in 2000. Besides Google, he’s gone on to back Yodlee, Zazzle.com, and currently backs Indian and American outfits like Inkling and 24/7 Customer.
Charlotte Mailliard Shultz
Category: Socialites
Company: State of California
Industry: Politics
What Makes Her Haute: Shultz has served seven San Francisco mayors as chief of protocol and director of special events for the City and County of San Francisco. She’s so entrenched in the social scene that in 2004 California Governor Schwarzenegger appointed her as the chief of protocol. Her main duties are hosting foreign dignitaries, and promoting international trade and business as well as cross-cultural understanding.
Thomas Siebel
Category: Billionaires
Company: Siebel Systems
Industry: Technology
What Makes Him Haute: The self-made tech billionaire got his start in the industry as a salesman for Larry Ellison’s Oracle. But when Ellison opted against Siebel’s sales-tracking software, Siebel launched his own company. Siebel Systems went public in 1996 and eventually was sold to Oracle in 2005 for the astounding price of $5.9 billion, securing Siebel a personal $500 million. Today, Siebel is chairman of holding company First Virtual Group, which has interests in real estate, agribusiness, philanthropy and asset management. Siebel is also the founder of the Siebel Foundation, which vehemently supports education, health, stem cell research, and methamphetamine prevention.
John A. Sobrato
Category: Billionaires
Company: The Sobrato Organization
Industry: Real Estate
What Makes Him Haute: Sobrato’s Cupertino-based development firm specialized in commercial real estate. His company’s holdings include more than 11 million square feet of commercial space in more than 110 buildings and 7,500 residential units. He is a philanthropist in the Bay area, and, together with his family, he created the Sobrato Family Foundation.
Danielle Steel
Category: Thinkers
Company: Random House
Industry: Novels
What Makes Her Haute: There are more than 580 million copies of her novels in print, and each of her books is a bestseller.
Dr. Elisa Stephens
Category: Thinkers
Company: Academy of Art University
Industry: Education
What Makes Her Haute: Stephens’ grandfather started the Academy of Art University in 1929. Today, it is considered to be the largest landowner in San Francisco. Dr. Stephens is currently the University’s President. She has dedicated her career to expanding the school’s curriculum and making it more visible in San Francisco. She is working toward doubling University enrollment in the next 10 years.
Thomas Steyer
Category: Entrepreneurs
Company: Farallon Capital Management
Industry: Finance
What Makes Him Haute: Steyer is co-managing partner of Farallon Capital Management, LLC, which manages the wealth of a number of other high-profile and high-net-worth individuals on our list. It’s a position he has held since founding the company in 1986. The former billionaire (he fell off of Forbes list in 2009) got his start in the Risk Arbitrage Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Norah and Norman Stone
Category: Power Couples
Company: Stonescape Wine
Industry: Philanthropy and Art
What Makes Them Haute: Pretty much everything. Norman and Norah may have one of the most impressive collections of artworks by Modern Masters like Koons, Warhol, and Prince adorning their Beaux-Art-style mansion in San Francisco and their white farm house tucked at the base of Diamond Mountain in the Napa Valley (where they operate Stonescape Wine). Recently the Stone’s built a museum-sized cave on their Napa Valley property and transformed it into one of the most impressive private art museums in the world. They are also dedicated philanthropists.
Adrianna Pope Sullivan
Category: Philanthropists
Company: El Peco Ranch
Industry: Philanthropist
What Makes Her Haute: In addition to her role as co-chair of Opera Ball 2009, Sullivan is an associate director of the Opera Guild. She brings excellent experience to the role; professionally, she is involved in her family’s farming business in San Joaquin Valley, as well as with the Carlisle Collection, a women’s fashion company based in New York. In addition to co-producing “Classical Action,” which raised more than $1 million for local AIDS charities, she is a vice president of Madera County for the Society of Pioneers.
Amy Tan
Category: Thinkers
Industry: Publishing/Writing
What Makes Her Haute: This Oakland-native’s first book, The Joy Luck Club, earned Tan the National Book Award and the L.A. Times Book Award in 1989. She followed up with a number of bestsellers, including The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and Saving Fish From Drowning.
