Photography by Jeff Newton Name: John Kapoor, Ph.D. Age: 64 Occupation: President of E.J. Financial Enterprises Inc.; chairman of the board of directors of Akorn Inc. and NeoPharm Inc.; restaurateur (Bombay Spice and Roka Akor) Previous life: Teacher and pharmaceuticals researcher Net worth: Prefers not to discuss but rumored to be over a billion. Year he made his first million: 1983 – “After the company I bought went public.” First big purchase: “My house in Chicago, which I still own.” Secret to success: “You have to be passionate about what you do and willing to take risks. I also like to do things on my own and make my own decisions.”

Meet the Millionaires

Maricopa County has the third-largest population of millionaires in the country, but are their lives all made of champagne wishes and caviar dreams?

Jim Engel has given up looking for fellow millionaires around the Valley. At least for the moment.
“Seems like there’s zero of them out there today,” says Engel, a successful Ahwatukee mortgage lender who, up until this summer, co-ran monthly meetings of the Millionaires Club in the East Valley, which hosted motivational talks by other self-made millionaires.
“Everyone I’ve seen these days, outside of doctors and dentists, is really hurting,” he says. “Restaurant owners, business owners, mortgage brokers, real estate agents – they’re all just trying to stay afloat.”
Even Engel, who estimates his own net worth somewhere between $3 and $5 million, is hardly relaxing by the pool. Running eight minutes late for a series of Monday-evening appointments he doesn’t expect to get out of until after 9 p.m., Engel confesses he’s been feeling “squished to death” by the pressures of maintaining that income.
“I’m working seven days a week myself just to keep my mortgage business flying above the fray,” he says, catching his breath. “I’ve seen so much carnage.”