Ronald Perelman

Perelman, the son of a buyout artist, began attending board meetings back when he was in elementary school. Today he has an assortment of investments: from cosmetic giant Revlon to production house Deluxe Entertainment, lottery outfit Scientific Games and Humvee maker AM General. Perelman got his start working for his dad after he graduated from Wharton. He broke out on his own in 1977 and bought a $1.9 million stake in jewelry distributor Cohen-Hatfield in 1978. He flipped it to Sam Walton 7 years later. In 1980, he repurposed the licorice maker MacAndrews & Forbes and used it as holding company to pursue buyouts. In 1985 he bought Revlon. With Gerald Ford, he sold Golden State Bancorp to Citigroup in 2002. Last year he got married -- to his fifth wife -- and had a son -- his seventh child. A familiar face in court, he and his dad are now embroiled in a lawsuit with his brother, Jeffrey. In July he lost his mother, Ruth, a dedicated philanthropist, who died at age 90.

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