Robert Iger

Frozen warmed Disney’s bottom line considerably in 2014, but profits have continued to rise with movies such as Avengers: Age of Ultron from Marvel Studios (a canny Iger acquisition) and Inside Out from Pixar (an earlier masterstroke purchase by Iger). Yet another of his bold pickups, Lucasfilm, will soon release one of the most highly anticipated flicks in years, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Already the film is driving strong merchandise sales (demand for presale tickets even caused websites like fandango.com to crash). Despite a modest revenue miss in its most recent quarter and concern about softness at ESPN, the Star Wars sequel suggests the curtains aren’t coming down on the company’s blockbusters just yet.