Joe Rice

Rice is cofounder of Motley Rice, a hugely successful South Carolina law firm. He's one of America's most prolific trial lawyers, having won several historic, multibillion-dollar settlements, including a $246 billion victory over the tobacco industry in 1998, which remains the largest civil settlement in American history. The Gamecocks' new $8.5 million athletics center is in Rice's name, and coach Steve Spurrier reportedly flew to the Bahamas with Rice on his private plane, and vacationed on Rice's yacht. Spurrier said Rice is "sort of like the owner of a team."