Vanity Fair released its “2015 New Establishment List,” and Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has snagged the top spot — and the cover of the magazine that is usually reserved for the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
The October issue put Zuckerberg at the top of its annual ranking of media and business elite. The editors point out that, at 31, he is the youngest person to make the cover for this issue.
“Zuckerberg has struck deals with The New York Times and BuzzFeed to publish articles directly into users’ pages. He’s reportedly negotiating with record labels and content providers to secure rights to music videos and scripted shows. And, if he has his way, virtual reality may someday soon connect every person in the world,” Vanity Fair writes.
Other notable techies to make the “Disrupters” list include Uber’s Travis Kalanick at No. 2, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos at No. 3, Apple’s Tim Cook and Jonathan Ive at No. 4, Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page at No. 5, and everyone’s favorite Silicon Valley cowboy Tesla/SpaceX’s Elon Musk at No. 6.
Bezos moves up one spot because “Amazon has become more valuable than even Walmart. And Bezos continues to be a force in entertainment. Amazon recently signed deals with both Woody Allen and the Top Gear team,” writes Vanity Fair.
One significant drop? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, from No. 11 to No. 22, despite accomplishments Vanity Fair lists like releasing the latest Windows version for free, showing off the VR headset the “HoloLens” and buying Minecraft.
The only female in Big Tech Land to make the top 10 was Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg at No. 9, although No. 10 is Elizabeth Holmes, 31, founder of Theranos, for starting a company that offers cheap, fast blood testing.
The full profile on Zuckerberg focuses on his investment in Oculus Rift and bringing virtual reality to the masses.
“What comes after the smartphone? Zuckerberg believed that the answer was headsets that provide ‘immersive 3-D experiences’—movies and television, naturally, but also games, lectures, and business meetings,” the Vanity Fair profile writes.
“These headsets would eventually scan our brains, then transmit our thoughts to our friends the way we share baby pictures on Facebook today.”
“Eventually I think we’re going to have technology where we can communicate our full sensory experience and emotions to someone through thought,” Zuckerberg told Vanity Fair.
Like that idea of transmitting mental minutiae to your pals and having it come right back at ya? While Facebook might imagine grandiose conversations about art, science and the meaning of life, I have a feeling most conversations will be along the lines of, “Dude, where’s my car?”
The digital issue is out Sept. 10, with the print issue hitting stands Sept. 15.
