Big Number: $101 Billion

The record dollar amount of deals private equity giant Texas Pacific Group completed last year. Though Managing Partner David Bonderman works in the company’s Fort Worth headquarters, his business dealings require him to be in communication with all corners of the globe—as seven of TPG’s offices are located in Asia and his co-founder, Jim Coulter, is based out of San Francisco. In today’s flattened, Blackberry-infested world, such long-distance communication has become quick and easy. But it must be a hefty challenge at TPG considering Bonderman doesn’t use e-mail, as recently reported by Fortune. His secretaries must instead fax him any messages and transcribe his dictated responses.