29

Mellody Hobson

Age: 44

Occupation: President, Ariel Investments

President of America’s biggest minority-owned investment firm. Member of three blockbuster corporate boards (Starbucks, Estée Lauder, and DreamWorks). On-air contributor for CBS News. And, as of last year, wife of a superrich Hollywood legend (Star Wars director George Lucas, 69) and mother of their baby, Everest. In December, the George Lucas Family Foundation donated a whopping $25 million to After School Matters, the teen enrichment nonprofit founded by the late Maggie Daley and chaired by Hobson. How much more powerful can she get?