Cover Story

Bernard Arnault: Green Universe

By Liliane-Carol Benoit

Arnault may be surrounded by luxury on the Champs-Élysées, but his eyes are focused on creating a sustainable planet.

As chairman of LVMH, Bernard Arnault may be ruling over an empire, but he is just as interested in preserving the world’s beauty as he is in creating it.

Profiles

T. Boone Pickens: Straight Shooter

By Matthew Simmons

The amazing metamorphosis of T. Boone Pickens from career oilman to an environmentalist desperate to save America from itself.

Peter Seligmann: Conservative Thinking

By Wendy Helfenbaum

Environmentalist Peter Seligmann has everyone from Harrison Ford to Wal-Mart chairman S. Robson Walton thinking globally and acting locally.

Elon Musk: Space Invader

By Nancy A. Ruhling

After spending millions of his own fortune—and pulling 18-hour workdays—building energy-efficient homes, cars, and rockets, Elon Musk may finally get everything he’s after (with the exception of sleep).

Buzz Aldrin: Dark Matter

By Victoria Scrozzo

One of the first men to set foot on the surface of the moon is working hard to ensure you get the same out-of-this-world opportunity he did.

David and Simon Reuben: The Brothers Reuben

By Natalie Madell

David and Simon Reuben built an empire from scratch—and now their goal is to create hope.

Georges Kern: Perfect Timing

By Liliane-Carol Benoit

Georges Kern is steering IWC Schaffhausen, the world renowned watchmaker, with his heart and his conscience.

Ron Gonen: Bank On It

By Victoria Scrozzo

RecycleBank’s Ron Gonen wants to give green for going green.

Peter Schwarzenbauer: Speed Racer

By Nancy A. Ruhling

Peter Schwarzenbauer may spend his weekdays singing Audi’s praises from behind a desk, but when the weekend rolls around, you can find him on the open road.

Ron Agam: Picture Perfect

By Danielle Sonnenberg

Photographer Ron Agam believes the best discoveries are the ones that happen by chance.

Tom Szaky: Trash Talk

By Julie Jacobs

For TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky, one man’s garbage is his treasure.

UpFront

• High Line flying high with matching $10 million donations
• (Clean) Sky’s the limit for Dassault
• Mercedes gone blue
• Luxury on two wheels
• Quantum leap for BlackBerry founder
• NYU medical center gets $100 million again, and again, and again
• Schneier builds bridges across continents
• Boston philanthropist covers employees’ lost millions
• Wanna work with Wal-Mart? Go Green
• Ron the builder
• ARK raises over $25 million in one night
• A Rare Challenge
• Buffet(t) lunch for under $2 million
• The Mann in charge
• The Gunnery
• A match made in heaven
• Rockefeller targets health care

Events

• Louis Vuitton Looks to the Stars
• Rainforest Alliance Gala
• Four Seasons and Guggenheim’s 50th Anniversaries
• Music Visionary of the Year Award
• NBC’s Jeff Zucker Honored
• MoMA Party in the Garden
• Mount Sinai Crystal Ball
• Four Seasons of Hope Gala
• Global Leadership Awards
• Women in Film
• American Ballet Theatre Spring Gala 2009

The Index

Giving Green

Who knows more about “green” than the world’s wealthiest individuals? Bank accounts aside, these three dozen-plus titans of industry are looking for sustainability as much as profit as they pour capital into green technology and businesses and make important financial commitments to environmental causes.

Hollywood Green

While tabloids are full of scandalous behavior, some celebrities are using their downtime to spread the green word.

Q&A

With David de Rothschild

British adventurer David de Rothschild, the 31-year-old founder of Adventure Ecology, a group that organizes expeditions to environmentally sensitive areas to raise awareness, is getting set to sail aboard the Plastiki, a 60-foot vessel constructed mostly from reclaimed plastic bottles.