Tom Ricketts will try to finally clinch a deal to improve Wrigley Field with some taxpayer support.
Andrew Mason will fight for his legacy, and his job, at Groupon.
And Lewis Campbell hopes to turn around Navistar to the point that his services are no longer needed.
Tribune editors and reporters identified some of the Chicago business executives most likely to make news in 2013. Here are the "Ones to Watch."
Tom Ricketts
Title: Chairman, Chicago Cubs
Why we're watching: Expect City Hall to cut a deal with the Ricketts family, owner of the Cubs, in 2013 to help finance a $300 million renovation of Wrigley Field.
No one's talking specifics. Ricketts last proposed using $150 million of city amusement tax revenue to help pay for it. He would raise the remaining $150 million by extracting additional revenue from relaxed rules on advertising and concerts at the ballpark.
But that level of public subsidy is entirely off the table, according to a source close to the team. Asked whether Ricketts would accept less taxpayer assistance in exchange for greater freedom from historic preservation and other regulations, he said "probably," but that my description of the trade-off was "oversimplified."
"We have to compete against rooftops every day that … undercut us on price," Ricketts said. "We have limits on what we can do to our stadium and inside our stadium. We have limits on what time we can hold games and when we can host events. Our position is: Let us run our business. And if we can do that, we can unlock a lot of economic potential."
The Lake View Citizens' Council reportedly is open to more night games and concerts in exchange for contributions from the Cubs to community projects and traffic- and parking-related protections. Still, Ald. Tom Tunney, whose district includes Wrigley, said he opposes a Cubs request to open Sheffield Avenue for "family-fun entertainment" during games, among other issues.
"There will be some decisions made on a community level, on a zoning level," said Tunney, who called 2013 a "pivotal" year for the team. "As for the public financing, that's bigger than me."
Ricketts said he had not spoken in the past six months with either Mayor Rahm Emanuel or the city's chief financial officer, Lois Scott. "Our teams talk to each other," Ricketts said. "And that's not necessarily unusual. It's not like we can just not talk to the city. But no matter when or what a final deal looks like, everyone has got incentives to get that done in 2013."
Andrew Mason
Title: Founder and CEO, Groupon
Why we're watching: One year from now, will Mason still be CEO of Groupon?
In November, within days of a tech conference and a company board meeting, a source close to Groupon's board anonymously suggested to an influential tech journalist that the board might fire Mason at its meeting.
If the leaker had been Groupon chairman Eric Lefkofsky, Mason would have been out of a job by now.
Mason's future hinges on his relationship with Lefkofsky. In addition to being Mason's boss, Lefkofsky is the daily deal company's largest shareholder. He also gave Mason $1 million to launch the company.
And Mason always has spoken of Lefkofsky with reverence and affection. At the height of Groupon's euphoria, he shared credit with the veteran entrepreneur at every turn, telling me in 2010: "Eric's creative and unbelievably smart and if I'd never met him, I'd never been able to be the CEO of a lemonade stand."
'Ones to Watch' in 2013
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'Ones to Watch' in 2013
