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John Canning Jr.

Age: 69

Occupation: Chairman, Madison Dearborn Partners

Canning works hardest these days at the Big Shoulders Fund, where he has helped raise more than $250 million for inner-city Catholic schools. But he is better known to many for his Big Pockets. The private equity firm he cofounded in 1992—Chicago’s largest—now has $13 billion under management and investments ranging from computer reseller CDW to baseball card and bubblegum maker Topps.