Head of Amazon and MGM Studios, Amazon.com Inc.

Amazon’s $8.5 billion buy of MGM a year ago enlarged Salke’s turf from a focus on original productions to milking a historic film library, with prospects for remakes, sequels and spin-offs of classics. In November, the financial press reported that Amazon will spend $1 billion a year making theatrical films, which will keep Salke busy. Hiring the former marketing chief of Warner Bros. in October paid dividends when MGM’s “Creed III” (the “Rocky” spinoff) became a surprise hit in cinemas earlier this year. Salke joined Amazon in 2018, after a career in Hollywood that included seven years as president of NBC Entertainment.

YEARS ON THE LA500: 6