Who

The former CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Lyne is now the chief executive officer of Gilt Groupe, the mega-successful e-commerce company founded by Alexis Maybank, Alexandra Wilson, and Kevin Ryan.

Backstory

The eldest of five kids raised in a Irish Catholic home in Boston, Lyne moved out West after high school, falling in with the 1960s counterculture as a student at Berkeley. She eventually dropped out of college to take an job at Francis Ford Coppola's City magazine; she later returned to New York and by the end of the 1970s she'd been named managing editor of the Village Voice. After a stretch collaborating with Jane Fonda on several film projects, Lyne pitched Rupert Murdoch on an idea for a new magazine. Premiere was born soon after and Lyne stayed with the title until 1996 when Bob Iger lured her to Disney as a senior development exec. Lyne eventually became ABC's president of entertainment, but was ultimately dismissed by Iger in May 2004 following a plunge in ratings. (In retrospect, the decision was probably a mistake, since several of the shows Lyne developed during her tenure, including Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Grey's Anatomy, later turned into the network's biggest hits in more than a decade.)

In November 2004, following the departure of Sharon Patrick—and shortly after the domestic diva reported to federal prison—Lyne was named CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Lyne joined MSLO at a precarious time: the stock was down, advertisers were bolting, and morale was at an all-time low. Lyne managed to revive the company and return it to profitability during her four-year tenure, stepping down from her post during the summer of 2008.

She was named chief executive officer of Gilt Groupe, the e-commerce company that has taken the fashion and retail industries by storm, in September 2008.

On the side

Lyne serves as a director of CIT Group and is on the board of The New School and The Posse Foundation.

Personal

Lyne's husband, writer and CBS News producer George Crile, passed away in 2006. She has two daughters and two stepdaughters and resides on the Upper East Side.