Gordon Moore
CATEGORY: Billionaires
COMPANY: Intel
INDUSTRY: Technology
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
Moore is the co-founder of the Intel Corporation, and since 1997, he has served as the Chairman Emeritus. In 2001, Moore and his wife donated $600 million to Caltech, the largest monetary gift ever given to an institution of higher learning. The library center for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge is named after the tech titan, as is the Moore Laboratories building at Caltech. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, gives $200 million annually for environmental conservation.
John Morgridge
CATEGORY: Billionaires
COMPANY: Cisco Systems
INDUSTRY: Technology
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
John Morgridge joined Cisco Systems, Inc. in 1988 as president and CEO; today he is chairman emeritus. Morgridge grew the company from $5 million in sales to more than $1 billion, and from 34 employees to more than 2,250. During his tenure, Cisco became the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, with more than $25 billion in revenues and some 47,000 employees in 77 countries. He and his wife have since established the Wisconsin Technology Initiative.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel
CATEGORY: Power Couples
COMPANY: City of San Francisco
INDUSTRY: Politics
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
When Newsom was elected Mayor of San Francisco in 2003 at the age of 36, he was the youngest man to take on that role in more than 100 years, and made headlines when he granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples after 36 days in the office. He is now the Lieutenant Governor of San Francisco. He and philanthropist wife Jennifer, a former actress, welcomed their first child in 2009.
Craig Newmark
CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs
COMPANY: Craigslist.org
INDUSTRY: Technology
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
He’s the founder of the free Internet bulletin board Craigslist in 1995, which nearly single-handed did away with newspaper classified, this is one savvy haute lister. In March of this year, Newmark founded craigconnects, a social media platform. Newmark has an estimated net worth of $400 million.
Beth Nickel
CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs
COMPANY: Nickel & Nickel
INDUSTRY: Wine
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
Nickel is the woman behind four of Napa’s most celebrated wineries: Nickel & Nickel, Far Niente, Dolce, and En Route. She and her late husband Gil moved to Napa Valley and began searching for the perfect properties to make world-class wines. When they discovered a crumbling old stone building in Oakville, they lovingly transformed it into the current home of Far Niente, the most revered of the portfolio.
Pierre Omidyar
CATEGORY: Thinkers
COMPANY: eBay
INDUSTRY: Technology/E-Commerce
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: The founder of eBay single-handedly wrote the computer code for his famous online auction house. eBay was an instant success and is currently one of the most widely visited sites on the Internet. As of July 2008, Omidyar’s 178 million eBay shares were worth an approximate $4.45 billion. He is also an investor of the Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, California. Omidyar frequently uses his time and money to give back and in 2004 established the Omidyar Network, which invests in independent organizations with the goal of inspiring, social, political and economic change.
Larry Page
CATEGORY: Thinkers
COMPANY: Google
INDUSTRY: Technology
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: CEO Larry Page not only leads day-to-day operations at the mammoth corporation, but also spearheads Google’s technology and product development strategies. Page, the company’s first CEO until 2001, cofounded Google with Sergey Brin. Google now boasts more than 30,000 employees across the globe.
Ken Paige
CATEGORY: Thinkers
COMPANY: Paige Glass Company
INDUSTRY: Design
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
On a list dominated by tech titans and venture capitalists, Paige can read like a breath of fresh air. His eye for beauty translates into various categories, including art, design, and fashion. He is a well-known philanthropist, art collector, and CEO of Paige Glass Co., which has been in his family for three generations.
Sean Parker
CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs
COMPANY: Founder’s Fund, Spotify
INDUSTRY: Technology
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: At just age 19, he co-founded Napster. At 24, he was the founding president of Facebook. He has founded other companies such as Plaxo, Causes, and Airtime and is a member of the major Silicon Valley venture capital fund, Founders Fund. Through this alliance, Parker invested $15 million in Spotify and was a key player in the music site’s U.S. launch, thus the music aficionado finally found a way to progress Napster’s mission of sharing music, while paying royalties to the artists. Parker has an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion and was portrayed by Justin Timberlake as a hard-partying, cool guy in the Golden Globe Winner for Best Picture, The Social Network.
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November 22, 2011Joyce Rey's Blog: My Chat With Wolfgang Puck
