Blau is president of The Related Companies, one of the largest real estate development companies in New York.

The son of a plumbing contractor from Bayside, Queens, Blau first dabbled in real estate as an undergrad at Michigan, purchasing properties around Ann Arbor and turning them into student housing units. It was small potatoes, but it was entrepreneurial enough to impress legendary Related chairman (and Michigan alum) Steve Ross, who met Blau after stopping by campus to give a speech. Blau was offered an internship at the company, and he soon parlayed it into a part-time job, which he held on to even as he studied for an MBA at Wharton. In 1993, he joined Related full-time; by 1995 he was upped to executive vice president and placed in charge of the firm's New York development division, where he had a hand in the construction of high-end residential buildings like One Union Square South, Tribeca Green, and Tribeca Park. Now the company's president, Blau is focused on Related's more elaborate ground-up developments. [Image via Getty]