Danah Boyd
Social media researcher, Microsoft Research
Age: 32
A social media researcher for Microsoft Research and a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center, Boyd is helping to shape the debate over privacy on social networks. Boyd is a polymath — a social scientist with a degree in computer science — who has made a career out of questioning the status quo. She took on Internet giants Google and Facebook in her opening remarks at this year’s influential SXSW Interactive Festival, and she is considered the reigning expert on how young people use the Internet.
Eric Edidin
Founder, Archer Capital Management
Age: 38
Edidin whet his appetite for distressed investing as an analyst in Blackstone’s restructuring group, but he made his name in the sector at York Capital. He was the second hire in the $10 billion firm’s York Credit Opportunities fund, which shot from $15 million to more than $3.5 billion in just a few short years.Just before leaving to start Archer Capital Management in 2006 with Josh Lobel, York’s credit fund was named the No. 1 distressed securities hedge fund by Hedge Fund Research.
Omar Ha
moui
Founder and CEO, AdMob; vice president, mobile ads, Google
Age: 33
Hamoui founded the mobile ad network AdMob in 2006 while he was a student at Wharton’s MBA program. Last spring, Google paid $750 million for it after winning a contentious battle with Apple. Now in Mountain View, Hamoui is Google’s vice president of mobile ads where is helping to grow advertising on mobile devices.
Jason Hogg
Founder and CEO, Revolution Money
Age: 39
Hogg, a former special operationsFBI agent and the son of a onetime Mastercard CEO, knows credit cards and security well — so it’s fitting that his entrepreneurial venture would merge the two. After leaving MBNA, where he started MBNA Canada in 1998 and headed its business development, he conceived RevolutionCard, a numberless, nameless, PIN-protected credit card that would ensure maximum security from identity fraud.With seed money from Steve Case and other investors, Hogg founded Revolution Money in 2005. Today, the card is the fifth-largest network in the U.S. Since its debut, the company has added digital payments and money exchange services to compete with PayPal. Last year, AmEx took notice and bought Revolution Money for $300 million.
Todd Phillips
Movie director
Age: 39
There’s something about the guy-comedies of director Todd Phillips. His movies, The Hangover and Old School, among others, follow immature men in absurd situations, but somehow the characters feel real and grounded. It’s a secret formula that has yielded more than half a billion dollars at the box office.Phillips gained acclaim last year for The Hangover, which became the top-grossing R-rated comedy ever. Do Hollywood chums admire the record? “Not really,” says Phillips, “but I do get a great table at Fuddruckers now.” Next up: The Hangover 2 in 2011.
Jeffrey Sanders
Managing Partner, North American CEO practice, Heidrick & Struggles
Age: 37
This career headhunter has made some big placements for CEO, COO, director, and other executive spots. To name a few: Sheryl Sandberg to the board of Starbucks, Jim Steele as president of Salesforce.com, and Kevin Johnson as CEO of Juniper Networks. Before he took on the job of assisting companies with CEO succession, he led the firm’s global software practice. The University of Arizona alumni joined Heidrick in 1997 after a year- and-a-half stint as an associate at Spencer Stuart.
Eric Shanks
President, Fox Sports
Age: 39
In May, Shanks became the youngest-ever network sports division president. After working for NFL broadcasters Pat Summerall and John Madden in Fox’s early days, Shanks bounced around News Corp. — helping James Murdoch develop the company’s digital business and heading entertainment at DirecTV — before Fox Sports chief David Hill tapped him to run the broadcast network.
And what a time it is for sports divisions like Fox’s. Assaulted by ESPN and other cable channels, the networks are fighting for viewers. Insiders expect Shanks to revive the division by focusing on digital projects while shoring up the broadcast network.
John Ja
nick and Mike Caren
Co-presidents, Elektra Records
Age: 32 and 33
Caren and Janick are the record executives behind two of this year’s biggest songs: Cee-Lo’s expletive-ridden viral video sensation “F*** You” and Bruno Mars’ soulful “Just the Way You Are,” currently the #1 single in the country. The two music honchos have a gift for finding talent: Caren signed rappers T.I. and Flo Rida at Atlantic; Janick launched Paramore and Fall Out Boy through his label Fueled by Ramen. They joined forces last summer to relaunch Elektra Records, once the home of legendary acts such as Queen and the Pixies.
Monique Péan
Founder and CEO, Monique Péan Fine Jewelry
Age: 29
This darling of the high-end jewelry world possesses not only style savvy but business skills as well. A grad of the University of Pennsylvania, she began her career as a fixed-income securities analyst at Goldman Sachs in 2003. But the death of her younger sister in 2005 led her to change course and pursue her artistic passions with a socially-conscious approach; she uses sustainable materials for her designs and gives back to the communities where the materials are sourced.
Péan was a finalist for a 2009 Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund award, and her bracelets adorned the wrists of fashion icon Michelle Obama this year. She also designed a line for the Gap in June and debuted her collection at NYC’s fashion week in September.
Emily White
Director, Local, Facebook
Age: 32
White joined the social networking giant in September to grow its business offerings for local merchants. It’s a hot space right now, given the excitement around companies like Foursquare and Groupon. And while Facebook currently focuses on helping local companies connect with customers through its “pages” and “places” features, new local products are in the work, which will likely be a key revenue stream for Facebook, White says.
A protégé of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, White worked under her for a time during her nine years at Google. She started as the first person on the sales and marketing team for Google Adwords and recently worked on sales and marketing for Google’s local and commerce businesses before heading to Facebook – CNN
Founder, Archer Capital Management
Age: 38
Edidin whet his appetite for distressed investing as an analyst in Blackstone’s restructuring group, but he made his name in the sector at York Capital. He was the second hire in the $10 billion firm’s York Credit Opportunities fund, which shot from $15 million to more than $3.5 billion in just a few short years.Just before leaving to start Archer Capital Management in 2006 with Josh Lobel, York’s credit fund was named the No. 1 distressed securities hedge fund by Hedge Fund Research.
Omar Hamoui
Founder and CEO, AdMob; vice president, mobile ads, Google
Age: 33
Hamoui founded the mobile ad network AdMob in 2006 while he was a student at Wharton’s MBA program. Last spring, Google paid $750 million for it after winning a contentious battle with Apple. Now in Mountain View, Hamoui is Google’s vice president of mobile ads where is helping to grow advertising on mobile devices.
Jason Hogg
Founder and CEO, Revolution Money
Age: 39
Hogg, a former special operations FBI agent and the son of a onetime Mastercard CEO, knows credit cards and security well — so it’s fitting that his entrepreneurial venture would merge the two. After leaving MBNA, where he started MBNA Canada in 1998 and headed its business development, he conceived RevolutionCard, a numberless, nameless, PIN-protected credit card that would ensure maximum security from identity fraud.With seed money from Steve Case and other investors, Hogg founded Revolution Money in 2005. Today, the card is the fifth-largest network in the U.S. Since its debut, the company has added digital payments and money exchange services to compete with PayPal. Last year, AmEx took notice and bought Revolution Money for $300 million.
Todd Phillips
Movie director
Age: 39
There’s something about the guy-comedies of director Todd Phillips. His movies, The Hangover and Old School, among others, follow immature men in absurd situations, but somehow the characters feel real and grounded. It’s a secret formula that has yielded more than half a billion dollars at the box office.Phillips gained acclaim last year for The Hangover, which became the top-grossing R-rated comedy ever. Do Hollywood chums admire the record? “Not really,” says Phillips, “but I do get a great table at Fuddruckers now.” Next up: The Hangover 2 in 2011.
Jeffrey Sanders
Managing Partner, North American CEO practice, Heidrick & Struggles
Age: 37
This career headhunter has made some big placements for CEO, COO, director, and other executive spots. To name a few: Sheryl Sandberg to the board of Starbucks, Jim Steele as president of Salesforce.com, and Kevin Johnson as CEO of Juniper Networks. Before he took on the job of assisting companies with CEO succession, he led the firm’s global software practice. The University of Arizona alumni joined Heidrick in 1997 after a year- and-a-half stint as an associate at Spencer Stuart.
Eric Shanks
President, Fox Sports
Age: 39
In May, Shanks became the youngest-ever network sports division president. After working for NFL broadcasters Pat Summerall and John Madden in Fox’s early days, Shanks bounced around News Corp. — helping James Murdoch develop the company’s digital business and heading entertainment at DirecTV — before Fox Sports chief David Hill tapped him to run the broadcast network.
And what a time it is for sports divisions like Fox’s. Assaulted by ESPN and other cable channels, the networks are fighting for viewers. Insiders expect Shanks to revive the division by focusing on digital projects while shoring up the broadcast network.
John Janick and Mike Caren
Co-presidents, Elektra Records
Age: 32 and 33
Caren and Janick are the record executives behind two of this year’s biggest songs: Cee-Lo’s expletive-ridden viral video sensation “F*** You” and Bruno Mars’ soulful “Just the Way You Are,” currently the #1 single in the country. The two music honchos have a gift for finding talent: Caren signed rappers T.I. and Flo Rida at Atlantic; Janick launched Paramore and Fall Out Boy through his label Fueled by Ramen. They joined forces last summer to relaunch Elektra Records, once the home of legendary acts such as Queen and the Pixies.
Monique Péan
Founder and CEO, Monique Péan Fine Jewelry
Age: 29
This darling of the high-end jewelry world possesses not only style savvy but business skills as well. A grad of the University of Pennsylvania, she began her career as a fixed-income securities analyst at Goldman Sachs in 2003. But the death of her younger sister in 2005 led her to change course and pursue her artistic passions with a socially-conscious approach; she uses sustainable materials for her designs and gives back to the communities where the materials are sourced.
Péan was a finalist for a 2009 Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund award, and her bracelets adorned the wrists of fashion icon Michelle Obama this year. She also designed a line for the Gap in June and debuted her collection at NYC’s fashion week in September.
Emily White
Director, Local, Facebook
Age: 32
White joined the social networking giant in September to grow its business offerings for local merchants. It’s a hot space right now, given the excitement around companies like Foursquare and Groupon. And while Facebook currently focuses on helping local companies connect with customers through its “pages” and “places” features, new local products are in the work, which will likely be a key revenue stream for Facebook, White says.
A protégé of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, White worked under her for a time during her nine years at Google. She started as the first person on the sales and marketing team for Google Adwords and recently worked on sales and marketing for Google’s local and commerce businesses before heading to Facebook.
