Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Tech Titans Again Dominate Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year List

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook and Uber’s Travis Kalanick all cracked the top 10.

Asa Mathat

Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year list is your annual reminder that tech companies — and their CEOs — rake in a lot of dough.

Although Nike CEO Mark Parker took home the No. 1 spot this year, half of the top 10 were tech leaders: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg (No. 2), Electronic Arts’ Andrew Wilson (No. 3), Apple’s Tim Cook (No. 4), Xiaomi’s Lei Jun (No. 7) and Uber’s Travis Kalanick (No. 8). (And if you want to include biotech, add Biogen’s George Scangos at No. 10.)

Since 2010, Fortune has ranked the 50 top executives in a range of industries based on their companies’ revenue, profit growth and influence. Tech titans always dominate the ranks. In fact, this is only the second time in six years that a tech CEO hasn’t been ranked as No. 1. In previous years, Google’s Larry Page, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Netflix’s Reed Hastings have all graced Fortune’s cover with the crown.

This year marked Zuckerberg’s fifth appearance on the list, Cook’s fourth and Kalanick’s third. Kalanick was one of only two CEO’s in the top 10 who represented a private company (Xiaomi’s Lei was the other). Fortune said Kalanick would’ve been No. 1 if it were crowning winners “solely on disruption, money raising, valuation,” but Uber’s youth, burn rate and government fights knocked him down to No.8.

China’s tech elite also had a strong showing on the list this year. Alongside Lei, Alibaba’s Jack Ma made No. 25 and Pony Ma of media conglomerate Tencent hit No. 27.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh