HAUTE 100: Isha and Asim Abdullah, John Arrillaga, Katherine August-deWilde and more

Isha and Asim Abdullah

CATEGORY: Power Couples

COMPANY: Emanuel Ungaro

INDUSTRY: Fashion

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

He is a former Silicon Valley tech titan who now owns Ungaro, which has been honored as one of the 10 official haute couture houses in the past, and she is an M.D., nephrologist, and philanthropist. Together, they are one of the Bay Area’s most prominent and stylish couples.

John Arrillaga

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Peery-Arrillaga

INDUSTRY: Real Estate

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This Silicon Valley real estate mogul and his partner Richard Peery turned farmland into office spaces in the ‘60s, the current site of cities like Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Today, their firm oversees just less than 3 million square feet of office space, with high-powered tenants like Google. He is also one of his alma mater Stanford’s major benefactors. Arrillaga is worth an estimated $1.8 billion, according to Forbes, and ranks No. 242 on the Forbes 400.

Katherine August-deWilde

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: First Republic Bank

INDUSTRY: Finance

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: She is the President and Chief Operating Officer of First Republic Bank. She is a member of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Advisory Council and the Stanford Center on Longevity’s Advisory Council.  She is also a trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.

Carol Bartz

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Former CEO of Yahoo

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: Bartz, a powerful business executive, is the former CEO of Internet giant Yahoo and former chairman, president, and CEO of architectural and engineering design software company Autodesk. Both companies prospered under her leadership with her unique business strategies. She has also served on multiple boards of directors for notable companies such as Intel, Cisco Systems and Network Appliance. Her successful career has proven that women can dominate the business world.

Steve Jr. and Riley Bechtel

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Bechtel Corp

INDUSTRY: Engineering

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

The Bechtel family name can be linked to some of the greatest man-made projects of the century, such as Hoover Dam, the largest civil engineering project in U.S. history. Currently, Riley is leading the multibillion-dollar corporation as the chief executive, while his father, Steve Bechtel, Jr. serves as the chairman emeritus. Notable projects that have the Bechtel stamp include the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, a project that set new standards for commuter rail systems; the Channel Tunnel, connecting England and France beneath the English Channel; and the Hong Kong International Airport.

Nancy Bechtle

CATEGORY: Business

COMPANY: Sugar Bowl Ski Corporation, J.R. Bechtle & Co., Presidio Trust

INDUSTRY: Business

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: This is one busy haute lister. Nancy Bechtle was President and CEO of the San Francisco Symphony from 1987-2001 and was on its Board of Governors since 1984. She was the director and CFO of J.R. Bechtle & Co. from 1979-1998. She has sat on the Charles Schwab Board of Directors since 1992 and has been the director of Sugar Bowl Ski Corporation since 1998. Bechtle became a director of the Presidio Trust in 2008 and is currently the Chairman.

Carl Berg

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Mission West Properties

INDUSTRY: Real Estate

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Berg, chairman and CEO of Mission West Properties, bought the real estate investment trust in 1997, which now manages 8 million square feet across 100 properties. He unsuccessfully tried to sell in 2007 for $1.8 billion before the real estate market collapsed. He is also a venture capitalist, one of the billionaire principals of Berg & Berg Enterprises and Berg & Berg Developers, and his résumé of tech industry investments includes names like MoSys, Inc, Valence Technologies, Focus Enhancements, LynuxWorks, Hancock Fabrics, Inc.

Gina Bianchini

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Ning

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Former Ning CEO Gina Bianchini is one haute lister to watch. While she has since left the online networking platform Ning, it houses more than 1.5 million networks, with 4,500 created each day. Bianchini also co-founded Harmonic Communications and worked as director of business development and investor relations at CKS Group. Early in her career, she served as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. She is currently head of MightyBell, a social networking app that helps people get things done by breaking tasks down into steps.

Anne Wojcicki and Sergey Brin

CATEGORY: Power Couples

COMPANY: 23andMe, Google

INDUSTRY: Personal Genetics, Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

He’s a co-founder of Google—need we say more? She partnered with Linda Avery to found 23andMe, a company that profiles personal genetics to help determine the role that genes play in everyone’s lives. Google provided a bit of the start-up capital for this venture. Brin, who was president of technology at Google from 2001-2011, now directs special products. Google now boasts more than 30,000 employees across the globe.

Willie Brown

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: The Willie Brown Jr. Institute on

Politics & Public Service

INDUSTRY: Politics

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

He was the first person to grace the cover of Haute Living San Francisco. The New York Times once dubbed Willie Brown—one of the city’s most notable mayors and a member of the state assembly for more than 30 years—one of the country’s most powerful state legislators. No politician dominated California longer or more completely than Willie Brown. And if you measure a man by the enormity of his progressive impact on the world, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men in the City by the Bay.

John Buchanan Jr.

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

INDUSTRY: Art

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

As director of the FAMSF, Buchanan oversees both the De Young Museum and the Legion of Honor, which comprise the largest public arts institution in the city and one of the largest art museums in the United States.

Safra Catz

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Oracle Corporation

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: She is currently one of the Presidents of Oracle Corporation, an internationally recognized computer technology conglomerate. Catz signed onto the company in 1999 and, in addition to her role as co-president, served as the company’s CEO for three years. In 2010, under her leadership, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, which transformed the software company into both a manufacturer of software and hardware. Before her time with Oracle, Catz was managing director for the global investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. In 2009 she was ranked by Fortune as the 12th most powerful woman in business.

John T. Chambers

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Cisco Systems

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Chambers has been the CEO of Cisco Systems since 1995, has been on the board of directions since 1993 and is chairman of the board, a post he has held since 2006.

Ron Conway

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: SV Angels

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This prolific angel investor who took an early interest in Google has put his faith and his funds in more than 500 companies over the years. Some of the big name businesses that have counted Conway as a guardian angel include Ask Jeeves and PayPal, along with some of his more current charges like Digg, Facebook, Twitter, and Associated Content, Inc.

Phoebe Hearst Cooke

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Hearst

INDUSTRY: Media

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

From the East Coast to the West Coast, the Hearst name needs little introduction, but the legacy of both George and William Randolph Hearst looms particularly large here in the hometown of the newspaper the family took control of in 1880. Phoebe Hearst Cooke, the 81-year-old granddaughter of the media mogul, has made a name for herself in her own right as a noted horsewoman and philanthropist. She is a staple on the Forbes list with her estimated net worth at one point totaling $1.5 billion.

Francis Ford Coppola

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Francis Ford Coppola Presents

INDUSTRY: Film/Lifestyle

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This Haute Living cover subject is considered by many to be one of the greatest American film directors of all time, boasting works like The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now and The Outsiders. This Oscar-winning director, writer, and producer’s résumé has expanded to include accomplished vintner, hotelier, restaurateur, magazine publisher, and cigar maker.

James Coulter

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: TPG Capital

INDUSTRY: Private Equity

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

James Coulter is one of the giants in private equity and is known for loving the art of the multibillion-dollar deal. He co-founded TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group) with the San Francisco headquarters under his leadership. Familiar company names that have Coulter’s fingerprints all over their financial accounts include Burger King, J. Crew, Petco, and Del Monte Foods. His group collaborated with CPP Investment Board for a $5.2 billion takeover of IMS Health, a health care research company.

Vernon Davis

CATEGORY: Athlete

COMPANY: San Francisco 49ers

INDUSTRY: Sports

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:  Considered one of the NFL’s elite at the tight end position, Davis was drafted by the 49’ers in 2006 and signed a 5-year, $23 million deal—making him the highest paid tight end at the time.  His ventures outside of football, including a cameo in a Mike Jones and Ron Artest music video and was an honorary captain of the Men’s U.S. Olympic Curling team for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Olivia Hsu Decker

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs/Real Estate

COMPANY: Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty

INDUSTRY: Real Estate

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: Wall Street Journal said, “If you have a very expensive home to sell, [Olivia’s] name comes to mind first before any others.” The San Francisco Chronicle called her “perhaps the nation’s best known realtor.” One of the leading luxury home specialist in the country, Olivia Hsu Decker and her company, Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty, focuses on the finest luxury homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, has accumulated sales over $2.4 billion and has an impressive list of high-profile clients. Born in Shanghai, Decker completed international real estate study in University of Oxford and owned two magnificent French chateaux including Chateau Villette, where Da Vinci Code book and movie took place. She has been the Director of San Francisco Opera Guild since 1994 and a member of Corinthian Yacht Club since 1980. She has also written an Ambassador column for Events and Travel in Haute Living Magazine since 2009. She is also active in fund-raising for various charities and donated her Rolls Royce to Marin General Hospital in 1989.

Ray Dolby

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Dolby Laboratories

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

His genius mind is what makes Ray Dolby haute. This audio genius was the inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR and co-invent audio and video tape recording. In 1965, he founded Dolby Laboratories, from which he is now retired – thought he still is the Director Emeritus. Dolby himself holds an impressive 50 patents.

John Doerr

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This haute lister is a longtime board member of Internet giant Google and is a general partner at venture capital firm General Partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a post he has held since 1980. He was previously the director of Amazon.com and is on the board of Amyris, Inc. and is also on its Nominating and Governance Committee.

Jack Dorsey

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Twitter

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: As a young child, the founder of Twitter was busy designing dispatch routing software. In 1999, he dropped out of NYU to move to Silicon Valley, where the idea for Twitter was born. Jack Dorsey then partnered with co-creator Biz Stone to create Twitter. The world has been busy concocting 140-character-updates ever since. Since Twitter’s founding and subsequent unrivaled success, Dorsey has since founded Square. He is the Executive Chairman of Twitter and CEO and co-founder of Square.

Clint Eastwood

CATEGORY: Entertainers

COMPANY:

INDUSTRY: Film

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This San Francisco native has firmly established himself as a film icon and a haute-lister. While he’s best known for appearing on the Silver Screen, Eastwood also owns the extremely private, invitation-only Tehama Golf Club in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and is an investor in the Pebble Beach Golf Links. Eastwood has also been running his own production company, Malpaso Productions since 1967, which produced most of his films.

Daniel Ek

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Spotify

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: He may be Swedish, but his U.S. influence radiates from the Bay Area.  The creator of Spotify, the legal music streaming service that offers users free access to a 15 million-song library, launched his ultra-successful European site in the San Francisco area, thanks to alliances with power players like Sean Parker who helped facilitate the U.S. launch of the music service and its vital integration with Facebook.

Larry Ellison

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Oracle

INDUSTRY: business hardware and software systems

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

We can sum up his haute factor in one word: Oracle. The billionaire entrepreneur is CEO of the business hardware and software systems company and he used to count the likes of Steve Jobs as a weekend pal. He’s recently found a new passion for philanthropy, giving millions to health and education causes. Ellison is worth a staggering $33 billion.

Archie Aldis “Red” Emmerson

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Sierra Pacific

INDUSTRY: Lumber

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

He might be one of the most dressed-down billionaires on our list, possibly because he is in the business of cutting down trees. Time spent in the woods can do that to a person. As of 2009, his company, Sierra Pacific, owned 1.7 million acres of forestland in California and Washington, holdings that allowed it to take the title as the second-largest producer of lumber by volume in the U.S.

Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum

CATEGORY: Power Couples

COMPANY: U.S. Senate/Blum Capital

INDUSTRY: Government/Banking

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: She’s the Senator from California, he’s an investment banker worth millions and together they could rule the world. Feinstein has been in the Senate since 1992 and served as Mayor of San Francisco for ten years. Most recently, she’s been spending her professional time looking for solutions to the escalating US debt crisis. Blum founded Blum Capital in 1975, a highly successful equity investment management firm of which he is still the president and chairman. Like his wife, Blum spends plenty of time trying to better the world and is the founder and chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation.

David Filo

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Yahoo

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

In true haute list form, Yahoo co-founder David Filo still works for the Internet giant, but banks just a $1 salary. Not that he needs it. This billionaire ranked No. 375 on the Forbes 400 and No. 879 on the Forbes Billionaires List. Filo donated a staggering $30 million to Tulane University, his alma mater, in 2005.

Carly Fiorina

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Hewlett Packard

INDUSTRY: Politics and Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:  Upon being named Hewlett-Packard Company’s CEO in 1999, she became the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company.  After leaving HP in 2005, she was named to the boards of directors at Revolution Health Group and Cybertrust.  She is also on the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.  She has been involved with Republican politics since the 2008 national election and made an attempt for Barbara Boxer’s Senate Seat in 2010. Though the Senate bid was unsuccessful, she received a number of high profile endorsements.

John J., Robert and William Fisher

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: The Gap

INDUSTRY: Retail

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

These three brothers are the heirs to the Gap fortune. Their parents, Doris and her late husband Donald, founded the denim company in 1969 in San Francisco, and passed 50 percent control over to their sons in 2004. The empire includes Banana Republic, Gap, Gap Kids, Old Navy, and has afforded the sons the wealth for each of them to be listed separately on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. John also owns a minority stake in Oakland A’s baseball team.

Robert Friedland

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Ivanhoe Mines, Inc.

INDUSTRY: Mining

He’s a billionaire mining tycoon with a heavy hand in the copper, gold and nickel industries.  Though he and his businesses are based in Asia, he perfected the art of house flipping in the Bay area.  In 2007, Friedland made a $15 million profit after spending nine years meticulously upgrading a Golden Gate Avenue mansion and selling it for $65 million.

Gordon Getty

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This Haute Living San Francisco cover feature is the son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. Among a variety of professions, Getty is a classical music composer. His unmatched eye for sound investments ultimately led to the creation of one of the region’s most celebrated wine brands, PlumpJack, whose latest venture is CADE Winery. The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, which he runs with his wife, gives generously to music programs and Gordon is noted as one of the nation’s most generous philanthropists.

Vanessa Getty

CATEGORY: Thinkers

INDUSTRY: Philanthropy

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

She married into the Getty family fame with her 1999 nuptials to Bill Getty in Napa Valley. Vanessa Getty is beautiful and sophisticated and for many years was hailed as the queen of San Francisco’s charity circuit. She still is a leader in high society, only now she shares her throne with other San Francisco socialites.

Mary Gullixson

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Mary and Brent Gullixson

INDUSTRY: Real Estate

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: Gullixson is head of one of most powerful real estate teams in California, consisting of her and her son Brent. Since teaming up in 2005, this mother-son duo has been recognized each year by The Wall Street Journal for their professional excellence. Mary’s sales volume in residential real estate exceeds $2.4 billion. In the last 8 years she has averaged over $100 million in sales per year and in 2011 her sales were recorded at over $188 million.

Denise Hale

CATEGORY: Thinkers

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Hale is undoubtedly one of the grande dames of San Francisco society. In fact, she may have taught today’s charity circuit queens a thing or two about how to rule. Ann Getty, Nancy Pelosi and Michael Tilson Thomas are among her friends, while her husbands’ include director Vincente Minnelli and Prentis Cobb Hale, department-store mogul and a staple of San Francisco high society in his own right. Hale has an art collection that belongs in museums, and a wardrobe to match.

Jeff Hammerbacher and Halle Tecco

CATEGORY: Power Couples

COMPANY: Cloudera/Rockhealth

INDUSTRY: Technology/ Healthcare

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:  He’s a co-founder of Cloudera, an integral Silicon Valley consulting company that helps other companies use Hadoop—the cloud computing software he invented.  A friend of Mark Zuckerberg’s from Harvard, Hammerbacher is also a Facebook alum. He has been named one of the best young technology entrepreneurs by Bloomberg Business Week and was listed at one of the world’s seven most powerful data scientists by Forbes.  He recently married Halle Tecco: L’Oreal Woman of Worth Honoree, philanthropist, media-active, and most recently, a co-founder of Rock Health—the San Francisco based non-profit seed accelerator program aimed at supporting healthcare tech startups.

H. William Harlan

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Harlan Estate, Meadowood Napa Valley, BOND Estates

INDUSTRY: Wine and Hospitality

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

The former real estate developer came to Napa Valley in search of the ideal land to create a world-class wine, and discovered Meadowood, which was founded in 1964 as a private club. While it wasn’t what he was looking for in a winery, he saw potential for the property to become a center for life in Napa Valley, which he created. He continued his quest for the perfect plot for his winery and found it in a hillside estate in Oakville, now home to Harlan Estate, which has never produced more than 2,000 cases in a year, making it a cult classic. His latest venture, BOND Estates, is a portfolio of wines from various vineyard sites across Napa Valley that represent the very best of Napa Valley.

Reed Hastings

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Netflix

INDUSTRY: Technology/Entertainment

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: This visionary single-handedly changed the way the world is entertained. Reed Hastings’ brainchild Netflix was founded in 1997 and has taken the world of film and television by storm ever since. Prior to his current post as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Netflix, Hastings was CEO of Pure Atria Software. He also currently sits on Facebook and Microsoft’s Board of Directors.

William Randolph Hearst III

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Hearst Corporation

INDUSTRY: Media

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

There is little that can be said about the background of William Randolph Hearst—the first, second, and third—that has not been covered countless time already. William III is haute because the Hearst family name is an undying part of American history books. His grandfather was a publishing legend and his father was a U.S. Senator who became owner of the San Francisco Examiner thanks to a lucky hand of poker. He is one of the anointed few that are affiliated with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which he joined in 1995. For the decade before that, he spent his days as the editor and publisher of the Examiner.

Reid Hoffman

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: LinkedIn

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: As founder of career networking site LinkedIn, which today gains one million new members each week, Hoffman sits high upon the Haute List. Hoffman was previously the Executive Vice President at PayPal and also founded SocialNet.

John Hummer

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

A six-year stint in the NBA put John Hummer in the spotlight at an early age. After retiring from the Seattle Supersonics in 1976, he did not shy away from the splendors of success. In 1989, he partnered with Ann Winblad to start up Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, which invests solely in software companies.

Sallie Huntting

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Academy of Art University

INDUSTRY: Public Relations

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

She has worn many hats throughout her lifetime, all of them from luxury labels, we’re sure. Huntting, daughter of one of IBM’s original engineers, has modeled, produced fashion events, and taught at the Academy of Art University before moving on to work as its executive vice president of public relations. Oh, and don’t forget about her philanthropic efforts, chairing more than 45 fundraising events like Opera Ball and the Junior League Fashion Show

Chad Hurley

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: YouTube

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: As creator of insanely popular and successful online video sharing site turned phenomenon YouTube, which he sold less than two years after its inception to Google for a staggering $1.65 billion, this is one haute-lister to watch. His newest project AVOS, is currently in the works.

Charles Johnson

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Franklin Resources

INDUSTRY: Finance

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Charles Johnson is the chairman of Franklin Resources, which he runs with his half-brother Rupert, who serves as the vice chairman. In 2011, the Yale grad clocked in at No. 72 on the iconic Forbes 400 list and No. 200 on the Forbes Billionaires list with a net worth of $4.4 billion.

Rupert Johnson Jr.

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Franklin Resources

INDUSTRY: Finance

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: Together with his brother Charles and nephew Gregory, Rupert runs Franklin Resources, Inc. The firm, known for acquisitions, like Fiduciary Trust in 2001 and Templeton Funds in 1992, has Rupert as vice chairman and his brother Charles as chairman.

Arturo Keller

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Keller Estate Winery and Vineyard

INDUSTRY: Wine

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This noted Mexican antique auto collector first purchased a plot of land in Sonoma to build a large showroom for his vintage and classic racecars. At the suggestion of some neighbors, he planted a vineyard for aesthetic sake, and founded Keller Estate Winery and Vineyards. His passion for cars continues, though, and his collection of pristine prewar Mercedes-Benz cars has received numerous accolades at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Thomas Keller

CATEGORY: Thinkers/Food

COMPANY: Thomas Keller Restaurant Group

INDUSTRY: Restaurant

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

The James Beard Foundation named Thomas Keller Best California Chef in 1996 and Best Chef in America in 1997. In 2005, his New York restaurant Per Se received three Michelin stars. In 2006, The French Laundry in Napa Valley became the first restaurant in the Bay Area to receive three Michelin stars. That made Keller the only American chef (and one of two in the world) to hold two Michelin three-star ratings simultaneously. And don’t forget about Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery and Ad Hoc.

Vinod Khosla

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Khosla Ventures

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

Silicon Valley’s preeminent eco investor—named No. 1 venture capitalist by both Fortune and Forbes—Khosla invested more than $300 million of his personal fortune into start-up green technologies. Khosla was formerly a general partner at Kleiner Perkins and founder of Sun Microsystems. He created venture capital firm Khosla Ventures in 2004 to build businesses for the Internet, and the computing, mobile, silicon, and green technology arenas. In 2009, he announced that the Khosla Fund, one of the largest green tech funds, of which Bill Gates is an investor.

Michael Kim

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Cendana Capital

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Another mogul with a passion and a talent for the art of the deal, Kim has built a career and reputation in private equity investing. Rustic Canyon Partners is where he built fame and fortune before forming Cendana Capital in December 2009. Kim was also President of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System, a $15 billion public pension fund. He currently serves on the board of the Asian Art Museum; and he and his wife Letitia Kim co-chaired the SF Fall Antiques show in 2010 and co-chaired the SF Symphony Opening Gala in 2009 and 2010.

Omid Kordestani

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Google

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Another billionaire who has Google to thank for the bottom line of his bank account, Kordestani semi-retired as the senior vice president of global sales and business development. Today he is advising the execs and powers that be; he is listed on the Google management site as senior adviser, office of the CEO and Founders. He was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 People Who Shape Our World in 2006 and was The Persian Person of the Year in 2007. He is also one of the founders of the PARSA Community Foundation.

Pat Kuleto

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Pat Kuleto Restaurants

INDUSTRY: Restaurants/ Design

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Restaurateur Pat Kuleto is responsible for the design of more than 170 restaurants throughout the span of his career, including San Francisco landmark eateries like Boulevard, Farallon, Epic Roasthouse, Waterbar, and Nick’s Cove.

Stephen and Stephanie Lee

CATEGORY: Power Couples

COMPANY: CH Group

INDUSTRY: Luxury/Jewelry

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: CH Group is one of the most respected names in the jewelry business. Stephen and Stephanie run CH Premier Jeweler’s Bay area store. CH Group is the umbrella company for both Chong Hing Jewelers and CH Premier Jewelers and now features six locations throughout California, making them the largest Asian American owned jewelry chain in the state. The company carries haute brands such as Patek Philippe, Harry Winston, Piaget, Omega, Breguet, Roger Dubuis, Bulgari and Hublot. Throughout all their success, the Lees have managed to keep their ever-expanding business in the family.

Joe Lonsdale

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Palantir Technologies

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: In 2004, he founded Palantir Technologies, a private company that works on analyzing, integrating, and visualizing data that is used by the government and several financial organizations.  He is the president of Anduin Ventures and the CEO of Addepar.  Along with Peter Thiel, he was a founder of PayPal and an early executive of Clarium Capital.

George Lucas

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Lucasfilm

INDUSTRY: Film

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Based on the classic story of a young man’s battle with the forces of evil, Lucas’ Star Wars introduced a modern myth to a new generation. It also revolutionized special effects, forged new frontiers in sound design, and brought audiences to movie theaters in record numbers. Lucas established Lucas Films Ltd. in Marin County, a 2,700-acre production center and think tank. Here, at Skywalker Ranch, he presides over his vast entertainment empire.

Nicola Luisotti

CATEGORY: Entertainers

COMPANY: San Francisco Opera

INDUSTRY: Music

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

The Tuscan-born Luisotti is currently the music director of the San Francisco Opera and principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony. His San Francisco debut in 2005 was widely received and he has only continued his musical success since. Amongst his many other accolades, Luisotti was awarded the Premio Puccini Award in 2010.

Anne Marie Massocca

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: San Francisco Opera Guild

INDUSTRY: Fundraising

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Massocca is the vice president of development on the Executive Committee for the San Francisco Opera Guild. Her reach in San Francisco’s high society extends well beyond that, with posts as the fashion adviser for the Junior League’s highly anticipated annual fashion show and a myriad of other philanthropic institutions throughout the city.

Marissa Mayer

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Google

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Mayer joined Google in 1999 as the company’s first female engineer and her role has only increased since then. She is now VP of local and location-based products, in charge of the brand’s next venture – maps and geo-location services. She is also on Google’s operating committee. At just age 36, this is one haute lister to watch.

Michael Mina

CATEGORY: Restaurateur

COMPANY: Mina Group

INDUSTRY: Food

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: This award-winning celebrity chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author developed his culinary style in San Francisco.  In partnership with Andre Agassi, he formed the Mina Group.  His namesake restaurant in San Francisco was awarded two Michelin stars in 2006.

Margrit Mondavi

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Robert Mondavi Winery

INDUSTRY: Wine

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

The legendary Robert Mondavi transformed the once-dormant Napa Valley into the epicenter of American wine culture. But without the steadfast determination and devotion of his wife Margrit, the rest of the world would never have known. Margrit, who appeared on our cover in 2009, had a life-long goal of uniting wine with fine arts, music, and culinary artistry. Mondavi, it seems, has firmly rooted herself in the vintner hall of fame.

Joe Montana

CATEGORY: Athletes

COMPANY:

INDUSTRY: Football

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Think of the San Francisco 49ers and undoubtedly the name Joe Montana comes to mind. Even some more than a decade after his retirement, his impact on the game of football is still felt. Widely considered the greatest quarterback of all time, Montana was the soul of the San Francisco team for almost two decades, leading the 49ers to four Super Bowl championships. These days, he is making headlines—and gracing covers of Haute Living San Francisco—thanks to his wine country estate, which first hit the market at $49 million.

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.

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

Sheryl Sandberg

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Facebook

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

Sandberg is COO of Facebook, growing its user base to 800 million and counting – she also helped monetize the social networking site. Sandberg’s responsibilities at the mogul social networking site include sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications. Before her time at Facebook, she was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google

In addition to her haute list status, she was also named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune.

Jerry Sanders III

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Advances Micro Devices

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

A champion of competition, Sanders, as co-founder and CEO of semiconductor manufacturer AMD, competitor to Intel. Before he stepped aside in 2002, AMD thrived while thousands of firms ended up in the tech graveyard. What is truly remarkable about Sanders is his love for the people in his company. His motto is “people first, products and profit will follow!”

Eric Schmidt

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Google

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Schmidt was brought on board at Google in 2001 and took the company public in 2004. He served as chief executive for Google from 2001-2011 and when Schmidt parted ways with Google in 2011, they gifted him with $100 million dollars. He serves on the board of trustees for Carnegie Mellon University and Princeton University, is a member of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology PCAST and is chairman of the board of directors for the New America Foundation.

Charles Schwab

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Charles Schwab

INDUSTRY: Finance

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

The man who famously brought Wall Street back to Main Street by undercutting the big brokerage houses in the late 1970s was also one of the first to bring investing online. Today, Charles Schwab & Co. holds close to $1.65 trillion of client assets and a $25 billion bank. Schwab himself boasts a net worth of $3.5 billion and ranked No. 91 on the Forbes 400 and No. 223 on the Forbes Billionaires List, both in 2011.

Naveen Selvadurai

CATEGORY: Entrepreneur

COMPANY: Foursquare

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: This entrepreneur co-founded the technological venture Foursquare—a location-based social networking site for mobile devices.  The joint venture is now valued at $600 million and Selvadurai has been named one to watch by AOL and Fox Business Network.

Gary Shansby

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Partida Tequila

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalist

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

He’s a private-equity-firm investor turned tequila entrepreneur who happens to have the priciest home on the market in Sonoma—a 362-acre spread that features a stunning 11,600-square-foot, Tuscan-style villa on a hilltop. He bought the completely undeveloped property in 1990 for a little more than $3 million, and transformed it into a lavish estate that boasts a pool, spa, a 10-acre vineyard with Syrah grapes, a two-bedroom guesthouse, and horse stables. The $35 million property has since sold to a renowned wealthy financier. Shansby also renovated a townhouse in the Nob Hill neighborhood where he lives with his wife, OJ.

Kavitark Ram Shriram

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Sherpalo Ventures

INDUSTRY: Venture Capitalism

WHAT MAKES THEM 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.

Today, he runs his investment firm Sherpalo Ventures and is a backer of StumbleUpon and Inkling. Besides Google, he’s gone on to back Yodlee, Zazzle.com, and currently backs Indian and American outfits like Inkling and 24/7 Customer. He is worth an estimated $1.6 billion.

Thomas Siebel

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Siebel Systems

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM 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 and is the founder of the Siebel Foundation.

John A. Sobrato

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: The Sobrato Organization

INDUSTRY: Real Estate

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Sobrato’s Cupertino-based development firm specializes in residential and commercial real estate. His company’s holdings include 7.6 million square feet of commercial office space, 7,500 apartments and 250 vacant acres in Silicon Valley. He is a philanthropist in the Bay area, and, together with his family, he created the Sobrato Family Foundation.

Dr. Elisa Stephens

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Academy of Art University

INDUSTRY: Education

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Stephens’ grandfather started the Academy of Art University in 1929. Today, Dr. Stephens is the university’s president. She has dedicated her career to expanding the school’s curriculum and making it more visible in San Francisco.

Thomas Steyer

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Farallon Capital Management

INDUSTRY: Finance

WHAT MAKES THEM 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. He 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?

Collecters Norman and Norah are art collectors, boasting a collection including works by 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. The Stones have a 5,750 square-foot art cave on their Napa Valley property and transformed it into one of the most impressive private art museums in the world, where they celebrated the opening of their third exhibition, “Politics is Personal” in July.

Adrianna Pope Sullivan

CATEGORY: Philanthropists

COMPANY: El Peco Ranch

INDUSTRY: Philanthropist

WHAT MAKES THEM 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.

Peter Thiel

CATEGORY: Billionaires

COMPANY: Clarium Capital

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Thiel is currently president and the chairman of Clarium Capital’s investment committee, which oversees the firm’s research, investment, and trading strategies. He’s also the founder and a managing partner at The Founders Fund. Before starting and Clarium, Thiel was chairman and CEO of PayPal, which he co-founded in December of 1998; four years later, it was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion. He also co-founded Palantir Technologies and is an outside investor in Facebook.

Michael Tilson Thomas

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: San Francisco Symphony

INDUSTRY: Music

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

As the Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony and Principle Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Tilson Thomas is one of San Francisco’s most celebrated cultural icons.

Maxx and Trevor Traina

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: DriverSide, Verdiem, MyEtone and SchemaLogic.

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

His official bio on HuffingtonPost.com, where he contributes as a guest columnist, credits Trevor Traina as a San Francisco-based technology entrepreneur, but he also sits on the boards of

DriverSide, Verdiem, MyEtone and SchemaLogic.

And then there’s his half-brother Maxx Traina, the son of Danielle Steel and vintner John Traina, another respected member of San Francisco’s elite.

Meg Whitman

CATEGORY:  Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: Hewlett Packard

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: As President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, this Princeton and Harvard graduate, previously served as an executive in the Walt Disney Company, DreamWorks, Procter & Gamble, and Hasbro.  Immediately before going to HP, she was President and CEO of eBay. Whitman was the Republican candidate in California’s most recent gubernatorial race.  Though she did not win, she made history by spending more of her own money than any other political candidate spent on a single election in American history.

Dede Wilsey

CATEGORY: Philanthropists

COMPANY: Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

INDUSTRY: Art & Culture

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Her great grandfather, Herbert Henry Dow, was the founder of Dow Chemical. Her father was U.S. ambassador to Luxemburg and Austria, as well as White House Chief of Protocol under Dwight Eisenhower. Today, she is a prominent figure in the art and culture worlds in San Francisco, leading the rebuilding of the Golden Gate Park’s De Young Museum and sitting on the boards of the San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Opera. Wilsey is president of the board of trustees of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Brian Wilson

CATEGORY: Athlete

COMPANY: San Francisco Giants

INDUSTRY: Baseball

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE:

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher and MLB All-Star, Brian Wilson, is widely accepted as one of baseball’s best closers.  He is just as well loved for his funny character as he is for his consistently strong performance on the diamond.  He is a late night talk regular and the hilarious star of commercials and viral Internet videos.

Jessa Wu

CATEGORY: Philanthropists

COMPANY: San Francisco Symphony

INDUSTRY: Philanthropy

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

This haute lister has been the chair of the San Francisco Symphony’s most important night of the season – the Opening Night Gala. The Hong Kong native has called the City by the Bay home for almost 20 years and cut her teeth in the gala-planning process when she first became involved as an honorary chairperson of the Chinese New Year Celebration Concert in 2004.

Jed York

CATEGORY: Entrepreneurs

COMPANY: San Francisco 49ers

INDUSTRY: Football

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE?

Jed York is the President and CEO of one of the most storied and celebrated football franchises in all of the NFL—the San Francisco 49ers. He also holds the title of Haute Living’s own youngest cover subject. The 49ers first entered the family by way of Jed’s grandfather Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., who purchased the franchise in 1977. Under the eldest DeBartolo’s watch, the team flourished into an NFL dynasty, and his son Eddie continued the trend during his tenure as president and owner. The 49ers team in the ‘80s and ‘90s had a bit of a dynasty. York’s goal is to restore them to that same glory.

CATEGORY: Thinkers

COMPANY: Facebook

INDUSTRY: Technology

WHAT MAKES THEM HAUTE: As founder and CEO of the most popular social networking site in the world, Zuckerberg still guides the overall direction and product strategy for Facebook, leads the design, and even the development of its core technology and infrastructure, according to Facebook’s website. Zuckerberg attended Harvard University, the site of Facebook’s inception. The company is now located in Palo Alto, California.