Wilmington, Del.

Charles Cawley
68

How'd he get so rich? One of the founders of MBNA—Maryland Bank National Assn.—Cawley was a pioneer of the affinity credit-card marketing business now owned by Bank of America. The Georgetown graduate built MBNA alongside Alfred Lerner in the bowels of an abandoned supermarket and turned it into one of the 50 most profitable companies in America. He also became one of the most lavishly paid CEOs in the world, earning over $50 million a year in salary. He stepped down from MBNA after a contentious board fight in 2004, according to The New York Times.

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