14 DAY TRIAL // T3's top 100 list for the most influential people in the tech sector has seen a huge invasion from Internet-based ventures. As usual these days, the battle was waged between Google and Microsoft with both parties winning on different levels. While Google took the number one spot with its original founders (Sergey Brin and Larry Page) ranking ahead of everybody else, Microsoft managed to rank six of its experts in the top 100 list.
Google, besides its founding fathers, ranked CEO Eric Schmidt (#8) and Director of Mobile Platforms Andy Rubin (#13). Microsoft on the other hand was represented by CEO Steve Ballmer (#10), Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie (#21), Microsoft Founder Bill Gates (#27), Managing Director Ashley Highfield (#30), President of Entertainment & Devices Division Robbie Bach (#34) and gaming expert Peter Molyneux (#75).
Other notable presences in the Top 100 are Barrack Obama (#18), Digg founder Kevin Rose (#57), Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor (#59), Linux guru Linus Torvalds (#73), UK's Lord Carter (#80) and Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales (#83).
The top ten is as follows: 1. Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google) 2. Evan Williams (Twitter) 3. Daniel Ek (Spotify) 4. Stephen Fry (Internet celebrity and analyst) 5. Sir Howard Stringer (Sony) 6. Yong Nam (LG) 7. Steve Jobs (Apple) 8. Eric Schmidt (Google) 9. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) 10. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft)
The top is occupied by a lot of individuals who have made a name for themselves from an Internet start-up, again proving that the quickest way to get rich and make a name for yourself these days is from an Internet-based business. With technology and scientific research costs going through the roof, a simple website can be developed with only a couple of dollars these days. Famous is the case of the Digg social network that was built through Elance for only a couple hundreds of dollars.
The rest of the top 100 can be found here.