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A scion of the family that made a fortune in real estate and retail, Andrew Farkas is the man behind the real estate investment firms Insignia and Island Capital.

Although Andrew's grandfather George Farkas founded the Alexander's department store chain in 1928, Farkas signed on at Salomon Brothers at the height of the '80s Wall Street boom rather than join the largely inactive family business. He started Insignia soon after with $5 million in family money and built the company up by buying distressed real estate properties. He eventually became one of the largest managers of residential real estate in the country, branching out into commercial real estate with the purchase of the Edward S. Gordon Company in 1996. A few missteps with tech-oriented ventures followed and by 2002, Farkas was ready to move on. He eventually shed Insignia's assets but held onto 40 buildings to form the core of his new company, Island Capital and spends his days riding yachts and supporting the likes of Andrew Cuomo.