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F E A T U R E

The 10 Most Important People of the Decade

October 2, 2000
By Art Wittmann

People

There's something about the computing industry that lends itself to incredible achievements by individuals. Yet there is no mold for the movers and shakers in this market.

Take, for example, the top three picks on our "Most Influential People of the Decade" list and how they made their marks on the industry. They came from different fields, were motivated by different factors and were supported by different communities. Yet despite the wildly varied genesis of their ideas, each has had a profound effect on the way we build networks and carry out business. Even as our industry matures, individuals with vision will continue to rock its foundation. As you read the following profiles of the 10 people we consider the crème de la crème, try to imagine who will be the next individual to lead our industry in a totally new and unimagined direction.

Here is our list:

# 1: Tim Berners-Lee

# 2: Bill Gates

# 3: Linus Torvalds

# 4: Jim Clark

# 5: Larry Ellison

# 6: Lou Gerstner

# 7: Steve Jobs

# 8: Elias Levy

# 9: Rep. Rick Boucher

# 10: Vinod Khosla