John Buran

CEO, Flushing Bank

Money is power and this bank executive has got both in spades. Unlike others on this list whose power is more esoteric, John Buran’s influence is as easy to quantify as balancing a checkbook. Since becoming CEO of Flushing Bank in 2005, the financial institution’s assets have tripled in value from $2.1 billion to $6.3 billion. He’s like a baker the way he makes dough rise. Although his term expired, he also serves on the Nassau Interim Finance Authority as a holdover, effectively controlling the county’s $3 billion budget at a time when the fiscal watchdog agency issued unprecedented cuts. But this big-time banker can’t be summed up with just ledger sheets, he also has a laundry list of philanthropy on his resume. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and is involved in numerous nonprofits, such as the Suffolk County Vietnam Veteran’s War Memorial in Farmingville, Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, The Korean American Youth Foundation, and the Long Island Conservatory. For Buran, doing good is as important as making money. And that’s what truly makes him powerful.