83. Reed Hastings

Job: chief executive, co-founder, Netflix Age: 51 Industry: digital media New entry Reed Hastings is looking to take on BSkyB and Amazon's LoveFilm and BSkyB with his video-on-demand service, Netflix. Launched in the US in 1996 and with 27 million subscribers worldwide, it has gained 1 million subscribers in the UK and Ireland since its arrival on these shores at the beginning of the year. But the launch came at a cost – Netflix notched up a $100m loss outside of the US in the first quarter of the year. Hastings, who is on the board of Microsoft and Facebook, previously founded a computer troubleshooting company, Pure Software. The way we are watching television is changing – "Broadcast TV is like the landline of 20 years ago," said Hastings – but it remains to be seen just how fast the switch from linear broadcast to internet TV will take place, and where Netflix will end up in the pecking order.