Rick Arpin says "Wall Street," Oliver Stone's 1987 movie, led to his career in finance. "When I was in high school, I saw the movie "Wall Street," and I thought I would be an investment banker," says Arpin, now corporate controller for MGM Resorts International. "But in college, I had an accounting instructor who inspired me to look into accounting. I ended up with a dual major in finance and accounting. And from there, the clearest career path was through public accounting, so I became a CPA and went on to work at Arthur Andersen."

After a stint at Arthur Andersen, Arpin joined MGM Resorts in 2002. He is responsible for external reporting and accounting policies at the $5.9 billion gaming company and also oversees more than 200 employees in its finance shared services center. Arpin, 38, has participated on the teams for deals such as MGM Resorts' $8 billion acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group and its $750 million sale of Treasure Island. He has a B.S. in accounting and finance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.