Sam Nazarian

The Iranian-American son of Qualcomm cofounder Younes Nazarian made an early fortune in wireless before pioneering celebrity nightclubs in the 90s famous for hosting Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Now, he helms the entertainment and hospitality conglomerate SBE (it stands for Samy Boy Entertainment, a reference to his childhood nickname), a collection of six hotels, 16 clubs, and dozens of restaurants (SLS hotels, the Raleigh, the Redbury, and hotspots Umami Burger and Katsuya are all his) with collective revenues of some $500 million. His largest project to date, the much-anticipated SLS hotel-casino in Las Vegas, opened in August, developed over eight years at a cost of $800 million.