Wolfgang Puck — The $400M Pioneer

Puck essentially invented the celebrity chef concept in 1982 when Spago in West Hollywood became the first restaurant where the chef was more famous than the food. He's since built Wolfgang Puck Companies into a $400 million annual revenue operation spanning 20 fine dining restaurants, 80+ Wolfgang Puck Express locations in airports and stadiums, a catering empire that has served every Academy Awards Governors Ball since 1995, and a line of kitchen appliances in 5,000 retail stores. He feeds 16,000 people at the Oscars every year. Before Ramsay, before Oliver, before Fieri — there was Wolfgang.