Jacob Rothschild

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: The scion of the great 19th-century banking dynasty has been looking for 21st-century riches by financing the development of oil, gas, metal, and mining resources in Central Asia. He’s invested in the public stock offerings of Kazakhstan’s leading oil company and biggest commercial banks. Last year he helped raise $250 million from a public offering of his Tau Capital fund, which invests in Kazakhstan as well as Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.

LITTLE BUDDY: Steve Schwarzman. (Lord Rothschild, 72, is on the International Advisory Board of Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group.)

PRIZED POSSESSION: His personal collection of some 15,000 bottles of Rothschild wines dating back to 1870.