The 10 Most Powerful People in Tech
Words: Gentleman's Journal
We are always curious as to who the leaders or innovators of the moment are. With new start ups appearing everyday, here is a list of the most influential people in technology.
RICHARD BRANSON
, As the founder of the Virgin Group, Branson has his fingers in pretty much every kind of pie you can think of. On top of the company he is more traditionally known for, Virgin, he invests in tech firms including Square, Pinterest, Hailo and Codeacademy – like we said, every kind of pie.
JONATHAN IVE
, Ive is the Senior Vice President of Design at Apple. He is also the designer who delivered iOS7 to the world, which was described by Apple CEO Tim Cook as “the biggest change” to the mobile platform since iPhone launched. Furthermore, he was the man behind the colourful and playful iPhone 5c, a nod to Apple’s saving grace in the 90s.
NICOLA MENDELSOHN
, Mendelsohn is the Vice-President of Facebook for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With a background as an advertising executive, she is propelling Facebook’s mobile growth and revenue. The network generates £1.14 per user in the region (but £2.64 in the US).
JACK DORSEY
Dorsey is the man behind Twitter, the largest micro-blogging site the world has ever seen. Twitter has millions of users and has over 1.6 billion search queries daily. On top of this, Dorsey is also the founder and CEO of Square, which is a mobile payments company that caused a stir in 2012 after raising one of the biggest rounds of funding from the Venture Capital Industry.
YOSSI VARDI
Also an investor and entrepreneur, at 27 Vardi was made Director General of the Ministry of Development after founding one of Israel’s first software companies the previous year. Now 71, Vardi holds his ground amongst CEOs in their twenties and thirties.
ROBIN AND SAUL KLEIN
Entrepreneur cum investors, the Kleins have money in so many different companies. Robin has been investing in the London tech scene for over ten years, and was one of the first investors in LoveFilm (which was sold to Amazon in 2011 for £200m). More recently he has invested in Moo.com, Zoopla, Mind Candy Songkick and Tweetdeck.
EDWARD SNOWDEN
Famed American computer professional and whistleblower Edward Snowden became applicable for this list when he relocated to Russia last year. No one had a bigger effect on the technology industry than Snowden last year, and he even sparked an initiative by Obama for reforms at the National Security Agency.
THE SAMWER BROTHERS
, Brothers Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer are very influential within technology – no European individual or company can rival their record for scaling start up companies. After selling Jamster in 2004, the brothers’ Rocket Internet medium for scaling start ups has continued to churn out high-growth replicas of business, including Airbnb.
ARKADY VOLOZH
, Volozh is a Russian computer scientist who founded Yandex, a Russian search engine, in 1997. To put things into perspective, Google has around 26% of the Russian search market, whereas Yandex has 60%. By revenue, it is deemed Russia’s largest tech company.
DANIEL EK
, As the CEO of Spotify, Ek is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in technology. With the ability to control the access people have to this medium of music, he is more powerful that you might think.
Become a Gentleman’s Journal Member?
Like the Gentleman’s Journal? Why not join the Clubhouse, a special kind of private club where members receive offers and experiences from hand-picked, premium brands. You will also receive invites to exclusive events, the quarterly print magazine delivered directly to your door and your own membership card.
