Tim Armstrong, 39

Chairman, chief executive, AOL
Formerly senior vice-president of sales at Google
Investments: Associated Content, Howcast, Patch

The former head of Google’s advertising sales left Mountain View to lead an ambitious turnaround of AOL in March 2009. Armstrong’s efforts at AOL have already coincided with his investment strategy: Last June, the company acquired Patch, a network of local news sites, that Armstrong had helped fund. (At the time, Armstrong said he would get back only his seed money, not any profits, in the deal.) "I think Google did a very good job of wealth creation for people around the company," says Armstrong. "I would expect there to be, over time, a more significant group of people attached to Google who would help fund further angel investing across the technology or media landscape."