The founder of Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner's publishing empire now also includes Us Weekly and Men's Journal. He was actually born Jan S. Wenner. He switched to "Jann" several years after founding Rolling Stone.

Wenner was born in New York and later moved to California. He enrolled at Berkeley but soon dropped out; after bounding around the San Francisco music scene for a spell, he teamed up with veteran music critic Ralph Gleason to start up Rolling Stone. Wenner was only 21 at the time, but with $7,500 in financing from his in-laws, he was off and running. The first issue of Rolling Stone debuted in October 1967 with John Lennon on the cover. He is currently worth an estimated $500-$700 million.

The mag was hardly an instant hit—of the 40,000 copies printed, 34,000 were returned unsold. But within a couple of years, Rolling Stone had emerged as the voice of a new generation as it championed the '70s rock movement in all its glory—how many magazines marketed a free roach clip with a new subscription?—and introduced readers to countless new artists who went on to become musical icons. A legendary spotter of talent, Wenner was also responsible for discovering a long list of editorial superstars, including Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Lester Bangs, photographer Annie Leibovitz, and Cameron Crowe (who paid homage to Rolling Stone's golden years in the movie Almost Famous).

Wenner moved his operation to New York in 1977 as part of a plan to expand his media franchise. He branched out with Outside (which he sold two years later) and Us, which he acquired in partnership with Lorimar Telepictures in 1985. He also became a tabloid fixture, palling around with the likes of Jackie O and Mick Jagger, and making cameos in movies (the box office dud Perfect).

Wenner has never been known as an easy man to work with, and his battles with editors, artists, and critics are legendary. He's been accused of cozying up to the music industry and bullying his editors to run (or kill) features and covers; former employees have also accused him of insisting on freebies from companies whose products are reviewed. Now that Wenner's in his 60s, he's a lot tamer than he used to be. Once renowned for his ability to sip and snort with the very best, these days he claims espresso is his drug of choice.

Wenner's private life became a messy, public affair in 1995 when he was publicly outed, and it was revealed that he was involved with an aspiring fashion designer 19 years his junior named Matt Nye. Although Wenner's sexuality had been an open secret for years, the revelation caused a split with his wife of nearly 30 years, Jane Schindelheim, although the couple have never officially divorced. Jann has three kids with Jane: Alexander, Theo, and Edward. He has three kids with Nye, who were born via a surrogate mother. The family lives in a townhouse on West 74th Street. They have vacation homes in Tivoli, New York (he purchased the 65-acre estate for $5.8 million in 2008) and Sun Valley, Idaho.

[Image via Getty]