Gary Friedman

CEO & CHAIRMAN, Restoration Hardware

• Gary Friedman is the CEO and chairman of publicly traded high-end furniture retailer RH, which generates over $3 billion in annual sales.
• He’s credited with turning around the company formerly known as Restoration Hardware, which was at the brink of bankruptcy when he joined in 2001.
• Net worth: $1.6 billion
• The retail veteran started at Gap as a stock boy, eventually working his way up to managing 63 stores in southern California.
• He then spent 13 years at Williams-Sonoma Inc., where he took Pottery Barn from a $50 million tableware business to a $1 billion plus furniture brand.
• Friedman also helped conceptualize the West Elm brand and developed the Williams-Sonoma Grande Cuisine stores.