Danny Meyer

Danny Meyer's first restaurantUnion Square Cafe in New York-catapulted him into a career as a serial restaurateur.

Executive Chairman, Union Square Hospitality Group

He has opened famed New York spots including Gramercy Tavern, The Modern restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art and Papa Rosso at Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. He founded Shake Shack, the burger chain. And he is executive chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group, which operates more than a dozen eateries.

Meyer, 66, grew up in St. Louis and was exposed to food and travel from a young age through his father's travel agency. He flirted with careers in politics, broadcast journalism and sales after graduating from college, but his life changed at a family dinner when the conversation turned to his career. "My uncle handed it to me," Meyer said, recalling him saying: ""You've got to be crazy. All I've heard you talk about your whole life is restaurants and food....you should open a restaurant." " Meyer registered for a restaurantmanagement class a few days later and started Union Square Cafe in 1985, when he was 27.

Union Square Hospitality Group is rooted in what Meyer calls "enlightened hospitality," which prioritizes the employee experience as a way to drive other success.