Anas Osman, 33 | Vice-president, new card member acquisition | Discover Financial Services | Riverwoods

In 33 years, Anas Osman has done enough to fill some lifetimes.

At age 29, the son of Syrian immigrants became the youngest vice-president at credit card company Discover Financial Services. In his early 20s, he co-founded an online startup, turned down an offer for the business that would have netted him $8 million and, after the Internet bubble popped, sold the firm for enough to make his outside investors and creditors whole.

He's also emerging as a prominent voice for moderate Muslims in the U.S., sponsoring trips to Muslim countries to promote understanding of cultural differences and participating in a Washington, D.C., summit earlier this year that included a White House meeting with presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett and a subsequent presentation to Attorney General Eric Holder.

After a stint at credit card company Capital One Financial Corp. in McLean, Va., Mr. Osman took a job at Discover. He was put in charge of customer acquisition in 2008. He led the team that created Discover's Motiva card,

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20101030/ISSUE02/310309983/anas-osman

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I'm bothered to death by two things,” he says. “One is that 20% of Americans think (President Barack) Obama is a Muslim. . . .The other is that many Americans say they don't know a Muslim. That's our fault.”