Entrepreneurs who made it to ‘TIME 100’ List

TIME magazine’s annual power list called TIME100 collates a roll of honour of global thinkers and doers to movers and shakers who have influenced the course of a year.

This year, the brief description of those who made it to this coveted list was written by equally successful people. In the profile titled 'India's reformer-in-chief', President Barack Obama described Modi's life story "from poverty to Prime Minister" as one that reflects the dynamism and potential of India's rise. "Today, he's the leader of the world's largest democracy, and his life story from poverty to Prime Minister reflects the dynamism and potential of India's rise," Obama said. “Like India, he transcends the ancient and the modern—a devotee of yoga who connects with Indian citizens on Twitter and imagines a digital India.”

We take this opportunity to list the entrepreneurs who made it to the annual ‘Time 100’.

Tony Fernandes

I’ll be honest; Tony is one of my favourite entrepreneurs and an inspiration. Few have the gusto to plunge into entrepreneurship at a ripe age of 37 and be successful. Yet his runway to success was almost as smooth as a jumbo taking off. In 2001, AirAsia was a distressed airline whose opportunity caught Tony’s eye and the rest as they say is history. Today, AirAsia flies more than 30 million passengers annually and has made a strong entry into the competitive Indian aviation space.

Elizabeth Holmes

You know those once in a lifetime stories, like when a barber in India owns a Rolls Royce, Elizabeth Holmes made it in her lifetime. She dropped out of Stanford at the age of 19 and used the money she saved from college to start her business in 2003. Her startup, Theranos, can test a drop of blood faster and cheaper than the commercial diagnostic labs that dominate the economy. Theranos is valued at $9 billion and her 50% stake is valued at $4.5 billion making her one of the youngest billionaires in the world. There is no middle ground when you set out to change the world but so far, she has proven her biggest critics wrong.

Reid Hoffman

With an estimated net worth of $4.7 billion, Hoffman is a legend in Silicon Valley. He is the co-founder of LinkedIn, an author and an investor in several successful start-ups, including Airbnb and Swipely. Hoffman was one of the early advocates of innovation and technology post the 2001 bubble and is revered by his peers.

Brian Chesky

Airbnb and Brian Chesky have probably built a new culture in the sharing economy. The concept of letting strangers rent your home was looked down upon. In fact, Paul Graham of Y Combinator asked him whether people were actually doing this and Chesky said Yeah. Graham retorted, “What’s wrong with them?” Yet Airbnb has defied convention and today is disrupting the vacation and rental markets world over. Not bad especially when you’re only 33.