Robert De Niro — Nobu Empire & The Greenwich Hotel

De Niro co-founded Nobu with chef Nobu Matsuhisa in 1994. The brand now spans 50+ restaurants and 15+ luxury hotels worldwide — valued at over $3 billion, outperforming #6 Branson's hotel empire in global reach. His Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca ($800+/night) features a Japanese-style penthouse with a private rooftop pool and a subterranean spa built from 250-year-old Japanese farmhouse timbers shipped from Kyoto. De Niro owns several buildings in the Tribeca neighborhood he helped make fashionable. The man who played the Godfather essentially became the godfather of Tribeca hospitality. His black cod with miso has been copied by every fine dining restaurant on Earth. With 50+ locations across 19 countries, Nobu's expansion is 30% faster than the average luxury restaurant chain.