(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- It’s hard to say what the Bloomberg 50 will look like in December 2018. But the people below—nominated, in some cases, by our Bloomberg 50 honorees—are all burnishing their credentials.
Kyunghyun ChoAssistant professor, NYU; research scientist, Facebook AI ResearchNominated by Geoffrey Hinton Cho works in a subfield of artificial intelligence called natural language processing, designing processes to make translation algorithms faster and more accurate. “He’s had a huge impact on machine translation,” Hinton says. Carolyn McCallCEO, ITV McCall, who takes charge of Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster in January, comes from EasyJet Plc, which she turned into one of Europe’s most popular budget airlines.
Hannah AlperEnvironmental activistNominated by Lilly Singh The 14-year-old has been running an environmentalist blog since she was 9 and is already an accomplished public speaker, Singh says, touring North America with the children’s charity We Day. Melina MatsoukasDirectorNominated by Jill Soloway Matsoukas made her name directing music videos for Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Katy Perry. “She is a masterful, unstoppable force,” says Soloway, whose production company is working with Matsoukas to adapt A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel, for Amazon Studios. James JebbiaFounder, Supreme The revered streetwear label sold a 50 percent stake to the Carlyle Group at a valuation of about $1.1 billion, which will allow Supreme to expand the business, likely in Asia. Senator Kamala HarrisDemocrat, California With her dogged questioning of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Russian interference in the 2016 election, Harris, California’s first female attorney general, solidified her status as a 2020 presidential contender.
Ronan FarrowJournalist, NBC The son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow already had a public profile before pursuing the Harvey Weinstein story for the New Yorker. He’s since become an anti-harassment crusader, speaking out about abuses of power. Nico VandervelpenCo-founder and managing director, Bioqube VenturesNominated by Francesco De Rubertis An up-and-comer in early-stage medical technology investing, says De Rubertis, Vandervelpen started Bioqube in 2016 with Johnson & Johnson’s in-house business incubator program, already a client.
Carlos TavaresChairman and CEO, Groupe PSA Long second in command to Carlos Ghosn at Renault-Nissan Alliance, Tavares is challenging his former boss as head of his French rival. Since taking over Groupe PSA in 2014, he’s led a profit-boosting international expansion, and this year he acquired Opel Automobile GmbH from General Motors Co. John KrafcikCEO, Waymo Inc. A former Hyundai Motor America and Ford Motor Co. executive, Krafcik announced in early November that Google’s self-driving car division had started testing vehicles without backup drivers on public roads. Pat Miguel TomainoAssociate director of socially responsible investing, Zevin Asset Management LLC Tomaino filed the first shareholder proposal asking a U.S. company, Starbucks Corp., to offer parental leave to all employees, including adoptive parents and LGBT couples, at all wage levels. Starbucks opposed the proposal but amended its leave policy to include adoptive parents working in retail locations.
James McBrideManaging partner, Nihi Hotels & Resorts The group’s single Indonesian hotel, Nihiwatu, has been called the best in the world. It’s now preparing to open Kodi, an all-inclusive resort brand, to go after millennials. Bozoma Saint JohnChief brand officer, Uber Technologies Inc. Investors still have confidence in Uber, but its image has never been worse. Saint John, hired from Apple Music, ended a Wife Appreciation Day promotion in India and has spoken out, with new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, about changing Uber’s culture. David PriorFounder, Prior Knowledge The former travel writer is parlaying his insider knowledge into a tour company backed by a co-founder of Copenhagen’s acclaimed restaurant Noma and a former Barneys chief marketing officer.
Karl SiebrechtCo-founder and CEO, Flexe Siebrecht created a marketplace for underused storage locations across the U.S.; merchants wary of selling goods on Amazon.com can now rent warehouse space near areas they want to serve, so they can deliver goods at Prime speeds. Sarah Al-SuhaimiChairwoman, Tadawul The first woman to chair Saudi Arabia’s stock market, she will preside over the exchange with what’s likely to be the world’s most valuable business once Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the state-run oil company, completes its initial public offering (slated for 2018). Chieh HuangCEO, Boxed Huang started the “Costco for millennials” from his garage four years ago, offering bulk-scale household staples online; this year the company automated its 140,000-square-foot New Jersey warehouse to power growth. Tim BrownCo-founder, Allbirds A former standout on New Zealand’s men’s soccer team, Brown designed a wool shoe, the Wool Runner, that combines street style and technical performance and is already part of the Silicon Valley uniform. Martha BaileyEconomist, University of Michigan Her research on the positive economic effects of contraception has influenced debates around health care and pay equity.
Editor: Jillian GoodmanPhotographs: Alper, Al-Suhaimi, Bailey, Brown, Cho, McBride, Prior, Siebrecht, Tomaino, Vandervelpen: Courtesy of subjects (10). Farrow, Harris, Saint John, Tavares: Getty Images (4). Huang, Krafcik: Bloomberg (2). Jebbia: Shutterstock. Matsoukas: WireImage. McCall: Redux
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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jillian Goodman at jgoodman74@bloomberg.net, Bret Begun
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