Top 10 Business Moguls in Tech

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#10: Michael Dell
Founder, Chairman & CEO of Dell Inc.

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It all started as a small hardware upgrading business in his college dorm room, but Dell’s love for and expertise in the field eventually moved him to broaden its horizons. The result? One of the largest multi-billion dollar computer companies in the world. After successfully removing his company from public trading in the midst of the great recession, Dell has helped his company continue to flourish as one of the more profitable and recognizable brands in its market, looking towards the future with new ventures in cloud computing.

Without this guy, we’d still be draining our gas tanks on our weekly rushes to the video-rental store. This burden became a thing of the past when Hastings co-founded Netflix. Pioneering the DVD-by-mail rental format, the company quickly dominated competition through its emphasis on quick deliveries and no late-fees. It has since expanded to Blu-ray rentals, original programming, and online streaming, which more than tripled its amount of subscribers between 2009 and 2012. This man single-handedly changed the way people consume content, and probably pioneered the binge-watching phenomenon.

Computers as a common household item would still be a fantasy were it not for the leadership and inventive efforts of our #8 pick. Although not one of the company’s official founders, Grove was present and active from day one of Intel’s incorporation in 1968, playing a crucial role in the company’s development of the earliest semiconductors. Working up the ranks, he was eventually given the titles of President, Chairman and CEO, and in 1997 was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year for his contributions to the development of the microchip.

You don’t get to be one of the world’s youngest self-made billionaires without having over a billion users supporting your venture. Founded in 2004, Zuckerberg’s social network swiftly evolved into one of the web’s most popular sites, overwhelming adept rivals such as Friendster and MySpace. Despite setbacks in the form of lawsuits and an iffy IPO, Zuckerberg’s direction and determination has kept his company on high speed, reaching a peak in its market value after going public in 2012. Here’s one guy who knows how to turn users into cash.

After graduating with degrees in both economics and physics, the South Africa-born Musk opted to utilize his entrepreneurial and scientific background to reach for the stars – literally. His boldness paid off when his space-travel company, SpaceX, made history as the first commercial company to launch and dock a vehicle with the International Space Station. In addition, he used his earnings to invest in tech companies like PayPal. With his other company, Tesla Motors, increasing in popularity, Musk is an accelerating force worthy of notice on the information-superhighway.

What originally began as a research project by two PhD students grew to be the most utilized, reliable, and simple-in-design search engine we all know and love. After inventing the PageRank algorithm to change the way search results were ranked, the pair also helped build a company culture at Google that is consistently categorized among the best. With Page at the helm as CEO, Google has achieved legendary status in the technological world with its expansions to other industries like mobile-cellular devices and the buyout of other popular sites like Blogger and, of course, YouTube.

While his company is something of an obscure name to the masses, Ellison’s Oracle Corporation has stood as a majestic force in the fields of computer technology and software-development since its 1977 founding. Maintaining an emphasis and reputation for business innovation, the company’s resource-planning and customer-management products are heavily relied on by countless thousands of tech-based, industrial, and even small businesses around the globe. In fact, Oracle comes in just behind Microsoft as the second most profitable software developer. And that’s partly because Ellison is as driven as he is outspoken.

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#3: Jeff Bezos
Founder, Chairman & CEO of Amazon.com

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Amazon’s founder and Chief-Executive-Officer is considered a crucial individual responsible for the explosion of e-commerce – and with good reason. When Bezos initially founded Amazon in 1994, it was a small online bookstore with fluctuating profit margins. But Bezos knew diversification was key, and so today, it’s the world’s largest online retailer that sells just about everything. The company has further expanded to the manufacturing and selling of its own consumer electronics, most notably: the Kindle Fire tablet and the Fire-Phone, and set the standard for selling stuff on the internet.

We all know the company and its innovative founder. The daring prospect that is Microsoft would not have come to fruition were it not for the relentlessness and creativity of our #2 pick. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, partnered with IBM in 1980, and changed the way people use computers every step of the way. While Gates has since stepped down as CEO, he remains on-board as Microsoft’s leading tech-adviser. But when you’re one of the richest men in the world, there’s no real need for a high-executive position, is there?

Before we unveil our top technological tycoon, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Masayoshi Son
Founder & CEO of SoftBank
- Jack Ma
Founder, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group
- Reid Hoffman
Co-founder of LinkedIn; VC Partner at Greylock
- Marc Andreessen
Co-author of Mosaic; Co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation
- Jack Dorsey
Co-founder & Co-creator of Twitter

After forming Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976, Jobs is credited with spurring the personal computer revolution. He later paved the way for a revolution in consumer electronics, as well, through such breakthrough inventions as, well, just about everything that starts with a lowercase “i”. Also co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, Jobs and his companies continue to inspire the wild minds of artists who’re willing to “think different.” Here’s to the one who was crazy enough to think he could change the world and actually did. And, while he passed away in 2011, his legacy remains as strong as ever.

Do you agree with our list? Which Tech Mogul do you find to be the most influential? For more innovative top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.