Henry Samueli
Professor and....owner of a hockey team? It seems like an odd combo. For Henry Samueli, it's a profitable venture. Samueli, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants, began at the bottom: He stocked the shelves of his parent's booze store to help out his family. After taking an electronics lesson in junior high, he grew interested in the subject. Samueli got his BA, MA, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), following which he became a professor there. He and his former pupil, Henry Nicholas, formed the Broadcom Corporation while he was still in this position. Samueli left his teaching when the company took off, although his name remains on the UCLA Department of Electrical Engineering's faculty list.
Samueli and his wife purchased the Anaheim Ducks (formerly the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) for $75 million from the Walt Disney Company in 2005. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup under his ownership in 2007, but Samueli was suspended in 2008 after confessing to lying to US security inspectors. The matter was dismissed a year later, and Samueli was exonerated and reinstated as the owner. Anaheim Ducks are currently valued at $188 million.
Samueli has also developed two health-related institutions: the University of California, Irvine's Center for Integrative Medicine, and the Samueli Institute of Information Biology in Washington, D.C. Both seek to conduct medical research in well-known and lesser-known disciplines. In addition to directing UCLA's engineering department, he has given funding to institutions such as the Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA), the Ocean Institute, and Chapman University.
The 2010 UCLA Medal, the 2011 Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, and the 2012 Marconi Prize are among his honors. Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Member of the National Academy of Engineering are two of his credentials. Samueli's estimated net worth is between $1.7 and $2.3 billion.
Net Worth: $1.7 Billion +
