10 BIG THINKERS FOR BIG BUSINESS

In some ways, it's surprising Regan didn't make this move sooner. "In an industry that has seen flat to declining sales, and where it's very hard to make money on a book, she's probably one of the most profitable publishers ever," says Michael J. Wolf, who heads the media and entertainment practice at McKinsey & Co. "More than that, she's been able to take ideas for books and make them into true multimedia concepts." Like Us Weekly or Fox News, Regan has succeeded by giving the American public what they want instead of what they say they want. (Not that she's without standards. She passed on the chance to publish a book by W. Mark Felt, a.k.a. "Deep Throat," because she worried the 91-year-old wasn't of sound mind.) Her brash style has earned her as many enemies as friends over the years, but she chalks most of that up to envy. "You're not supposed to be the valedictorian and have cleavage," she says. It's hard to argue with her record. Finding and making best sellers, she says, is like "good sex. You have to get someone's attention, you have to know what to say to them, you have to know how to touch. It's like a dance."

The challenge before her now is completing the seduction in television and film. Cable channel A&E recently ordered an extra 40 episodes of "Growing Up Gotti," the Mafia-princess reality series that Regan executive-produces. Regan has eight movies in development, including "The Day the World Came to Town" about a small town's response to 9/11. Of course, film-industry lore teems with tales of hotshots in other fields who have had their hats handed to them by Hollywood, but Regan has been thinking like a film exec for years. "I used to say, 'Hey guys, why am I sitting here acquiring rights and editing and rewriting these authors, and spending years developing them, so that the movie people can come in and exploit all my creative work?' " she says. Now she'll be able to exploit herself, so to speak, snatching up book, TV and movie rights to a single project. And, on a personal level, she's sure to fit in more on the Left Coast than on the Right. "Wherever there's money or glamour, you're going to get some crazy people," she says. "At least in L.A., the crazy people are creative." For this NEWSWEEK photo, Regan suggested that she slip on a ball gown and pose atop one of the famed lion statues in front of the New York Public Library. The library nixed that idea. As if she needed more proof that she's too big for that town.

--Sean Smith

KEN LOMBARD

Ken Lombard doesn't aspire to produce music or make movies or hobnob with celebrities. He's a proud "suit" and enjoys the discipline and structure of corporate America. Fun for Lombard? Investing in real estate. In short, Lombard seems the antithesis of the typical entertainment wheeler-dealer. So why are so many industry bigs clamoring for a moment of his time? Lombard is Starbucks Coffee Co.'s first president of entertainment, which means he is the gatekeeper to endless lines of adults with enough disposable income to drop $4 on a latte and, presumably, $15 on a new CD or DVD.

The 50-year-old former investment banker hopes to make the coffee chain an entertainment destination as well, by dangling the profit potential of the 33 million people who pass through Starbucks stores around the world each week. That's a tempting business opportunity for entertainment executives who are seeing profits erode from illegal computer downloads. The current music-industry model provides few chances for "mature" listeners to discover new music. And Lombard says Starbucks has credibility with consumers; they know it would never expose them to bad music. "The commitment that Starbucks is making to the industry is a real opportunity to change the game," says Lombard.