Tom Ricketts and Neil Bluhm:
Chicago Magazine named Cubs Chairman, Tom Ricketts, and Neil Bluhm, chairman of Rush Street Gaming, amongst the most powerful figures in Chicago:
Ricketts, 9:
“It was only a couple of years ago that the Cubs’ head honcho seemed to be suffering a severe power deficit. The rooftop owners were still giving him fits, the club still stunk, and sports talk mocked him for being too nice to win. But just as those who best know Ricketts predicted, he put his head down and, step by step, bulled (or is it Cubbed?) his way ahead. As of last season, he’d belted a grand slam: new massive Jumbotron? Check. Complete revitalization of the Clark-Addison corridor? Can o’ corn. Prospects fulfilling their potential? Hey, hey! A playoff series win against the hated Cardinals? Touch ’em all. If the Cubs win the World Series this year—and most bookmakers have them as the early favorites—just sign the deed to the city over to Ricketts.”
Bluhm, 21:
“Bluhm has struggled with union headaches lately, and his upscale Rivers Casino in Des Plaines ended a four-year growth streak last year. But it’s still the most profitable casino in Illinois. And Bluhm shows no signs of slowing down: The art lover was recently elected a board cochair of New York’s prestigious Whitney Museum of American Art.”
Chicago Magazine, “The Power 50,” February 16, 2016