Jim Chanos is head of Kynikos Associates, a short-selling hedge fund. Appropriately, the word "kynikos" means cynic in Greek.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Chanos graduated from Yale and cut his teeth at Paine Webber, Gilford Securities and Deutsche Bank, where he specialized in finding overpriced stocks and made a name for himself by predicting the demise of piano maker Baldwin-United. The late 1990s were not kind to Chanos, but he reaped his rewards when the markets tumbled in 2000 and 2001. Chanos is best known for being the first to call Enron on its accounting shenanigans, tipping Fortune magazine reporter Bethany McLean in the process. Shorting Enron made Chanos a fortune—and remains his claim to fame—but the fund also made a pretty penny shorting Tyco long before Dennis Kozlowski became front-page news. The downturn in the economy is now providing Chanos with plenty of fresh opportunities. [Image via Getty]