Who

The founder of the gym chain Equinox, which he sold in 2000, Errico went on to operate the James chain of boutique hotels, which he unloaded in 2008.

Backstory

Errico is the man responsible for bring the upscale gym to Manhattan. In 1991, he teamed up with Rocco Greco and his sister Lavinia Errico, and opened the doors to the first Equinox, a gleaming venue on West 76th Street that featured abundant classes, luxurious locker rooms, and monthly fees to match. By 1998, the company had expanded to over two dozen locations, and had added in-house Botox injections, laser hair removal, and chemical peels to its suite of services. Errico cashed out in 2000, selling the company to two private investment firms for between $100 and $200 million. (The Times reported it was "north of $100 million"; Errico claimed it was $200 million.) Perhaps he should have held on a little longer: The two funds flipped the company to Steve Ross's Related Companies in 2005 for $505 million.

Of note

Following the sale of Equinox, Errico teamed up with the W's Brad Wilson to launch the James, a boutique hotel chain. It was never smooth sailing for the hospitality venture. Restaurateur Steve Hanson was initially part of the project, but bailed in 2006, and the company's first hotel, the Deborah Berke-designed James in Scottsdale, was sold off shortly after its debut. (It was purchased by Ian Schrager's former company, the Morgans Hotel Group, for $47.5 million.) Although a second James later opened in Chicago (with a David Burke-branded restaurant on the ground floor), plans to open Jameses in Miami and New York have yet to come to fruition. Not that Errico will have to worry about the roll-out any longer: In January 2008, he sold the chain to the Denihan Hospitality Group. He now spends his days working on his original passion, high-end gyms. Along with his former Equinox partners, he's an owner of The Gym, a high-end facility that overlooks Madison Square Park. They now have plans to expand to other locations in the U.S.

Personal

Errico and his wife, Vera, split their time between New York and LA. In Manhattan, they own an apartment in the Millennium Tower on the Upper West Side, where their neighbors include Regis Philbin, Alan Alda, Liam Neeson, and Howard Stern.

Drama

David Gest took Errico to court in 2001 to have Errico's yellow Lab banned from their apartment building. Gest contended Errico had failed to file the proper paperwork for the pooch. A judge decided the dog could stay.