51. RICHARD L. SHARP
Henrico County. 54. Entrepreneurial leader of 5,500-employee Circuit City Stores. Credited with company’s growth; stepped down as CEO but is still chairman. His Digital Video Express division never made it out of the box. Conceived as a competitor to traditional video and movie rental; plan was killed in June. Cost company $114 million. The electronics retailer went online during summer with its wares. Sharp’s CarMax – which insiders used to refer to as Crazy Rick’s Used Cars – is finally nearing profitability.
Net Worth: $230 million*
Confidence: C

52. W. RUSSELL RAMSEY
Great Falls. 40. A co-founder of Arlington investment firm of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, which specializes in finance and technology firms. Other principals live in D.C. and Maryland. Gave up daily operations to focus on long-term strategy. Wants to expand nationally and internationally with venture funds that will invest in early-stage tech companies.
Net Worth: $225 million
Confidence: A

53. ALEX J. MANDL
Great Falls. 56. Chairman and CEO of Vienna-based Teligent since 1996. Built the company from scratch. Firm went public in November 1997. Before joining Teligent, was executive at AT&T, Sea-Land Services Inc. and CSX Corp. Teligent now serves more than 1 billion square feet of commercial space holding 136,000 potential customers. Raised $500 million last year from investor group led by Microsoft to pay for new local broadband networks.
Net Worth: $ 225 million
Confidence: B

54. MARK R. WARNER
Alexandria. 45. Out of Harvard Law School, began buying and selling franchises in the embryonic business of cellular telephones. Co-founded Columbia Capital, a leading financier of telecommunications revolution, in 1989. Last year, Columbia raised $460 million for private equity fund investing in communications and information technology. A failed senatorial candidate who still holds political ambitions. Has sponsored four new venture capital funds around the state.
Net Worth: $225 million
Confidence: B

55. JONATHAN P. AUST
Sterling. 42. CEO of Network Access Solutions since its founding in 1994 and chairman of the board since 1998. Company recently announced network expansion from the Bell Atlantic region into Bell South and US West territories. Before Network Access, Aust worked his way up through AT&T Paradyne to national account manager.
Net Worth: $215 million
Confidence: A

56. GENE B. DIXON JR.
Dillwyn. 57. World’s largest kyanite mine, in rural Buckingham, is owned by media-shy Gene B. Dixon and family. Kyanite Mining Corp. employs 150 people and generates about $25 million in revenues a year. Dixon attended nearby Hampden-Sydney College in the mid-1960s. Didn’t graduate, but today is board of trustees member. Also owns The Cavalier, 400-room hotel in Virginia Beach; major stake in Bank of Charlotte; and Dillard Park, a 600-acre industrial site in Amherst County.
Net worth: $205 million
Confidence: B

57. MARIO M. MORINO
Great Falls. 56. Co-founded software firm Morino Associates in 1973 and merged company with Duquesne Systems in 1989 to create Legent Corp. Retired in 1993. Today leads Morino Institute, a nonprofit that helps businesses and communities tap power of Internet. His Netpreneur Program counsels technology start-ups. Spends some time as sage for young entrepreneurs, especially at the Morino Group’s 11600 Sunrise building in Reston, home to tech firms and venture capitalists.
Net Worth: $200 million
Confidence: A

58. WILLIAM H. GOODWIN JR.
Richmond. 59. Owns part of Jefferson Hotel in Richmond and Kiawah Island Resort on the South Carolina coast. Graduate of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. Lately has focused less on business and more on charities, such as the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Darden School and Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Engineering.
Net Worth: $200 million
Confidence: B

59. T. EUGENE WORRELL
Charlottesville. 80. Bounced back from a failed GOP congressional bid in 1948 by joining with investors to purchase liberal Bristol newspaper that skewered his campaign. Built newspaper chain that he sold in 1978 to son, Thomas E. Worrell Jr., who tripled its size. Kept Bristol Herald Courier, which Worrell Sr. and Anne R. Worrell sold in January 1998, with two weeklies, to Media General for $91.2 million.
Net Worth: $200 million
Confidence: C

60. NIGEL W. MORRIS
Alexandria. 41. Co-founder, president, chief operating officer and director of Capital One Financial Corp. A director of Visa U.S.A. Inc.’s marketing committee and Covance Inc. Graduated from London University and worked in social work with disadvantaged youth. Frustration lured him to the London Business School. Went on to The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for his MBA.
Net Worth: $199
Confidence: A