BizJournals Portfolio
Apr 21 2008 12:00am EDT

Spielberg's "Brilliant" Run

In a contest of Oprah Winfrey versus Howard Stern, 66 percent of people picked the Queen of All Media over the King of All Media. Pit Marc Jacobs against Karl Lagerfeld and 63 percent voted for MJ. On Wall Street, 58 percent of voters picked Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein over JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon.

When Condé Nast Portfolio set out to identify leading figures in business and those influencing business in the May "Brilliant Issue," there were some particular individuals in mind. Rupert Murdoch became a leading "game changer"; the women behind 23andMe were highlighted as "upstarts" you'll be hearing more from; Steven Spielberg and Tina Fey represented the "rebels" impacting business; and the Google founders were called "connectors."

Among this crew, we asked readers, who's your pick for the "most brilliant" individual?

You said....Steven Spielberg. The Dreamworks SKG co-founder publicly rejected an invitation to be artistic adviser for the Beijing Olympics this summer, after increasing pressure from groups upset over China's business dealings with Sudan--where an estimated 200,000 people have been killed by a government-supported militia. His move may provoke other business groups to take similar action.

Following Spielberg were stem-cell researcher James Thomson as second-most brilliant and Applied Minds co-founder Danny Hillis in third place.

Our "Brackets of Brilliance" feature is still open for business--find out more results or vote your own pick.

by Laura Rich


Laura Rich is a co-founder of Recessionwire, which provides news, advice, perspective and humor about the recession and the recovery.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Real Business, Real Results

Did anyone at Microsoft ever watch the (gasp!) offensively funny show Family Guy?

Ex-Morgan Stanley exec Zoe Cruz is now heading her own hedge fund. Are Wall Street's leaders done?

Martha, Bernie and Skilling know that what you wear for court can go a long way in public perception.

spotlight on

Health Care

Bad to the Bone No More

Companies such as General Mills say they're stepping up efforts to change employees' bad behavior and promote healthier lifestyles. Read More