6 Members of the Tech Community Make
Chicago Magazine's 'Power 100'
Alice Zhang
- Editorial Intern
02/25/15 @9:29am in Tech
Chicago Magazine
just released the 2015 list of
the top hundred most dynamic figures in the city. Some things changed, some
things didn’t: Governor Bruce Rauner soared straight to #2 after his winning
bid, House Speaker Mike Madigan took third, and Rahm Emanuel is still in the
top spot (with some tactful scrutiny on the where-he’s-been, where-he-is and where-he-should-be’s).
But in tech, he’s
still Chicago’s guy. At a press conference hosted this month by ContextMedia,
CEO Rishi Shah introduced the mayor as the Chicago tech community’s “greatest
partner and champion.” The rest of the list? We did the sifting and boiled it
down to the tech heads with the most clout.
#4 J.B. Pritzker
Cofounder and
managing partner, Pritzker Group
Mega-investor J.B.
Pritzker came in fourth, with a record of 1.6 billion funding raised in 2014 as
he continues to funnel funds in cloud-computing companies. As the managing
partner of the largest venture firm in the Midwest, Pritzker also chairs
ChicagoNEXT, founded 1871, and was integral in funding Techstars Chicago and
Built in Chicago. Sitting on the boards of almost all Chicago associations (the
Field Museum, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Northwestern
investment committee, and Illinois Human Rights Commission), it’s no surprise
he comes in fourth.
#25 Joe Mansueto
Founder, chairman,
and CEO, Morningstar
Joe Mansueto is CEO
of investment research firm Morningstar, which provides data on investment
offerings, stocks, and real-time global market data. Owner of Fast Company and
Inc. Magazine, the billionaire is looking for ways to make Morningstar a
household item among investors. Despite the 22 percent plunge in market value,
the firm has been bullish in funneling millions into tech investments,
including of ByAllAccounts, an account aggregation service, and HelloWallet, a
personalized finance guide for consumers. Morningstar is also the second
largest digital company in
Chicago in terms of employment.
#42 Eric Lefkofsky
CEO, Groupon;
cofounder, Lightbank
Lefkofsky falls a
little further on the Power 100 list because of Groupon’s 30 percent stock
plunge in 2014. Although Groupon revenues are rising for the most part, Groupon
has been losing money in all four quarters and pushing shares down. Still,
Lefkofsky has been planting new investment seeds into the historic Wrigley
Building, and backing his co-founded venture capital firm Lightbank.
#46 Brad Keywell
Cofounder and
managing partner, Lightbank
Keywell also has
his piggy bank in Lightbank with Lefkofsky, and as co-founder of Groupon and
Echo, his reputation in Chitown holds strong. As founder of Chicago Ideas Week,
Keywell has been instrumental in bringing together an impressive roll of
speakers, change agents, leaders and doers from around the world to spark local
thought.
#87 Howard Tullman
CEO, 1871; venture
capitalist
Tullman has an
accolade wall of serious startups totaling twelve: he’s been CEO of Tribeca
Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, Tunes.com, Imagination Pilots, CCC Information
Services, and many others over his four decades. He brings his expertise to
1871 as current CEO of the nonprofit startup hub, since doubling the
Merchandise Mart area and creating niche incubator spaces such as The Bunker
for veteran entrepreneurs.
#94 Nick Kokonas
Co-owner, Alinea,
Next, and Aviary; CEO, Tock
Hometown
restaurateur of molecular gastronomy fame, Nick Kokonas is reinventing the food
industry from ingredients to service. With a three-star Michelin rating tucked
inside his coat, Kokonas is next venturing into his restaurant ticketing system
startup, Tock, which has nabbed investors from Twitter’s Dick Costolo to Thomas
Keller of The French Laundry fame.