Gabe Newell

One of the most respected figures in the video game business, Newell's Valve Corporation posted a stellar 2011. The Bellevue, Wash. software firm scored hits both as game developer (Portal 2 was a monster hit) and game distributor (digital distribution platform Steam doubled sales for the seventh straight year, and has over 40 million users). Newell owns more than 50% of privately-held Valve, which he co-founded in 1996 after cashing in stock options earned over a decade producing software for Microsoft. Drop Out, Harvard University