Eugene Profit, Profit Asset Management: Former NFL defensive back Eugene Profit didn't earn a big name for himself during his days playing for the Washington Redskins and New England Patriots. Knowing that he faced slim odds of a long football career, the Yale graduate says he kept tabs on what his former classmates were up to during his playing days.
When a torn hamstring ended his five-year football career in 1991, Profit got a job as a retail broker with asset manager Legg Mason. In 1996, armed with $100,000 in start-up capital, Profit launched his namesake firm, Profit Asset Management. Since then the firm has grown into a multibillion-dollar asset manager that boasts a wide range of institutional clients, including the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association.
