The Virginia 100
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1. JOHN W. KLUGE
Charlottesville, New York, Palm Beach. 85. Chairman of New Jersey-based Metromedia Co., one of the nation’s largest private partnerships with interests in media, communications and technology. Holdings include 1,200 Bennigan’s, Steak & Ale and Bonanza restaurants. Big win with Metromedia Fiber Network, realizing $2 billion on an investment of $30 million in 1997, but telecom plays in emerging Russian and Chinese markets have faltered. This year, the tycoon is selling off his cattle business at his 10,000-acre farm in Albemarle County.
Net Worth: $12 billion
Confidence level: A

2. MARS FAMILY
McLean and Arlington. Forrest Mars Sr., patriarch of global candy-making and food-processing empire, passed away last year, leaving Yale-educated brothers Forrest Jr., 69, and John Franklyn, 64, to mind the shop. Sister Jacqueline, 60, lives in New Jersey. Intensely private company produces M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers and pet food. A recent book on the chocolate industry called Forrest Sr. a "brilliant and autocratic leader." Time will tell how company will change with his passing.
Net worth: $5.5 billion
Confidence: B+

3. MICHAEL SAYLOR
Vienna. 35. Grew up on military bases around the world. Earned full scholarship to MIT. Co-founded MicroStrategy, a business-to-business software company that lets customers mine data for sales trends and other patterns for marketing and inventory control. Company went public in June 1998; stock up more than 200 percent from IPO price. Owns 60 percent of the company. Plans to spend $100 million to create online university. Launched Strategy.com Wireless Internet site in 1999. Company recently investigated by the SEC for overstating earnings. Probe has tanked stock and Saylor’s net worth is dropping substantially.
Net Worth: $3.4 billion
Confidence: A

4. FRANK BATTEN SR.
Virginia Beach. 73. Has turned over the reins of his Norfolk-based Landmark Communications to son, Frank Jr., who is making his mark with new ventures. The elder Batten built Landmark into a company with seven daily newspapers plus more than 80 smaller publications, The Weather Channel and TV stations. Employs 4,500 people. Virginia properties include Virgin-ian-Pilot and Roanoke Times. Still oversees philanthropic Landmark Foundation.
Net Worth: $2.3 billion*
Confidence: B

5. THE SINGHS
Mount Vernon. One year ago, LCC International’s stock price was nudging $4. Today, it’s around $36.50. Raj Singh, 45, who was chairman of the board of directors and interim president and CEO, handed the reins to C. Thomas Saulders III in June 1999. A good choice — LCC reported its first profit in six quarters. Saulders has eliminated all company debt, sold off portions of LCC and brought in others. Raj Singh remains as a director; he and wife, Neera, 41, are majority shareholders. Also has an 18.1 percent stake — worth $1 billion — in Aether Systems, a wireless and mobile data services company based in Owings Mills, Md.
Net Worth: $2.2 billion
Confidence: A-

6. ROGER SANT
Middleburg. 68. As chairman of the board and a director of AES Corp., Sant must have a strong stomach: His almost 10 percent stake in company has fluctuated with stock price from $38 a share to $89 in past year. Currently, chairman of boards of directors of The Summit Foundation and World Wildlife Fund U.S., and trustee of World Wide Fund for Nature. Also serves on board of directors of Marriott International and National Symphony Orchestra. Unlike business partner, Dennis Bakke – who’s a devout Christian (see entry), Sant’s a "non-practicing Mormon." Both preach company’s core principles: fairness, social responsibility, integrity and fun.
Net Worth: $1.6 billion
Confidence: A

7. STEPHEN M. CASE
McLean. 42. Chairman and CEO of AOL. Opened the year with announcement of merger with Time Warner. Deal would give AOL access to Warner’s broadband cable operations and products like HBO, CNN, Sports Illustrated and Time. Case will be chairman of the new company if merger goes through. Shares prices hit 52-week high of more than $95 last December, but dropped by more than a third amid worry that merger would slow AOL’s growth. Company revenues have been solid, though — for last six months of 1999 revenues rose 44 percent to $3.1 billion. AOL now has 22 million subscribers — up from 15 million last year. Profits last year: $762 million. Case’s compensation: $117 million.
Net Worth: $1.5 billion
Confidence: B

8. DENNIS BAKKE
Arlington. 54. From Brazil to Pakistan, AES Corp. is expanding with missionary zeal. Bakke, president and CEO, is a devout Christian and plans to give away 95 percent of wealth. Owns 8.31 percent of AES, of which even 5 percent equals hefty $67 million. Doesn’t take a salary at AES. Main vehicle for philanthropy is Mustard Seed Foundation, which funds scholarships and Christian ministries worldwide. "The whole philosophy is that [the money] is not ours. God gave it to us to steward it." AES 1999 revenues were $3.3 billion, up $855 million on the previous year.
Net Worth: $1.3 billion*
Confidence: A

9. GOTTWALD FAMILY
Richmond. Ethyl Corp., which makes fuel additives, has seen its fortunes fall with rising oil prices. Shares in the company, run by 66-year-old Bruce C. Gottwald, reached $6 last July but fell to a 52-week low of barely $2.60 in March, though the price has since moved back above $3. Albemarle Corp. — run by brother Floyd D. Gottwald Jr., 77 — is an Ethyl spinoff that produces specialty chemicals. In March it began a joint venture in China to tap into the growing polymer market overseas. Tredegar Industries — run by Floyd’s son, John D. Gottwald, 45 — is going to China, too. It will build a manufacturing facility in Shanghai.
Net Worth: $1.2 billion
Confidence: B

* Includes assets held in trust or by other family members 

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