Not bad for an NYU dropout who left school to start his own telecommunications company, Platinum Wireless. He eventually sold it to diversify his family assets (his father Younes is cofounder of Qualcomm), delving into real estate, where he invested a reported $150 million to $200 million in houses, hotels, and downtown buildings. From there he moved onto nightclubs, using a long-term business plan in an industry built on a “get in, get out” scheme. “[Owning clubs] was an ego thing for investors,” Nazarian says. “They’d be in business for a year, and whether or not they made money didn’t matter.”

Nazarian treats his clubs like investments, running every facet of them in-house at his sleek SBE headquarters on Beverly Boulevard. Instead of renting his venues out to promoters, he joined forces with “it” party promoter Brent Bolthouse (of The Hills) to form the most powerful LA duo since Shaq and Kobe. His nightlife empire (Hyde, Area, S Bar, Foxtail, Katsuya, XIV, and Bazaar) now stretches across the city, not only helping to revitalize Hollywood, but also reshaping the way the world looks at LA.
“When it comes to hotels, clubs, or restaurants, Los Angeles hasn’t always been on par with other cities like New York or Chicago,” Nazarian admits. “People are now taking Los Angeles a lot more seriously on many different fronts. And that’s exciting to me.”