Larry W. Sonsini

The 42-year veteran of Silicon Valley has served as CEO and chairman of his firm for more than 20 years. Lately, he’s been scrutinized for his proximity to Silicon Valley scandals, including advising companies in backdated stock options cases. But the talk hasn’t marred his business. This year he represented Genentech Inc. in its rejection of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Group’s unsolicited bid to buy the company for $43.7 billion. He also advised Google, which, along with Intel Corp., invested $1.5 billion to acquire a stake in Sprint Nextel Co.-Clearwire Corp.’s WiMax high-speed wireless efforts. And, he’s still remembered for his role in Google’s historic IPO and Hewlett-Packard’s merger with Compaq Computer.