The hottest young business dynamos in town are not working on Wall Street, according to Crain’s New York Business.
Dancers, artists and start-up founders have taken over the publication’s prestigious “40 Under 40” list, which is out this week.
This year’s honorees include American Ballet’s first black soloist, Misty Copeland, 32; Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton, 31; and Caroline Shaw, 32, the youngest composer ever to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Traditional business professionals like hedge-funders and bankers used to dominate the list, which Crain’s began compiling yearly in 1987 as a way to attract younger readers.
But this year’s list includes hipster business owners like Brooklyn chef Carlo Mirarchi, 34. He owns Roberta’s in Bushwick — a pizzeria with a celebrity following that includes Jay Z and Beyoncé, according to Crain’s.
The chef’s V-neck tee and tattoos stick out like a sore thumb against more traditional “40 Under 40” honorees like New York Stock Exchange President Thomas Farley, 39.
“The individuals are inspiring, they have incredibly fascinating back stories, but as a whole they really tell the story of New York business,” said Jeremy Smerd, Crain’s executive editor.
The number of online start-up founders and CEOs on the list has also increased over the years — a trend that reflects the city’s growing tech industry, Smerd said in a podcast announcing the list.
“You’ve got $3 billion to $4 billion in venture-capital money,” he said. “The big personalities that once went into finance and to work for the banks and hedge funds are wanting to start businesses.”
The start-ups honored run the “gamut,” he said.
There’s blogger Emily Weiss, 30, who founded the beauty-product site Glossier.com; Jake Schwartz, 36, who co-founded General Assembly, a platform for learning coding and other skills; and Nat Turner, 29, whose business, Flatiron Health, aggregates medical data for cancer patients.
Even the straight-laced corporate types on this year’s list have unusual backgrounds.
Reggie Chambers, 39, a private-equity consultant at McKinsey & Company, is a modern-day Renaissance man: He’s a competitive pianist, a former White House fellow — and even a hockey player.
“If you look at each year’s class of honorees, you really get a sense of where the city is at,” Smerd said. “Their personal stories . . . tell the tale of where New York business is heading and offer insight for everyone — whether you are just out of college or well on your career path.”
