Profiles in wealth:  Melvin Zuckerman, $50 million

       
       Mel Zuckerman was, oh, about two decades ahead of his time. As the founder of Arizona's Canyon Ranch spa in 1979, Zuckerman's own declining health was his 'aha' moment. He was 50 pounds overweight and struggling with high blood pressure, ulcers - his doctor told the then 49-year old Zuckerman that he had the body of a "70 year old man." So he built Canyon Ranch in Tucson, a resort that would mix the "fat farm" concept of the 60s and 70s with the pampering of a spa and focus on mind, body, and spirit. It was so successful he built a second Canyon Ranch and sold his company in 1996. 

       But it didn't come easy. When he first tried to raise money for Canyon Ranch a banker walked out on him, saying "You lost a lot more than weight at that California fat farm - you lost your blankety blank mind." Says Zuckerman, "So I got up, politely gave him the bird, and said 'I'll do it on my own'. Which I did."

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