Agenda Setters 2000: the movers and the shakers

As the advert says: great minds don't think alike.

Silicon.com's Agenda Setters 2000 has thrown up an interesting and eclectic mix of movers and shakers. It's a list that will provoke criticism and praise, agreement and vehement disagreement in equal measure. We wouldn't want it any other way.

Even the nature of what makes an Agenda Setter is open for fierce debate. Does, for example, the power of a company define status or is it the individual who imposes his or her will on the company or community in question? If there is any consensus among our panel of seven, it is a belief in the latter. Consider the omission of Sir Peter Bonfield, chief executive of BT.

Despite the perils inherent in such a list, our panel has produced a Top 50 worthy of debate, a mix of 'pure' industry leaders, of media moguls, politicians and entrepreneurs. And, crucially, a list of men and women whose effect on the European landscape (regardless of their origin) will be enormous.

Our number one epitomises the impact indigenous European players are now having on a high-tech market once dominated by North America. Chris Gent's Vodafone manages to tick all the hot buttons of the moment - mobile, WAP, m-commerce and Internet on the move to name but four. This alone, however, does not propel him to number one.

Combine his company's zeitgeist with Gent's own ability to see beyond the four walls of a mobile operator and you have a true Agenda Setter.

Size matters little in the digital economy, and Gent is not afraid to speak to, rival and acquire larger and more established players. He is in short the Bernie Ebbers (25) of Europe.

Steve Case (2) and Rupert Murdoch (3) come next, the convergence of content, community and commerce giving the two a common bond. Case has done it by melding his own AOL with Time Warner; Murdoch will follow suit sooner rather than later.

Michael Dell (5) and Jeff Bezos (6) have more than a little in common too. Forget what they sell, just consider how they have forced those around them to reassess the way they go to market. The PC and the book-selling industries have changed forever as a result.

Just behind Bezos is an 'old time' industry player, John Chambers (7). Like Scott McNealy's (16) Sun, it's his company's kit that is making the Internet tick. Cisco is the Intel of the Internet Age.

Finally, let's spare a thought for those who didn't make the Top 50.

Joining Sir Peter in the 'not so close and definitely no cigar category' were Charles Wang of Computer Associates and Dick Brown of EDS. And next year? Expect the likes of Dr Thomas Middelhoff, chief executive of Bertlesmann, and World Online's Nina Brink to join the list. And expect a few more surprises.

Agenda Setters 2000 are the top 50 business leaders and technologists from the computer software and hardware industries, fixed and mobile communications, and dot-com successes, as well as the world leaders, financial heavyweights and entrepreneurs who all wield power and influence.

See http://www.silicon.com/agendasetters2000 for all the Agenda Setter 2000 results.