Hicks ’74 Fortunes #7 Biz Person of the Year

When Ken Hicks retires in December, he’ll be leaving Foot Locker at the top of his game. Since he became CEO in 2009, the company’s stock has quintupled and sales have soared. Foot Locker, a once-struggling shoe chain, has become a rare and improbable mall star. The company is on track to complete its third year of record revenue (roughly $7 billion in 2014). Brisk basketball- and running-shoe sales have helped. Hicks has also played America’s fitness craze masterfully, making well-timed pushes in apparel and the children’s and women’s business. And he’s spruced up stores with new displays and mannequins. Hicks’s successor, COO Richard Johnson, has some big shoes to fill. —E.F. Story