Last December, Bob Iger sat down for dinner in his Brentwood home with his wife, the journalist Willow Bay, and their two teenage sons and shared some unexpected news. Outside, the wind rustled the citrus trees and vegetable gardens. Inside, Bay and the kids looked on with dread. Recently, to the mild trepidation of his family, Iger had been flirting with the presidency. As he began his disclosure, his family members could have reasonably thought that their lives were about to be overturned by campaign stops and the circus of modern politics.

Instead, Iger was announcing his latest deal. The board of 21st Century Fox, he said, had just voted to approve Disney's $52 billion acquisition offer for its entertainment assets, ranging from its film studio to the FX network. (The final price would later climb to $71 billion.) It was a career-defining consummation, and Iger, who is 67, told his family that he would be staying at Disney for at least four years to see the integration through. One of Iger's sons looked at him and asked, "So what does this mean in terms of your presidential aspirations?" Iger responded, "It's off the table," at which point his son looked to Bay, and the two high-fived.

Iger may have sidestepped a political gamble, but his decision to lead the world's largest media company in this age of unprecedented mayhem and innumerable lurking acronymic threats—O.T.T., A.I., S.V.O.D.—is not without its own risks. Technology has arguably upended Disney's portfolio of assets—news, entertainment, sports, theme parks—more in the past decade than in the previous hundred years. When Iger took over for Michael Eisner, Netflix was competing with Blockbuster. Now, under the leadership of Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, it is the world's second-largest media company, with a market capitalization of $160 billion to Disney's $163 billion, and unabashed ambitions for global dominance. Netflix, after all, has upwards of 130 million monthly subscribers and recently won the same number of prime-time Emmys as HBO; it's the culprit, the looming threat, behind the season's rash of media mergers—including not only Disney's play for Fox but also AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

In 2001, futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted that our society would effectively experience 20,000 years of technological progress in the forthcoming century. We are now watching this new paradigm unfold, and it may—along with our still nascent reckoning regarding acceptable workplace behavior and our society's now two-year-old reckoning with the Trump presidency—be the most significant leitmotif coursing through this year's New Establishment list. In the past year, Iger has gone from presidential hopeful to, once again, media savior. In the same time, Robert Mueller has indicted dozens of people. Jeff Bezos has upended grocery shopping and fashion. A year ago, few people outside the technology industry had ever heard of Dara Khosrowshahi. Now, as he leads Uber to a likely I.RO. next year, he is arguably the most important C.E.O. in the Valley.

Khosrowshahi knows that things move fast. Uber's dispatching algorithm that connects drivers with riders can also predict where drivers will be needed at specific times and help usher them in that direction. Amazon is readying technology that will be able to predict when you're out of milk and automatically drop it off at your house before you've even realized it. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen just invested $65 million in a company that is hoping to replace lawyers with machine learning—maybe not such a bad thing.

During my conversation with Iger, he placed his iPad Pro on the table in front of me and played the trailer for the new Lion King movie. As the African chant Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba began, there were clips of wild animals running through the tundra and an aerial shot of birds flying through the sky. Then I saw a scene of a baby lion that was so real I wondered how on earth they'd taught the animal to act on cue. This was when I realized that the clips had all been generated with computer graphics. I reminded Iger that just a year ago, at the time of the New Establishment Summit, I had asked him how long it would take before technology was so advanced that real-life actors would no longer be needed in a film. Iger said it was several decades away. Yet here it was, in front of me, suggesting the opposite. "If you're doing this with animals, why aren't you doing it with people?" I asked. Iger looked at me like a magician about to tell me which card I had picked. He smiled and said, "It can be done."

1. ROBERT MUELLER

Age: 74 Occupation: Special counsel, Department of Justice Previous Rank: 6

Evidence of institutional inscrutability: The unofficial hero of the anti-Trump resistance, and the avatar of American institutionalism, may or may not satisfy the appetite of an electorate searching for answers about what really went down between the Trump campaign and Russia. But Mueller, and his nearly three dozen indictments and guilty pleas, is proof of the power of the law.

2. JEFF BEZOS

Age: 54 Occupation: C.E.O., Amazon Previous Rank: 1

Display of Vulcan chess mastery: Antagonism from President Trump and Bernie Sanders notwithstanding, Bezos has continued to grow both his personal wealth (he recently overtook Bill Gates as the world's richest person) and the value of his company, which hovers around the trillion-dollar mark.

3. REED HASTINGS

Age: 57 Occupation: C.E.O., Netflix Previous Rank: 9

Started at the bottom... Hastings founded Netflix two decades ago with a thesis that consumers would one day stream billions of hours of content over the Internet. Now the company has a market capitalization of $160 billion and recently beat out HBO on Emmy night for the first time (for more, see page 96).

"Every technological change always brings two steps forward and one step back."—REED HASTINGS, IN FEBRUARY 2018, ON HOW TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING SOCIETY

4. BOB IGER

Age: 67 Occupation: C.E.O., Disney Previous Rank: 7

A new front in the streaming wars: This time last year, Iger was considering taking on Trump's divisive rhetoric and running against him in 2020. But Iger's political ambitions were suspended when he saw the opportunity to buy 21st Century Fox, for a cool $71 billion. An antidote to AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, the move helped usher Disney into a new era of streaming—and open a new front in its battle with Netflix.

5. TIM COOK

Age: 57 Occupation: C.E.O., Apple Previous Rank: 3 

Trillion-dollar man: While other tech C.E.O.'s were skewered in the press for their role in the 2016 election mess, Apple stayed above the fray while also becoming the first American company with a trillion-dollar market capitalization. "The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer—if our customer was our product," Cook recently said, in a veiled reference to Facebook. "We've elected not to do that."

6. MICHELLE OBAMA

Age: 54 Occupation: Author; co-founder, Higher Ground Productions Previous Rank: New

Returning to higher ground: As the midterms approach, the Obamas have just begun tiptoeing back onto the national scene, but they remain as influential as ever—particularly Michelle, whose forthcoming book, Becoming, is the first highly anticipated release in the family's pair of multi-million-dollar deals with Penguin Random House and Netflix, and who launched her own get-out-the-vote campaign. The former First Lady's upcoming book tour transcends authordom—she's selling out stadiums à la Joel Osteen, or Mick Jagger.

7. MARK ZUCKERBERG

Age: 34 Occupation: C.E.O., Facebook Previous Rank: 2

I'm still C.E.O., bitch! In a year punctuated by a data-privacy scandal, disinformation campaigns, a massive one-day stock capsizing, and growing skepticism on Capitol Hill, Zuckerberg, who as a young founder infamously printed cards with the mantra "I'm CEO, Bitch," continues to exercise nearly unchecked power at Facebook.

8. BEYONCÉ

Age: 37 Occupation: Musician Previous Rank: 77

The breadwinner: Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z just collaborated on a 48-date tour in support of their album, Everything Is Love, which is expected to bring in more than $200 million this year. In 2017, Beyoncé alone earned more than $100 million, while her performances at Coachella, a tribute to historically black colleges, secured her role as a cultural figure well beyond the realm of music.

9. RANDALL STEPHENSON

Age: 58 Occupation: C.E.O., AT&T Previous Rank: 8

The quant: After conquering Trump's Department of Justice to consummate his acquisition of Time Warner, the Dallas-based telecom executive now sits atop a war chest of premium film and television programming, from HBO to CNN. It's enough to keep AT&T's 159 million mobile customers glued to their smartphones.

10. MASAYOSHI SON

Age: 61 Occupation: C.E.O., SoftBank Previous Rank: 24

One hundred billion reasons: With its $100 billion Vision Fund, Japanese giant SoftBank has quickly become one of the most powerful players in tech, muscling out rivals with its massive bets on Uber, semiconductors, and WeWork, among dozens of other companies. Son, the company's enigmatic founder, has said he expects artificial intelligence to surpass humanity "within the next 30 years."

11. DARA KHUSROWSHAHI

Age: 49 Occupation: C.E.O., Uber Previous Rank: 42

Ubermensch: A little over a year ago, few people in Silicon Valley had heard of the Iranian-born entrepreneur running Expedia. But after Uber nearly imploded under Travis Kalanick, Khosrowshahi appears to be turning around a company that seemed like it was about to crater from self-inflicted injuries. Can he stay the course and take Uber public next year (for more, see page 94)?

12. LARRY PAGE

Age: 45 Occupation: C.E.O., Alphabet Previous Rank: 4

Gravity-free zone: Neither a record-breaking $5 billion fine from European regulators nor the president's constant Twitter barrage could impede Alphabet, Google's parent company, which continues to beat Wall Street expectations as it also creeps toward the vaunted trillion-dollar market capitalization threshold.

13. LEBRON JAMES

Age: 33 Occupation: Athlete, producer Previous Rank: 76

Showtime: When James signed his four-year, $154 million deal to play with the Los Angeles Lakers, some wondered if the move was intended to get the four-time N.B.A. M.V.P. closer to Hollywood. His SpringHill production company, with offices on the Warner Bros, lot, is working on a remake of House Party and a sequel, Space Jam 2, starring James and produced by Ryan Coogler. James is also involved in TV projects for HBO, Showtime, and NBC.

14. SERENA WILLIAMS

Age: 37 Occupation: Athlete, activist, investor Previous Rank: New

The G.O.A.T.: The winningest player in modern history returned from pregnancy to reach two Grand Slam finals, redefine motherhood in sports, and continue as a board member of Survey Monkey, all while remaining the world's highest-paid female athlete.

15. KEVIN FEIGE

Age: 45 Occupation: President, Marvel Studios Previous Rank: 21

Mister Fantastic: Marvel Studios has released 20 hit films in the past decade, and this year may have its first best-picture contender in Black Panther. Expect Feige's power to grow under the coming Disney-Fox merger, which will see popular Fox-licensed characters from the X-Men, Deadpool, and Fantastic Four comics united under the Disney banner, and Feige's trusted stewardship.

16. JEAN LIU & CHENG WEI

Ages: 40, 36 Occupations: President and founder, Didi Chuxing Previous Rank: 11

Globalization and its discontents: Didi has been on a tear since running Uber out of China in 2016. The company has aggressively expanded its ride-sharing empire into Mexico, Australia, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia.

17. THE #METOO MUCKRAKERS:

Ronan Farrow, Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey

Ages: 30, 43, 38 Occupations: Journalists Previous Rank: New

Mogul-hunting: Their reporting for The New Yorker (Farrow) and The New York Times (Kantor, Twohey) brought down Harvey Weinstein, opened the floodgates of #MeToo journalism, and culminated in a shared Pulitzer Prize. Kantor and Twohey signed a high-profile book deal and walked the Oscars red carpet. Farrow churned out exposes that ended the careers of New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman and CBS C.E.O. Les Moonves.

18. SHERYL SANDBERG

Age: 49 Occupation: C.O.O., Facebook Previous Rank: 12

Creature of Congress? If Sandberg has aspirations beyond being Facebook's number two, she will have to help Zuckerberg fix the most powerful social network on earth— especially given what's at stake in the 2018 midterms and 2020 election. Otherwise, she may again find herself testifying before Congress.

19. ELON MUSK

Age: 47 Occupation: C.E.O., Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company Previous Rank: 5

Post-peak Musk? After years of receiving adulation in the press, Musk made headlines this year for all the wrong reasons. While SpaceX has grown into the world's most important aerospace company, Musk's personal behavior has rattled Wall Street (see chart on page 92).

20. DANIEL EK

Age: 35 Occupation: C.E.O., Spotify Previous Rank: 30

Not bad for a failed musician: Ek, who once dreamed of being a musician, has now created the world's most popular music-streaming platform. Spotify, which eschewed the traditional banker-laden pre-I.P.O. road show, is now worth $33 billion, and growing. The next frontier: video.

21. KENDRICK LAMAR

Age: 31 Occupation: Musician Previous Rank: New

Pulitzer Kenny: In addition to his 12 Grammys, 17.8 million albums sold, and net worth of $58 million (thanks, partly, to deals with Nike and American Express), Lamar this year received a Pulitzer Prize for his album DAMN., the first non-jazz or classical record to win the award in its 75-year history.

22. RUPERT MURDOCH

Age: 87 Occupation: Outgoing executive co-chairman, 21st Century Fox Previous Rank: 16

Ulterior motives? At a glance, Murdoch's once unimaginable divestiture of 21st Century Fox looked like a white flag in Big Media's war with Silicon Valley. But look a little closer: the octogenarian mogul gets to keep the things he likes best—Fox News and his global newspaper fleet—and it doesn't hurt that he and his brood are set to become Disney's second-largest shareholders, either.

23. STEVE BURKE & BRIAN ROBERTS

Ages: 60, 59 Occupations: C.E.O., NBCUniversal; C.E.O., Comcast Previous Rank: 22

Outfoxed: It's been a bumpy year for the top two executives of NBC. The company's news division was rocked by #MeToo scandals, and Roberts had to call off Comcast's pursuit of 21st Century Fox when the bidding got too hot. The good news is that NBC and Comcast were ahead of the game in the M&A frenzy that continues to upend Big Media.

24. SUNDAR PICHAI

Age: 46 Occupation: C.E.O., Google Previous Rank: 20

Lying low: Pichai's steady stewardship of Google and relatively low profile have allowed him to sidestep controversies involving the company's monopolistic power, the proliferation of conspiracy videos on YouTube, and an ill-received plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China. In the meantime, Google is quietly making a major push into A.I. and challenging Amazon with its own smart-assistant device, Google Home.

25. KEVIN SYSTROM

Age: 34 Occupation: C.E.O., Instagram Previous Rank: 60

The only thing people like about Facebook! Not only has Instagram managed to replicate all the successful parts of Snapchat, but it's also Facebook's last, best hope: a platform insulated from the data-privacy scandals and misinformation that have plagued its parent company.

26. JAMIE DIMON

Age: 62 Occupation: C.E.O., JPMorgan Chase Previous Rank: 39

The new king of the Street: Thanks to Trump's new tax law, JPMorgan Chase is rolling in the dough like never before. Last year's quarterly profits reached a record of $6.5 billion to $7 billion or so, and profits this year have poured in at more than $8.7 billion every three months. With the retirement of Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman, Dimon is the undisputed king of Wall Street banks.

27. RICHARD PLEPLER

Age: 58 Occupation: C.E.O., HBO Previous Rank: 26

One-man Netflix-slayer? AT&T's bet on Time Warner really comes down to a gamble on whether Plepler, with millions more in his war chest, can rely on his golden gut to out-program Netflix's vaunted algorithm and seemingly limitless resources.

"More isn't better, only better is better but we need a lot more to be even better."—RICHARD PLEPLER, AT HBO TOWN HALL, JULY 2018

28. SATYA NADELLA

Age: 51 Occupation: C.E.O., Microsoft Previous Rank: 54

No more Clippy: Microsoft has been on a tear since Nadella took over as C.E.O., in 2014, and his expansive vision for the company continues to transform its corporate culture.

After buying LinkedIn, Nadella resumed his shopping spree this year with the acquisition of code database GitHub for $7.5 billion.

29. TED SARANDOS

Age: 54 Occupation: Chief content officer, Netflix Previous Rank: 27

The closer: Netflix's seemingly bottomless checkbook has irritated every competitor in Hollywood, but it's Sarandos's personal salesmanship that has helped close key deals with marquee show-runners such as Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, and endear Netflix to skeptical cineastes like Alfonso Cuarón and Martin Scorsese.

30. MA HUATENG

Age: 46 Occupation: C.E.O., Tencent Previous Rank: 38

The Insta of China: Tencent, which owns the super-popular app WeChat, is the first Asian-based tech company to hit a $500 billion market cap.

31. THE PARKLAND STUDENTS

Occupations: Gun-control advocates Previous Rank: New

The kids are all right: After surviving a harrowing massacre at the hands of a lone gunman, Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg, along with several of their peers, organized the March for Our Lives, which drew nearly two million people, making it one of the largest marches in American history. Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin, and Matt Deitch have helped turn it into a movement.

32. STEPHEN COLBERT

Age: 54 Occupation: Talk-show host Previous Rank: 40

Late-night Trump bump? The comic's unflinching nightly takedowns of Trump, along with viral monologues and a guest roster that included John Kerry, Bob Woodward, and Beto O'Rourke, have helped push his ratings past those of his tamer competitors Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.

33. PETER THIEL

Age: 50 Occupation: Chairman, Palantir; managing partner, Founders Fund Previous Rank: 17

Army of one: Tenacity pays off. In 2016, Palantir, co-founded by Trump supporter Thiel, sued the government over an unfair bidding process in trying to secure defense contracts, and won. Earlier this year, the U.S. Army announced it had awarded Palantir an $876 million contract for battlefield software.

34. BRIAN ARMSTRONG

Age: 35 Occupation: C.E.O., Coinbase Previous Rank: New

The Bezos of crypto? If there's one thing that happens very quickly in Silicon Valley, it's your net worth going from nothing to everything. A few years ago, Armstrong was a software engineer at Airbnb. Now, he's at the forefront of everything to do with cryptocurrency and bringing Bitcoin to the masses after co-founding Coinbase, the app that allows you to buy and sell crypto with the ease of shopping for toilet paper and toothpaste on Amazon.

35. REESE WITHERSPOON

Age: 42 Occupation: Actor, producer, entrepreneur Previous Rank: 80

Evidence of brand prowess: The Oscar winner's personal brand extends to her Draper James lifestyle line, a popular book-of-the-month club, and her digital-media company, Hello Sunshine, a joint venture with AT&T and Peter Chernin, which just signed TV deals on five series: three with Apple, one with Hulu, and another with Amazon—all with the central focus of telling female-driven stories.

36. JONATHAN GRAY

Age: 48 Occupation: Incoming C.E.O., Blackstone Previous Rank: New

May the Schwarz be with him: For years, Gray has run the hyper-successful real-estate portfolio at Blackstone—the private-equity behemoth with more than $439 billion in assets under management—masterminding its buyout of Hilton, one of the most successful Wall Street deals ever. Now he's getting what he deserves: the blessing to succeed founder Stephen Schwarzman as the firm's C.E.O.

37. JASON BLUM

Age: 49 Occupation: C.E.O., Blumhouse Productions Previous Rank: 55

Prestige play: After helping to nab almost $2 billion worth of box office in a decade with genre franchises, Blum gained awards cred by notching best-picture Oscar nominations for producing the feature-film debuts of directors Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) and Jordan Peele (Get Out).

38. CHRISTOPHER STEELE

Age: 54 Occupation: Former intelligence officer Previous Rank: New

Golden-shower glory: The former head of M.I.6's Russia desk compiled the infamous dossier that raised the possibility Donald Trump was vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Steele even grew a beard and went into hiding—merely adding to his mythic reputation on the left.

39. LOGAN GREEN

Age: 34 Occupation: C.E.O., Lyft Previous Rank: 35

The alter-Uber: Now valued at a lofty $15 billion, Lyft has managed to avoid the negative attention that its primary competitor, Uber, regularly attracts. The company is also eyeing an expansion: as of August, Lyft had surpassed 5,000 driverless BMW rides, and in July the company acquired bike-share operator Motivate.

40. BRIAN CHESKY

Age: 37 Occupation: C.E.O., Airbnb Previous Rank: 25

No longer VRBO for millennials: Airbnb launched a luxury-vacation rental service, and has toyed with the idea of starting its own airline. Chesky has eyed 2019 for an I.P.O., but nothing's set in stone yet.

41. TRAVIS VANDERZANDEN

Age: 39 Occupation: Founder and C.E.O., Bird Previous Rank: New

Display of disruptive expertise: Before founding electric-scooter upstart Bird, Vander-Zanden was chief operating officer at Lyft and, later, V.P. of international growth at Uber—jobs that would set him up for the familiar task of dealing with local regulations and bringing new transit options to cities worldwide.

42. FRANÇOIS-HENRI PINAULT

Age: 56 Occupation: C.E.O., Kering Previous Rank: 62

Investor payoff: Pinault is the first C.E.O. of a fashion conglomerate to make sustainability not just a talking point but part of the company's underlying culture, and has invested heavily in this goal. He has also invested in young talent at the helm of his major houses.

43. VITALIK BUTERIN

Age: 24 Occupation: C.E.O. and founder, Ethereum Previous Rank: New

Boy genius: Buterin is worth around $100 million (double that on a good day) after co-founding Ethereum, the efficient and blockchain-friendly crypto-currency that banks and financial institutions have fallen in love with.

44. DAVID ZASLAV

Age: 58 Occupation: C.E.O., Discovery Communications Previous Rank: 41

Display of acquisition-philia: Zaslav kicked off the year with Discovery's $12 billion takeover of Scripps Networks, including HGTV, the Food Network, and the Travel Channel.With more M&A on the horizon, Discovery could be seen as a potentially attractive target for a mega-merger, itself.

45. J.J. ABRAMS

Age: 52 Occupation: Producer-director Previous Rank: 46

And now appearing on the small screen... The eminence largely behind Star Wars, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible is currently directing Star Wars: Episode IX, and recently joined forces with Tencent to launch gaming division Bad Robot Games.

46. THE WOMEN OF TIME'S UP

Occupations: Co-founders, Time's Up Previous Rank: New

Power in numbers: When the #MeToo movement took off, a number of powerful Hollywood women began holding planning meetings last fall, eventually expanding their ranks to include more than 300 women in the entertainment industry. Time's Up has since raised more than $20 million for a sexual-harassment legal-defense fund, re-invented the red carpet as a forum for activism, used its power to push for more inclusion among film critics and entertainment reporters, and has now hired its first C.E.O., Lisa Borders (see page 90).

"We are talking about making systemic cultural change with regard to women in the workplace."—LISA BORDERS ON THE CREATION OF TIME'S UP

47. DAVID TEPPER

Age: 61 Occupation: President, Appaloosa Management Previous Rank: New

Don't hate the player: This year has been a mixed bag for Tepper. His fund lost approximately 10 percent of its value in the second quarter, but he's still worth around $11 billion, and he recently acquired the Carolina Panthers football team for a record $2.2 billion.

48. JOHN STANKEY

Age: 55 Occupation: C.E.O., WarnerMedia Previous Rank: New

The new boss man: As of June, he's the guy in charge of Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, TBS, and a lot more. Not bad for a career phone-company executive whose name didn't register in media circles just one year ago.

49. LAURENE POWELL JOBS

Age: 54 Occupation: Founder, Emerson Collective Previous Rank: 44

The media-industry savior: Her primary media project for the next several years is The Atlantic, which Emerson bought a majority stake in last year. But media gossips can't help wildly speculating about what other companies might one day reap the rewards of Powell Jobs's strategic beneficence.

50.SHONDA RHIMES

Age: 48 Occupation: Founder, Shondaland Previous Rank: 83

It's Shondaland, and we're just living in it: The prolific writer and show-runner has decamped to Netflix, lured by a four-year, nine-figure deal that gives her the freedom to put her unique stamp on a slate of series, mini-series, and films.

51. RYAN C00GLER

Age: 32 Occupation: Director Previous Rank: New

Hollywood hitmaker: Coogler just may deliver Disney a rare non-animated best-picture Oscar nomination, for Black Panther, when the nods are announced in January. The Marvel film grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide this year, refuting naysayers who doubted whether the film, with a predominantly black cast, would sell overseas.

52. JEFF ZUCKER

Age: 53 Occupation: President, CNN Previous Rank: 14

Season of change: He's heading into the coming election season with a new contract, a new boss, and a mission to keep the fire burning with CNN's wall-to-wall coverage of the man Zucker once transformed into a bawdy embodiment of reality TV.

53. JORDAN PEELE

Age: 39 Occupation: Director, entertainer Previous Rank: 59

Popcorn auteur: With his directorial debut, Get Out, Peele suggested he is that rare kind of filmmaker who can captain a box-office hit and ignite a deep and lasting cultural conversation. At his company, Monkeypaw Productions, Peele is extending his idea of popcorn-friendly genre projects into five TV series and multiple movies.

54. DAVID SOLOMON

Age: 56 Occupation: Incoming C.E.O., Goldman Sachs Previous Rank: New

The after-Lloyd: On October 1, he has a big new job, succeeding Lloyd Blankfein to run Goldman Sachs, where he'll either keep the powerful investment bank in its lane or spearhead an expansion to compete better with bigger, more profitable commercial-banking rivals.

55. MARC ANDREESSEN

Age: 47 Occupation: Managing partner, Andreessen Horowitz Previous Rank: 29

Disrupting the bottom of the ocean: Andreessen is starting to invest in A.I.-related technologies that will eat jobs in the U.S., including Atrium, a legal technology firm that plans to replace some lawyers' duties with machine-learning algorithms.

56. BRADLEY COOPER

Age: 43 Occupation: Actor, producer, director Previous Rank: New

Display of political intelligence: First, he persuaded Lady Gaga to deglamorize for the lead in his Oscar-buzzy directorial debut, a remake of A Star Is Born. Then he showed an early cut of Star to Steven Spielberg and the keepers of Leonard Bernstein's estate to get the composer's music in a biopic that he will star in, direct, and produce.

57. RIHANNA

Age: 30 Occupation: Musician, entrepreneur Previous Rank: New

Work, work, work, work, work: She's a hit-making recording artist (more than 250 million records sold, nine Grammys. 14 No. 1 singles); a fashion icon with a newly launched lingerie line and collaborations with Puma and other brands; and an actress (Ocean's 8). Her Fenty Beauty cosmetics debuted a year ago and earned $100 million in its first 40 days.

58. VLADIMIR PUTIN

Age: 65 Occupation: President, Russian Federation; election meddler Previous Rank: New

Vlad the Impaler: The Russian leader recently won another six-year term, hosted the World Cup, and humiliated Donald Trump in Helsinki. His approval ratings in Russia have fallen, but he still commands the sort of fear Trump only dreams about.

59. JACK DORSEY

Age: 41 Occupation: C.E.O., Twitter and Square Previous Rank: 50

A tale of two companies: Square has seen its value almost triple in the last year. Twitter's value, on the other hand, bobs up and down like a yo-yo, as it remains the president's favorite mouthpiece and occasional weapon.

60. RYAN MURPHY

Age: 52 Occupation: Producer Previous Rank: 49

Three-hundred-million-dollar man: The TV super-producer once joked he'd be buried on the Fox lot, but when Netflix courted Murphy earlier this year—a few months before the studio's merger with Disney was approved by shareholders—he signed a $300 million, five-year deal with the streamer.

61. JEFFREY KATZENBERG & MEG WHITMAN

Ages: 67, 62 Occupations: Founder, C.E.O., WndrCo Previous Rank: New

The $1 billion bet: When the former C.E.O. of DreamWorks Animation and the former C.E.O. of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and eBay joined forces last spring on a mobile-first streaming platform called NewTV, they raised $1 billion in their first financing round from companies such as Sony Pictures, Viacom, Disney, and Comcast.

62. JENNIFER SALKE

Age: 53 Occupation: President, Amazon Studios Previous Rank: New

Bezos's scripted weapon: Formerly the president of NBC Entertainment, Salke took the reins at Amazon Studios earlier this year, replacing Roy Price, who was ousted amid sexual-harassment allegations, which he denied. With Amazon's deep pockets and Salke's extensive experience in scripted-series development, she is well placed to do battle in the increasingly competitive streaming wars.

63. KIRSTEN GREEN

Age: 46 Occupation: C.E.O., Forerunner Ventures Previous Rank: 91

Exit strategy: Green's firm has poached talent from more senior venture-capital competitors, and its star has risen in recent years thanks to a series of smart investments and acquisitions, including the sale of Dollar Shave Club. Bonobos, and Jet.com.

64. BILL McGLASHAN

Age: 54 Occupation: Managing partner, TPG Growth Previous Rank: 66

Impact investor: McGlashan represents the new generation of leaders at TPG, the private-equity powerhouse with stakes in everything from Uber to Vice. Although there have been rumors aplenty that a change is afoot, TPG, unlike its private-equity rivals, has no plans for an I.P.O.

65. PRISCILLA CHAN

Age: 33 Occupation: Co-founder, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Previous Rank: 75

Evidence of election-hacking remorse? Chan and her husband, Facebook C.E.O. Mark Zuckerberg, have been busy in 2018, pouring millions into midterm-election initiatives with the help of Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz's Open Philanthropy Project.

66. A. G. SULZBERGER

Age: 38 Occupation: Publisher, TheNew York Times Previous Rank: New

All in the family: Sulzberger, who took over the publisher's job from his father this year, inherited a newly revitalized Times, with a growing subscription model (2.9 million digital subscribers and counting), a new media darling (The Daily podcast), and one mightily aggrieved reader in the White House.

67. TIM SWEENEY

Age: 47 Occupation: C.E.O., Epic Games Previous Rank: New

The genius behind the flossing phenomenon: Fortnite, the crown in Epic's portfolio, has become a global phenomenon, played by professional athletes, middle-aged middle managers, and tweens alike. In total, the battle-royal style concept has attracted some 125 million gamers.

68. HANS VESTBERG

Age: 53 Occupation: C.E.O., Verizon Previous Rank: New

The ultimate data guy: Under Vestberg, who was promoted this summer from chief technology officer to succeed Lowell McAdam, Verizon wasted no time reining in the ambitions of the Yahoo-AOL media mash-up known as Oath. Vestberg likes content as much as the next guy, but he has bigger fish to fry: rolling out Verizon's next-gen 5G network by year's end.

69. ROBERT F. SMITH

Age: 55 Occupation: C.E.O., Vista Equity Partners Previous Rank: 86

Hacking software stocks: Step aside, Oprah. Smith, the founder of Vista, one of the nation's most prolific and successful private-equity firms, is the country's wealthiest African-American, with a net worth of $4.4 billion. At Vista he's Mr. Everything: C.E.O., investment guru, and head of investor relations. The last is probably his easiest job, given his wild success at investing in software, and only software.

76. EVAN SPIEGEL

Age: 28 Occupation: C.E.O., Snap Previous Rank: 28

Zucked: Spiegel has seen his stock, user numbers, and net worth fall over the past year after Instagram and Facebook copied almost all of Snap's features to great success. But he made about $640 million in its I.P.O.

71. JIMMY PITARO

Age: 48 Occupation: President, ESPN Previous Rank: New

The pinch hitter: After eight years dutifully heading up consumer products and interactive media for Disney, Pitaro got Bob Iger's blessing to run the conglomerate's vaunted sports brand in the wake of John Skipper's drug-related exit. Pitaro wants ESPN to move away from the political commentary that thrust the network into the white-hot center of the culture wars.

72. DWAYNE JOHNSON

Age: 46 Occupation: Actor, producer Previous Rank: 37

Bailer: Johnson was 2018's second-highest-paid actor, according to Forbes, but the top in actual box-office earnings. (George Clooney earned the No. 1 spot by selling his Casamigos tequila brand.) His combined 179 million followers on social media have been the engine by which the star markets his films, which he now also produces, through his Seven Bucks Productions company.

"I will always be the hardest working person in the room."—DWAYNE JOHNSON, IN ESQUIRE, ON HIS SECRET FOR SUCCESS

73. AVA DuVERNAY

Age: 46 Occupation: Producer-director Previous Rank: New

Breaking down barriers: DuVernay has made advancing the careers of women and people of color in the entertainment industry part of her legacy. From hiring only women to direct her OWN series, Queen Sugar, to distributing women's films through her company, Array, to becoming the first woman of color to direct a movie with a budget over $100 million, A Wrinkle in Time, DuVernay has pushed hard to open up new opportunities.

74. JAMES GORMAN

Age: 60 Occupation: C.E.O., Morgan Stanley Previous Rank: New

The long game pays off: Gorman, a former McKinsey management consultant, had his doubters when he re-oriented the white-shoe Morgan Stanley around the asset- and wealth-management businesses after the financial crisis. In the last year, Morgan Stanley's market capitalization exceeded that of Goldman Sachs.

75. ADAM NEUMANN

Age: 39 Occupation: Co-founder, WeWork Previous Rank: New

Wing man: WeWork is no stranger to the adage "Spend money to make money," and over the past year, the real-estate work-space tech venture has done plenty of the latter in pursuit of the former—acquiring a bevy of start-ups across sectors and making investments in others, including the women-only social club the Wing.

76. EDDY CUE

Age: 53 Occupation: Senior vice president, Apple Previous Rank: 73

After the iPhone: As interest in the iPhone wanes, Cue has overseen the growth of two emerging businesses: Apple News, and the tech giant's forays into film and television projects. Apple is reportedly spending more than $1 billion on original content.

77. BOBBY KOTICK

Age: 55 Occupation: C.E.O., Activision Blizzard Previous Rank: 57

A new call of duty: Kotick, the godfather of modern gaming, will need to re-invent the wheel to stay relevant in the next couple of years as games like Fortnite, which are free to play, become cultural obsessions.

78. JOHN LANDGRAF

Age: 56 Occupation: C.E.O., FX Previous Rank: New

Peak Landgraf: The head of cable-network FX has distinguished himself for both his astute analysis of pop culture (he coined the term "peak TV") and for incubating award-winning shows such as The Americans and Atlanta. As Disney takes over Fox and sets its sights on streaming dominance, Landgraf's long view could be an asset

79. TRAVIS KALANICK

Age: 42 Occupation: Founder, 10100; C.E.O., City Storage Systems Previous Rank: 23

He's baaack...: A year after leaving his post as C.E.O. of Uber in disgrace, Kalanick is making a comeback: as the founder of a venture called 10100, which will invest in e-commerce and real-estate companies, and as the C.E.O. of real-estate start-up City Storage Systems.

80. WHITNEY WOLFE HERD

Age: 29 Occupation: C.E.O., Bumble Previous Rank: New

I'm with her: Herd's dating app—built on the premise that women making the first move fosters more interesting conversations and better connections—is now worth a billion dollars.

81. THE PODSTARS:  Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor, Dan Pfeiffer

Ages: 37, 36, 38, 42 Occupations: Podcasters Previous Rank: New

Friends of the pod: They're the new cabal of audio phenoms proving that podcasting is a place for star power—and money. In two short years, former Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor, and Dan Pfeiffer have turned Crooked Media, home of Pod Save America, into a revenue-generating powerhouse that can sell out Radio City Music Hall.

82. BONNIE HAMMER

Age: 68 Occupation: Chair, NBCUniversal Cable Previous Rank: 65

The queen of cable: Hammer is set to become possibly the longest-reigning female executive in TV history. And Steve Burke and Brian Roberts will increasingly rely on her as NBCU fights for terrain in a landscape dominated by Netflix, Amazon, and Bob Iger's latest land grab.

83. JAMES MURDOCH

Age: 45 Occupation: Outgoing C.E.O., 21st Century Fox Previous Rank: 56

Alone in the world: The admired and respected Murdoch, who bears a resemblance to the Kendall Roy character in HBO's Succession, has been tight-lipped about his next act after the Disney deal closes and he exits the family business. The pervasive assumption is a new investment vehicle of his own design.

84. KATRINA LAKE

Age: 35 Occupation: C.E.O., Stitch Fix Previous Rank: 99

The clothes make the boss: When Lake's tech-retail company Stitch Fix held an I.P.O. in November 2017, she became the youngest female founder to take a company public.

85. DONALD GLOVER

Age: 35 Occupation: Actor, director, musician Previous Rank: New

Renaissance man: In 2018, Glover was master of multiple pop-cultural domains: he starred in the movie Solo, nabbed 16 Emmy nominations for his TV series Atlanta, and hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart with "This Is America."

86. THE TALKING HEADS: Rachel Maddow, Chris Cuomo, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Nicolle Wallace, Jake Tapper, Shep Smith

Ages: 45, 48, 51, 52, 46, 49, 54 Occupations: Cable-news anchors Previous Rank: New

Little-screen bigwigs: If cable-news personalities are the celebrities of the Trump era, these are a red-carpet murderers' row.

87. NANCY DUBUC

Age: 49 Occupation: C.E.O., Vice Previous Rank: 88

The professional: As Vice co-founder Shane Smith stepped back from the day-to-day, Dubuc was brought in to tame the wilds of the company's corporate culture—and make sure its #MeToo problems (not to mention revenue issues) are fixed.

88. STEWART BUTTERFIELD

Age: 45 Occupation: C.E.O., Slack Previous Rank: 89

The only person everyone actually likes: The unofficial Nice Guy of Silicon Valley, Butterfield sits at the helm of a now ubiquitous workplace-messaging company. This year, Slack was valued at $7.1 billion.

88. CHRIS MELEDANDRI

Age: 59 Occupation: C.E.O., Illumination Previous Rank: 68

Evidence of tween-world domination: The producer and Illumination founder and C.E.O. has a hand in several animated film franchises—Ice Age, Despicable Me, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, and now Sing—with sequels for the latter three currently under way. Despicable Me 3 alone brought in more than $1 billion worldwide last year.

90. THE COLLISON BROTHERS

Ages: 30 (Patrick); 28 (John) Occupations: Founders, Stripe Previous Rank: 84

Ireland's greatest export: It took less than eight years for the software developed by the Collison brothers, who grew up in County Limerick, to become the $9.2 billion payment platform of choice for everyone in Silicon Valley.

91. CHANNING DUNGEY

Age: 49 Occupation: President, ABC Entertainment Previous Rank: New

No holds barred: The first African-American woman to head up a major broadcast television network, Dungey made her name developing hit shows—but grabbed headlines this year when she canceled Roseanne after the show's star issued a racist tweet.

92. BILL GURLEY

Age: 52 Occupation: General partner, Benchmark Previous Rank: 31

It's all on Dara: Gurley's firm is one of Silicon Valley's more prolific venture-capital concerns, thanks in part to its early bet on Uber. The company is hoping that Khosrowshahi can stick to his plan and take Uber public next year.

93. MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN

Age: 33 Occupation: Crown prince, Saudi Arabia Previous Rank: New

Jared's boy in Riyadh: Through his family's $1.4 trillion fortune, M.B.S. has earned audiences with some of the American business community's biggest names, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook, and Amazon C.E.O. Jeff Bezos— and, yes, Jared Kushner.

94. THE GROUND-BREAKERS: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Andrew Gillum, Beto O'Rourke

Ages: 28, 44, 39, 46 Occupations: Democratic hopefuls Previous Rank: New

The left's best hope: If Bernie launched the democratic-socialist revolution against ossified neoliberalism, these are his successors— avatars of the left's flirtation with universalism and its best attempt to close the enthusiasm gap (see next page).

"When you're dealing with insane people holding the country hostage, you can't go in with your end point."—ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ ON THE POLITICS OF COMPROMISE

95. ARLAN HAMILTON

Age: 37 Occupation: Founder, Backstage Capital Previous Rank: New

Equity for all: Hamilton's firm aims to rectify Silicon Valley's woeful gender- and racial-inequality dynamics. She has invested in excess of $4 million in more than 100 companies led by under-represented founders, and this year she announced a new, $36 million fund exclusively to invest in the ventures of black women.

96. SALLIE KRAWCHECK

Age: 53 Occupation: C.E.O., Ellevest Previous Rank: New

Disrupting the Street: One of the most senior women on Wall Street, Krawcheck was more or less defenestrated from her big jobs at both Citigroup and Bank of America. She's now the co-founder of one of the largest digital businesses focused entirely on helping women to better invest their money.

97. AUDREY GELMAN

Age: 31 Occupation: C.E.O., the Wing Previous Rank: New

Taking flight: Gelman, a Lena Dunham pal and former Clinton campaign staffer, is a co-founder of the women-only co-working space and social club, the Wing. With five locations in three cities and about 5,000 members paving up to $3,000 for annual memberships, The Wing is already eyeing international expansion, with planned outposts in London, Paris, and Toronto.

98. SUSAN WOJCICKI

Age: 50 Occupation: C.E.O., YouTube Previous Rank: 81

Not a media company? Long the premier destination for makeup tutorials and iPhone-unboxing videos, Wojcicki's YouTube found itself at the epicenter of controversy after the Parkland shooting in early 2018, when the platform inadvertently boosted conspiracy-theory videos. Wojcicki has insisted that YouTube isn't a media company. But what is it, then?

99. ANONYMOUS

Occupation: Trump-administration senior official, aggrieved op-ed writer Previous Rank: New

A New York Times whodunnit: The anonymous author of the most famous opinion piece in recent history not only garnered more than 15 million page views for the Times but also seized the attention of an audience of one.

100. KYLIE JENNER

Age: 21 Occupation: Founder, Kylie Cosmetics Previous Rank: New

Sign of the apocalypse? Thanks to her 100 percent ownership stake in her eponymous makeup line, Jenner is now worth $900 million.

Reporting by Nick Bilton, Maya Kosoff, Gabriel Sherman, William D. Cohan, Abigail Tracy, Emily Jane Fox, Bess Levin, Tina Nguyen, Claire Landsbaum, Ben Landy, Krista Smith, Anna Lisa Raya, Joy Press, Rebecca Keegan.