By: Jordan Rowe
In case you missed my last post, I counted down the Top Tycoons 10-6 of the 2000s decade. Glenn Beck came in at #10, Simon Fuller at #9, Lebron James at #8, Sarah Palin at #7, and Michael Jackson at #6. But, let's continue on through the countdown starting at #5.
#5 The Google Guys-The success of Larry Page and Sergey Brin is unprecedented. Two Standford geeks you've never heard of that are up to their eyeballs in cash and influence. They head the world's premiere search engine. What's most remarkable is that they originally had no advertising model for Google, refusing to put ads on its home page (it's still that way). They earned the trust of the company by charging them only if a consumer clicked on one of their ads during a search. They have nearly 20,000 employees with a net income of over $4 billion. They also swallowed a little internet sensation called YouTube in 2006 for a cool $1.65 billion. No question the google geeks are tycoons of the two-thousands.
#4-Mark Zuckerberg-He's the founder of Facebook. And unless you've been in a hole the past decade, you know the social networking site has taken off like a brush fire. The website currently boasts of over 300 million members, and was ranked as the most used social network by worldwide active users. What's even more impressive is the fact that his net worth is $2 billion and he hasn't even finished college! Surprisingly enough Zuckerberg was recruited by Microsoft and AOL after he built a music player called Synapse in high school. Looks as if both companies missed on a millionare...no billionaire!
#3-J.K. Rowling-She should have been higher than #3. As the author of the Harry Potter book series, Rowling had us daydreaming about a boy wizard and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the 2000s. We anticipated her book releases like there was no tomorrow. Her story is the classic rags to riches...on welfare and rise to stardom. Rowling was on a train trip from Manchester to London when she conceived the idea of the book. The books adaptations to films have made her even more famous. Forbes named her the first billion dollar book writer...though Rowling has disputed this claim. Nevertheless, her fame is undisputed as well as that of Harry Potter.
#2-Barack Obama-He was "change" the country could believe in. Obama's rise to the Presidency began in 2004, as a young Illinois Senator who delivered the key note address at the Democratic National Convention. He outlasted Hillary Clinton in a fight for the nomination, and mowed over John McCain in the general election to become this nation's first black President. Whether you love his politics or hate them like the plague, everyone must acknowledge the magnitude of his achievements. Only time will tell if he is up to the job before him as Commander in Chief. But, this change agent was a major player in the 2000s.
#1-Steve Jobs-He's the man responsible for the entire iculture that has consumed the United States. The ipod was released at the beginning of the decade, and everyone in sight coule be spotted with those ridiculous white earbuds. The iphone has been an absolute phenomenon since its release and has challenged every previous convention of media technology. Whatever you are intending to do..."there's an app for that." He's also contributed to Mac's rise in market share against Microsoft. Apple's Mac/PC commercials have been a major success. He was Fortune Magazine's Most Powerful Man in 2007. No doubt...this man was the American iCon throughout the 2000s.
So there you have it...the Top 10 Tycoons of the Two-Thousands. Did I miss anyone big?
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