Paul and Nancy Pelosi
CATEGORY: Power Couples
COMPANY: U.S. Government/ Financial Leasing Services, Inc.
INDUSTRY: Politics/Finance
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
This power couple was on the San Francisco scene long before Nancy Pelosi was catapulted to a national stage, as first female elected speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007. But she is only one-half of the haute equation here, as Paul Pelosi has made his own mark in the Bay Area as a financier, businessman and owner of his company, Financial Leasing Services, Inc. He also owns the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League.
Tom Perkins
CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs
COMPANY: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:
One of Silicon Valley’s pioneers, Perkins’ venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, was an early backer of Genentech, Netscape, and Google. He is now, or has been, a director of the following firms: Acuson, Applied Materials, Compaq, CorningWorks, Genentech, Hewlett Packard, Hybritech, LSI Logic, News Corporation, Philips Electronics NV, Spectra-Physics, Symantec, and Tandem Computers. Not one to slow down, when he turned 70 several years ago, he decided to build a mega-yacht in the world, the 289-foot Maltese Falcon, which he sold in 2009 for around $90 million.
Charles Phan
CATEGORY: Restaurateur
COMPANY: Charles Phan
INDUSTRY: Restaurant
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:
This James Beard Award winning, Iron Chef has a propensity for groundbreaking cuisine and strategic locations. A decade ago, he opened the game changing Vietnamese restaurant The Slanted Door, now the top-grossing restaurant in San Francisco. Charles Phan now has a multi-million dollar enterprise containing nine world-class restaurants—which are all critically acclaimed hot spots.
Mark Pincus
CATEGORY: Thinkers
COMPANY: Zynga
INDUSTRY: Technology
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: Online gamers and casual players alike bow down at the throne of Mark Pincus’ brainchild Zynga, an online social media gaming site. Just four years ago, Pincus founded Zynga and it has enjoyed widespread popularity ever since. Pincus is the Chief Executive of Zynga and lives in San Francisco.
John Pritzker
CATEGORY: Billionaires
COMPANY: Hyatt Hotels
INDUSTRY: Hospitality
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
While he sold his Hyatt shares in 2010, he isn’t sitting still for long. He has investment firm Geolo Partners, though which he purchased Joie de Vivre hotel chain. This hotelier is worth an estimated $1.9 billion.
Jerry Rice
CATEGORY: Athletes
COMPANY: 127 Foundation
INDUSTRY: Football
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
Rice is widely thought of as the best receiver in NFL history. During his career, he won three Super Bowls, was elected to the Pro Bowl 13 times, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year. He’s got some moves off the field too, which he proved during his stint on ABC’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars. His 127 Foundation, designed to support various children’s programs in the Bay Area, was re-launched in 2009.
George Roberts
CATEGORY: Billionaires
COMPANY: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
INDUSTRY: Finance
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
Roberts is one of the three original partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, where he amassed an impressive net worth of $3.4 billion. In 1989, Roberts led one of the most famous leverage buyouts in the takeover of RJR Nabisco. His involvement in the deal was profiled in the novel and movie Barbarians at the Gate.
David de Rothschild
CATEGORY: Thinkers
COMPANY: Adventure Ecology
INDUSTRY: Environmental
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
This noted environmentalist (of the famous British Rothschild banking family) and his organization, Adventure Ecology, along with a crew of experts, scientists, and creatives, set sail on a 60-foot catamaran, dubbed Plastiki, made entirely of plastic bottles and recycled waste products, earlier this year.
Chris Sacca
CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs
COMPANY: Lowercase Capital
INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism
WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?
He was one of the first investors in Twitter. He also had a pretty nice role at Google as head of special initiatives, where he oversaw projects like creating citywide WiFi access in Mountain View, California. He left Google to launch his venture capital firm, and based on his first bet in Twitter, he has the ability to back some winners
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November 22, 2011Joyce Rey's Blog: My Chat With Wolfgang Puck
