Prominent Chicago businessman dies in Calif.

(AP) Barry Lind, a leading voice in the futures industry for many years and a fixture at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, has died after being hit by a car in Southern California, according to coroner's officials. He was 74.

Lind was crossing a road in Rancho Mirage when he was struck Wednesday evening, the Riverside County sheriff-coroner's office said. He died of his injuries early Thursday.

Alcohol wasn't believed to be a factor in the crash.

Lind served five terms on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's board of directors. He played a key role in creating the International Monetary Market and was a director of the National Futures Association for 12 years.

Lind was a co-founder of Lind-Waldock & Co., among the first firms to market futures to retail investors, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. That firm was sold in 2000, having expanded from a firm with two full-time employees to more than 1,000 international workers.

Most recently, he was a managing partner of investment firm, Silver Young Capital LLC, which he ran with cousin Alan Young.

He was a mentor, really like a soul mate and brother, Young told the Sun-Times.

Lind was also the founder and chairman of the Rose Lind Charitable Trust, a philanthropy involved in medical research and access to health care for the underprivileged.

The Northwestern University graduate was inducted into the Futures Hall of Fame in 2006.