Jim Nelson is the tight-suited, skinny-tied editor-in-chief of GQ.

The Maryland native started out as a news producer at CNN in Washington before abandoning journalism and moving to LA to pursue a career in television comedy writing. When that didn't pan out, Nelson returned to New York in the early '90s and joined Harper's as an unpaid intern at the age of 30. Harper's soon offered him a full-time job and he remained at the mag until 1997, when he moved to GQ to serve as a senior editor. In 2002 he was bumped up to executive editor; a year later he was picked by then Condé Nast editorial director James Truman to succeed GQ's legendary editor Art Cooper. Under Cooper, GQ was a more traditional title that celebrated the sort of classic men's style last popular a generation ago. Nelson quickly set about creating a more youthful and informal image: He shortened the articles and ladded things up by putting young folk like Zac Efron and Jay-Z on the cover. And much like competitor David Granger of Esquire, he turned to the failsafe formula of boobies, gracing the pages with younger (and more scantily-clad) women. It's largely worked. Circulation and ad pages are up—even as the newsstand price has increased—and the magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2007.

Nelson lives with his boyfriend, a dancer and choreographer named John Mario Sevilla. [Image via Getty]