The people and ideas that defined global business in 2021

Dec. 1, 2021

This issue marks the fifth year of the Bloomberg 50, our annual look at those in business, entertainment, finance, politics, and science and technology whose accomplishments deserve recognition. Did we put the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich on the list in 2019? Yes, and we stand by it. Our 2021 version is less tasty, perhaps, but no less culturally significant: Behold, the meme stock.

In terms of actual humans, we talked to Karen Lynch, president and CEO of CVS Health Corp., about the vaccine rollout, and to David Baszucki, co-founder and CEO of Roblox Corp., about why kids are so obsessed with the gaming platform. Other honorees include Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, for his heroism on Jan. 6; Lina Khan, the youngest chair of the Federal Trade Commission; and Olivia Rodrigo, for Sour, her smash-hit, angst-ridden breakup album. (Full disclosure: She declined to be interviewed, a rejection we won’t soon get over.)

Look at the bottom of the page for alums of our list whose 2021 efforts merited a nod, as well as those who might appear on next year’s Bloomberg 50.

Business

Finance

Politics

Science & Technology

Entertainment

Carlos Eduardo Brandt

Anthony Eisen & Nick Molnar

Cynthia Choi, Russell Jeung & Manjusha Kulkarni

The Meme Stock

John & Patrick Collison

Goldman’s 13 Anonymous Junior Investment Bankers

Trey Parker & Matt Stone

Chief operating officer, TikTok

Vanessa Pappas

TikTok had more downloads in the U.S. (34.6 million) during the first six months of the year than its top two competitors—Instagram (17.7 million) and Snapchat (14.2 million)—combined, according to analytics company Sensor Tower Inc.

Russian opposition leader

Alexey Navalny

The fierce critic of the Kremlin has been imprisoned for more than 10 months after recovering abroad from being poisoned.

Founder, Hybe Co.

Bang Si-Hyuk

The hitmaker behind BTS engineered a $1 billion deal in April to combine Ithaca Holdings—the agency that manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande—with his Korean empire, bringing K-pop to the center of the U.S. music business.

Philanthropist

MacKenzie Scott

She’s donated $2.7 billion this year, for a total of about $8.6 billion to almost 800 organizations since her divorce from Jeff Bezos, which makes her one of the most prolific philanthropists in history.

Chief digital officer, Toyota Motor Corp.

James Kuffner

In March, Toyota issued a $4.7 billion sustainability bond offering to fund Kuffner’s next-generation research and development activities, one of the industry’s biggest commitments yet to environmental and social projects.

Founder, Apple Daily

Jimmy Lai

The outspoken media tycoon has spent more than 300 days in jail this year, making him the highest-profile victim of China’s relentless campaign to bring Hong Kong to heel.

CEO and president, Amazon.com Inc.

Andy Jassy

Amazon Web Services, which Jassy ran for almost two decades, is on track for $61.3 billion in sales this year, up 35% from 2020, and the reward for his success was being named CEO of the whole company.

Director and actor

Jia Ling

The Chinese comedian became the world’s highest-grossing female director when her film, Hi, Mom, took in $834 million in ticket sales, blowing past the record previously held by Patty Jenkins for Wonder Woman.

Governor, Central Bank of the Bahamas

John Rolle

Since starting the world’s first central bank digital currency in late 2020, the Bahamas now has 300,000-plus “sand dollars” in circulation, and seven mobile payment providers began using the e-money earlier this year.

Co-founder and CEO, Canva Inc.

Melanie Perkins

After her graphic design company reached a $40 billion valuation in September, triple the figure from five months prior, the entrepreneur became one of the world’s richest women.

Citizen journalist

Darnella Frazier

In June, a year after she filmed police officers killing George Floyd, Frazier became the first modern citizen journalist to win a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Founder and CEO, Rocket Lab

Peter Beck

Beck’s company, which specializes in low-cost space launches, went public through the listing of a special purpose acquisition company in August, raising $777 million.

President and CEO, CVS Health Corp.

Karen Lynch

Lynch became the highest-ranking female executive in the U.S. in February when she took over at CVS, the fifth-largest public company by sales.

CEO, Just Eat Takeaway.com NV

Jitse Groen

The company closed a $7.3 billion acquisition of Grubhub Inc. in June, gaining a foothold in the U.S. food delivery market.

Managing partner, CVC Capital Partners

Nick Clarry

CVC has invested more than $3 billion in top sports leagues this year as it looks to profit from demand for streaming content.

Runner, USA Track & Field

Allyson Felix

Felix’s gold in the 4x400 women’s relay in Tokyo was her 11th Olympic medal, making her the most decorated U.S. track athlete in the history of the Games.

Representative, New York

Elise Stefanik

In May she became the GOP conference chair, the House’s No. 3 Republican, after Representative Liz Cheney was ousted from the job earlier in the year for voting in favor of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment.

Chair, United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Hoesung Lee

In August he guided almost 200 countries to unanimous agreement on a report that found humanity has raised the global temperature by 1.1C, making the planet hotter than it’s been in 125,000 years.

Co-creator and star, Ted Lasso

Jason Sudeikis

The show won seven Emmys in September, including best comedy series and outstanding lead actor, after getting 20 nominations, the most ever for a comedy debut.

Sex discrimination commissioner, Australia

Kate Jenkins

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced in April that all 55 recommendations Jenkins had made in a report about how to quash sexism in government and industry would be accepted.

Whistleblower and former product manager, Facebook Inc.

Frances Haugen

She’s submitted at least eight complaints to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging the company misled investors.

CEO, Ford Motor Co.

Jim Farley

Ford shares hit a 20-year high in 2021 as Farley transforms the company into a legitimate business in electric and self-driving cars.

CEO, GoTo Group

Andre Soelistyo

An $18 billion merger in May put the Indonesian entrepreneur atop a company leading a digital transformation of the world’s fourth-most-populous country.

Co-founder and CEO, Roblox Corp.

David Baszucki

In March the online gaming company went public with a $40 billion market valuation.

Head of management and operations, Pix

Carlos Eduardo Brandt

The mobile payment system has more than doubled its user base this year, to 113 million as of the last day of October from 56 million at the end of 2020.

Representative, Missouri

Cori Bush

She slept on the Capitol steps for four nights this summer to protest the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s expiring moratorium on evictions, helping draw attention to the issue and push President Joe Biden to order a 60-day extension.

Chairman, Exor NV

John Elkann

In January, Exor-owned Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV merged with PSA Group to form Stellantis NV, and the new company started trading with a $52.7 billion market value.

Artist

Mike Winkelmann

His work Everydays: The First 5,000 Days sold at auction in March for $69.3 million, shattering the record for a piece of digital art.

Officer, U.S. Capitol Police

Eugene Goodman

For 85 seconds on Jan. 6, he confronted insurrectionists and led them away from vulnerable lawmakers in the Senate chamber.

Co-founders and co-CEOs, Afterpay Ltd.

Nick Molnar & Anthony Eisen

The sale of the buy-now, pay-later startup to Jack Dorsey’s Square (now Block) for $29 billion—announced in August, expected to be completed early next year—will make it the largest in Australian corporate history.

Co-founders, Stop AAPI Hate

Cynthia Choi, Russell Jeung & Manjusha Kulkarni

In the first half of the year, the coalition collected more than 4,500 reports of incidents nationwide against people of Asian descent, data that helped lead to national hate crimes legislation and millions of dollars to address racism and racial inequality in California.

The Meme Stock

At the start of the year, traders added more than $150 billion to the market cap of GameStop, AMC, and 48 other businesses, stocks that Robinhood put on a restricted trading list because they’re volatile (and can be used as a proxy for the craze).

Co-founders, Stripe

Patrick & John Collison

With internet sales soaring and interest rates low during the pandemic, Stripe raised $600 million in March, giving it a market value of $95 billion and making it the most valuable Silicon Valley startup of all time.

Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.

Albert Bourla

The company and its German partner, BioNTech, struck more than $36 billion in deals this year for their Covid-19 vaccine, making it the bestselling pharmaceutical product on an annual basis.

Former project manager, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

MiMi Aung

Her Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team flew a small drone chopper above the planet’s surface in April, an aviation first.

Chair, U.S. Federal Trade Commission

Lina Khan

The 32-year-old became the youngest person to lead the agency when President Joe Biden appointed her in June.

CEO, Oatly Group AB

Toni Petersson

After Oatly’s $12 billion initial public offering in May, the company announced major expansions to meet the world’s growing desire for oat-based milks, yogurts, and ice creams.

Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

John Nkengasong

The virologist has played a key role in acquiring 400 million Covid-19 vaccines for the continent.

Pop star

Olivia Rodrigo

Her first single, Drivers License, set a one-day record on Spotify on Jan. 11, with more than 15 million streams, then beat that number the next day en route to becoming the fastest song to surpass the 100 million mark.

Director and screenwriter

Hwang Dong-hyuk

More than 140 million people have watched Squid Game, making it the most popular TV show in Netflix Inc.’s history.

Shooting guard, University of Connecticut

Paige Bueckers

The basketball star has signed two of the most high-profile “name, image, and likeness” deals since college athletes were free to pursue them starting in July.

CEO, ProShare Advisors LLC

Michael Sapir

ProShares introduced the first Bitcoin ETF in October, and investors piled more than $1 billion into it in two days, the fastest that any exchange-traded fund has reached the milestone.

Founder and CEO, Nykaa

Falguni Nayar

Her online beauty mall, which had a $711 million initial public offering in October, is transforming India’s once-staid cosmetics industry.

Department head, prosecutors’ office, Cologne, Germany

Anne Brorhilker

Brorhilker, who’s been overseeing a massive tax fraud inquiry since 2013, had a breakthrough year: She won a landmark court case that ruled the trading strategy she’s investigating is criminal, got a third conviction in the probe, and had a suspect extradited from the U.K.

CEO, Shein

Xu Yangtian

Xu’s fast-fashion company ended Amazon.com’s 152-day streak in May as the most downloaded shopping app in the U.S., demonstrating the disruptive potential of Chinese consumer brands.

Former head of active engagement, Engine No. 1

Charlie Penner

In May the tiny investment fund Penner worked for landed three independent directors on the board of Exxon Mobil Corp., one of the most stunning upsets for a shareholder vote.

Pop star

Britney Spears

In November, five months after a June hearing at which Spears said she felt like a prisoner in the court-ordered conservatorship her father oversaw for almost 14 years, a judge dissolved it.

CEO, Discovery Inc.

David Zaslav

Zaslav helped orchestrate the biggest deal in entertainment this year, a merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia that values the new company at about $130 billion.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman’s 13 Anonymous Junior Investment Bankers

The first-year analysts detailed damning revelations about the company’s workplace culture in a slide presentation that went viral in March, leading Goldman and other financial institutions to raise pay to a minimum of $100,000 and lighten the workload.

Co-creators, South Park

Matt Stone & Trey Parker

In August, Stone and Parker signed an agreement with ViacomCBS Inc. that will pay them $900 million for six more seasons of the show and 14 spinoff movies for the Paramount+ streaming service.

The Usual Suspects

There are always some “no duh” people who are too obvious to put on the Bloomberg 50. So we give them their own list.

Jeff Bezos, executive chair, Amazon.com Inc.

Joe Biden, president of the U.S.

Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil

Sergey Brin, co-founder, Alphabet Inc.

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Inc.

Pope Francis

Boris Johnson, prime minister of the U.K.

Emmanuel Macron, president of France

Narendra Modi, prime minister of India

Rupert Murdoch, co-chairman, Fox Corp.

Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Inc. and SpaceX

Satoshi Nakamoto, pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Larry Page, co-founder, Alphabet

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia

Masayoshi Son, CEO, SoftBank Group Corp.

Donald Trump, former president of the U.S.

Tsai Ing-Wen, president of Taiwan

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission

Oprah Winfrey, chairman and CEO, Oprah Winfrey Network LLC

Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China

Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO, Meta Platforms Inc.

Let’s Hear It for Some Alums

We don’t include people on the Bloomberg 50 more than once, but we still applaud these past honorees who made notable contributions in 2021. —Adam Blenford, with Jackie Davalos, Tina Davis, Janice Kew, Olga Kharif, Annie Massa, Naomi Nix, and Sarah Rappaport

Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev, co-founders, Robinhood Markets Inc. (2020)

Robinhood’s trading platform was home base for the retail investors who talked about “diamond hands” and going “to the moon” as they drove up the price of GameStop Corp., AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., and other meme stocks. The app had 22.4 million funded accounts by the end of September, up from 11.4 million at the same time last year, and the company went public in July with a $29 billion valuation.

Simone Biles, U.S. gymnast (2019)

After winning two medals, she left Tokyo tied as the most decorated U.S. female Olympic gymnast of all time. But the biggest headlines she made came from her candid assessment of the mental health struggles that led her to withdraw from four events. In September, five weeks after the Summer Games ended, Biles testified before Congress about the abuse she and teammates endured from Larry Nassar, the former U.S. gymnastics team doctor who’s in prison for sexual assault.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder, Ethereum (2017)

Ethereum has become the blockchain of choice for decentralized finance (DeFi) apps, which aim to ease access to financial products and services. There’s now about $106 billion deposited in these apps, up from a little more than $20 billion a year ago, according to tracker DeFi Pulse. That’s helped Ether, the cryptocurrency used on the platform, grow in value more than sixfold this year, from $734 to a record high of almost $5,000.

Sarah Friar, CEO, Nextdoor.com Inc. (2018)

The localized social networking app went public via a blank-check company in early November in a deal that valued the business at $4.3 billion. More than 280,000 communities in 11 countries use Nextdoor to connect to neighbors and sell goods and services; now Friar is focused on expanding internationally, luring big advertisers, and quelling racism on the platform.

Letitia James, attorney general, New York (2020)

In August she released a 168-page bombshell of a report concluding that Governor Andrew Cuomo, who endorsed her campaign in 2018, had created a toxic work environment that included the sexual harassment of at least 11 women. Cuomo announced his resignation a week later, after denying that he’d intentionally mistreated anyone. In late October, James announced that she was challenging Cuomo’s successor, Kathy Hochul, for the Democratic nomination for governor next year.

Abigail Johnson, chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments (2018)

While trading apps such as Robinhood got the attention this year, in the second quarter individual investors opened about 1.7 million Fidelity accounts, a 39% increase from the same period a year ago, with almost 700,000 registered to customers age 35 or under. The boom in retail stock trading that boosted Robinhood has led Fidelity to go on a hiring spree: By June the company had hired about 7,000 people for the year—equal to what it hired in all of 2020.

Strive Masiyiwa, founder and executive chairman, Econet Group (2020)

The Zimbabwean billionaire and special pandemic envoy for the African Union was instrumental (with 2021 Bloomberg 50 entrant John Nkengasong) in securing 400 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines for the continent through the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. They began arriving in August. He also helped broker an agreement with Moderna Inc. for as many as 110 million shots, with the first delivery expected in December.

Maria Ressa, CEO, Rappler Inc. (2020)

Years of investigative journalism that probed Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs put her at odds with the Philippine president. In October her work was acknowledged by the Nobel committee: Ressa was named joint winner of the Peace Prize for safeguarding freedom of expression.

Taylor Swift, singer-songwriter (2018)

Music mogul Scooter Braun sold the master recordings of her first six albums to a private equity firm for $300 million late last year, setting off a feud with Swift about artists’ rights. In a move to regain control of her work, she released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), the first in a series of planned rerecordings, in April. The album topped the charts 13 years after the original, ensuring that Swift owns the version of her music that’s now most prominent on streaming services.

Reese Witherspoon, founder, Hello Sunshine (2018)

Witherspoon sold a majority stake in her production company to an unnamed holding company owned by private equity giant Blackstone Inc. The deal valued Hello Sunshine—the force behind hit TV dramas The Morning Show and Big Little Lies—at about $900 million and gave Blackstone a foothold in the content creation industry. Witherspoon will stay on and join the board of the new owner.

Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO, Bumble Inc. (2018)

Wolfe Herd became part of a tiny club of self-made female billionaires after Bumble, the dating app where women make the first move, went public in February in a $2 billion initial public offering. Her company opened a cafe in New York City in July and has plans to expand its nondating services.

Ones to Watch

These people are deciding the future of crypto, comedy, cuisine, and more. —Rebecca Penty, with Bret Begun, Ira Boudway, Sarah Holder, Kate Krader, Yoolim Lee, Jeannette Neumann, Kristin Powers, Angelina Rascouet, Ragini Saxena, Karen Toulon, and Ashlee Vance

Elsa Majimbo, comedian, author

The 20-year-old shot to fame during Covid-19 lockdowns with monologues featuring tiny sunglasses and crunchy snacks as props. Majimbo has collaborated on a book with Valentino, did a campaign with Fenty, and is represented by Creative Artists Agency.

Andy Hunter, founder and CEO, Bookshop.org

Hunter was already an industrious creative force behind a handful of independent book publishers and literary websites when he developed Bookshop.org, a platform that helps small bookshops build online storefronts to compete with Amazon.com Inc. The site has raised $19 million for local bookstores in Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. since its January 2020 introduction.

Jefferson Chen, chairman, CEO, and co-founder, Advance Intelligence Group

The former hedge fund manager has incubated several startups in financial services and retail since co-founding his Singapore-based company in 2016. In September, Advance topped $2 billion in valuation after raising more than $400 million from investors led by Warburg Pincus and Softbank.

Kyla Scanlon, fin-fluencer

The 24-year-old breaks down complex topics such as lumber shortages and decentralized finance, or DeFi, into easily digestible tweets and TikToks. Scanlon, who’s building a financial education company, has more than 100,000 TikTok followers.

Avani Singh, CEO, SpiceHealth

At just 25, Singh is the pioneer of cheap Covid testing in India. In November 2020 her company introduced real-time polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests priced at 499 rupees ($6.71)—one-fifth the going rate in New Delhi. She plans to serve more-remote areas of India with inexpensive tests at mobile labs.

India Walton, nurse, political activist

Upon defeating Buffalo’s four-term mayor in the city’s Democratic primary last June, Walton appeared poised to become the first democratic socialist big-city mayor of the 21st century. With 40.9% of the vote, she lost in the general election to the incumbent after he mounted a write-in campaign. But her unexpected ascent has whetted the appetite of working-class voters for candidates who commit to radical economic change.

Nensi Dojaka, fashion designer

The Albanian-born Dojaka was lauded for her “sensual and tailored” styles when she won this year’s young fashion designers award from luxury conglomerate LVMH. Her pieces, which borrow looks from lingerie, have caught the attention of celebrities including Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid.

Roni Mazumdar + Chintan Pandya, co-founders, Unapologetic Foods

The duo opened the dynamic street food spot Dhamaka in early 2021, making Indian the most raved-about cuisine in New York City. Now they’re expanding with two fast-casual spots, as well as a restaurant and market featuring the food of Kolkata.

Claire Banse + Michelle Guterman, co-editors, the Drunken Canal

Their print newspaper, which recently published its 10th issue, is “downtown New York’s paper of record for gossip, personal ads, and scene reports,” according to Vogue. The magazine is one of a handful of mainstream media outlets to cover the recent college grads as they carve out a space away from the glare of social media.

Frank Reig + Paul Suhey, co-founders, Revel

Revel started a scooter-sharing program in New York City in 2018. In 2021 it added a fleet of 50 ride-hailing Teslas, available for booking on its app, and a Brooklyn hub of 25 electric vehicle fast chargers—the country’s largest that’s open to all EVs.

Decker Eveleth, senior, Reed College, Portland, Ore.

Eveleth scours satellite imagery in search of weapon stockpiles. In June he spotted 120 inflatable structures in a desert in northern China. He knew, from previous research, that this discovery suggested the sites had been excavated for ballistic missile silos then covered with the domes. The U.S. Department of State called the news “concerning.” Chinese state media said the site was a wind farm under construction.

AUNG: COURTESY AMAZON.COM. BASZUCKI: VIDEO BY KELSEY MCCLELLAN FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK. BANKERS: MICHAEL NAGLE/BLOOMBERG. BECK: MATTHEW STAVER/ZUMA PRESS. BOURLA: GIANNIS PAPANIKOS/AP IMAGES. BRANDT: RAPHAEL RIBEIRO/BCB. BRORHILKER: MARIUS BECKER/DPA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES. BUECKERS: VIDEO BY LAUREL GOLIO FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK. BUSH: U.S. CONGRESS. CASTILLO: ERNESTO BENAVIDES/GETTY IMAGES. CHOI, JEUNG, KULKARNI: MYLEEN HOLLERO. CLARRY: COURTESY CVC. COLLISONS: COURTESY STRIPE. HWANG: GETTY IMAGES. EISEN: DON ARNOLD/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES. ELKANN: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES. FARLEY: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG. FELIX: PATRICK SMITH/GETTY IMAGES. FRAZIER: COURTESY DARNELLA FRAZIER. GOODMAN: ASHLEY GILBERTSON/REDUX. GROEN: COURTESY TAKEAWAY. HAUGEN: JOSE SARMENTO MATOS/BLOOMBERG. JASSY: F. CARTER SMITH/BLOOMBERG. JENKINS: RACHEL KARA ASHTON/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX. KHAN: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. KUFFNER: KIYOSHI OTA/BLOOMBERG. LAI: CHAN LONG HEI/BLOOMBERG. LEE: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES. JIA: YANG DONG/VCG/GETTY IMAGES. LYNCH: VIDEO BY DEVIN CHRISTOPHER FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK. MEME STOCK: VIDEO BY JANELLE JONES FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK. MOLNAR: JOE MAHER/BFC/GETTY IMAGES. NAVALNY: ANDREY RUDAKOV/BLOOMBERG. NAYAR: NISHIKANT GAMRE/THE INDIA TODAY GROUP/GETTY IMAGES. NKENGASONG: TIKSA NEGERI/REUTERS. PAPPAS: ROZETTE RAGO/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX. STONE, PARKER: CHRIS HOPKINS/GETTY IMAGES. PENNER: VIDEO BY MARK ELZEY FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK. PERKINS: HORACIO VILLALOBOS/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES. PETERSSON: CARSTEN SNEJBJERG/BLOOMBERG. RODRIGO: ROB KIM/FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES. ROLLE: MELISSA ALCENA FOR BLOOMBERG MARKETS. SAPIR: THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES. SCOTT: DANIEL BISKUP/LAIF/REDUX. BANG: SEONGJOON CHO/BLOOMBERG. SOELISTYO: PAUL MILLER/BLOOMBERG. SPEARS: KATHY HUTCHINS/SHUTTERSTOCK. STEFANIK: SAMUEL CORUM/BLOOMBERG. SUDEIKIS: RICH FURY/GETTY IMAGES. WINKELMANN: ANDREW J. WHITAKER/THE POST AND COURIER/AP PHOTO. XU: JUSTIN CHIN/BLOOMBERG. ZASLAV: MARK SAGLIOCCO/GETTY IMAGES. MAJIMBO: DEGBADJO JOSEPH. DOJAKA: COURTESY LVMH PRIZE. MAZUMDAR, PANDYA: CLAY WILLIAMS. WALTON: LINDSAY DEDARIO/REUTERS. BANSE, GUTERMAN: LUCAS CREIGHTON. CHEN, HUNTER, REIG, SUHEY, SINGH, SCANLON: COURTESY SUBJECTS

(Corrects the surname of Roni Mazumdar in Ones to Watch. An earlier version was updated with news of Square changing its corporate name to Block and Elsa Majimbo’s collaborations in Ones to Watch.)