25

Jim Delany

Age: 65

Occupation: Commissioner, Big Ten Conference

Delany is poised to take the wealthiest sports conference in the nation, according to Forbes, and make it even bigger. He brings Maryland and Rutgers into the conference this summer, adding as much as $100 million a year to his $315 million enterprise. The move expands the reach of the conference’s $270 million cable outlet, another Delany creation, into two of the larger TV markets in the country.