Who

With partner Jason Strauss, Tepperberg runs party production company the Strategic Group and manages nightspots like Marquee in Chelsea and Tao in Midtown, as well as an outpost of Tao in Las Vegas.

Backstory

The son of a pediatric neurologist, Noah Tepperberg has known Jason Strauss since they were teenagers: They met at a Riverdale Country Day party when Strauss refused to let Tepperberg—then a Stuyvesant student—inside. (He eventually relented.) After graduation, Tepperberg attended the University of Miami, promoting parties in Florida when school was in session and in New York with Strauss during the summers.  The duo continued in the same vein after finishing college, getting a spot of their in 1999 with the opening of Hamptons club Conscience Point (where Lizzie Grubman, the venue's publicist, was to have her notorious road rage episode); setting up a short-lived lounge/restaurant called Luahn in 2000; and founding the generic-sounding Strategic Group in 2001 to give their promoting and event production a name. In 2003 they opened their first club, Marquee, in a 7,500-square-foot space in far West Chelsea that once housed a taxi garage. It immediately ascended into the city's pantheon of It clubs, attracting a steady stream of boldfaced names and near-daily mentions in the press.

Of note

Tepperberg and Strauss have their hands in several venues these days. There's Marquee, of course, which continues to make a mint (it grossed $13 million in 2007) even though the celeb quotient isn't what it was. Along with Seth Rodsky, a former CAA agent whom Tepperberg and Strauss made a full partner in Strategic a few years ago, they're also investors in Tao in Midtown and teamed up with Tao's majority owners, Marc Packer and Richard Wolf, to open an Ilan Waisbrod-designed outpost of Tao at the Venetian in Las Vegas. In September 2008, the group launched another Vegas venue, a restaurant/nightclub called Lavo in the Palazzo. Also active on the East End, Strategic oversees the summer silliness at Dune Southampton, a club in which they hold a small stake. They also continue to organize events in New York, Miami, and LA for clients like T-Mobile, Absolut, and Sprint.

Personal

The ursine Tepperberg used to date model Denise Vasi, who was also once linked to Russell Simmons. He lives on West 12th Street, in a three-bedroom that he purchased from architect Peter Eisenman for $3.2 million in 2007. He also co-owns a house in Sag Harbor with Strauss.

No joke

Somewhat surprisingly for a nightlife guru, Tepperberg was a chess champion in high school. He keeps a collection of antique hand-carved chess boards at home.