THE POWERS THAT BE

THE NEW ESTABLISHMENT

1 TAYLDR SWIFT

MUSICIAN

AGE: 25. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

6 BILLION Number of views on Swift's YouTube page.

ARENA OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Swift isn't merely the world's favorite pop star, putting up sales numbers that are nearly unfathomable in the post-Napster age—she is also using her platform to mate giant companies conform to her will. After pulling her catalogue off Spotify last year, Swift wrote an open letter to Apple asking it to pay artists during the free-trial period of its new music service. She posted the note on Tumblr on a Sunday and the company complied within hours.

2 BOB IGER

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

AGE: 64. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 2)

$2 BILLION The expected box-office gross ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens.

ACCRETIVE BRILLIANCE: Iger is on such a world-beating run that Disney's board lured him away from possible retirement and extended his contract through June 2018. Disney's market value, more than $160 billion, has nearly tripled over the past hve years, thanks in large part to his acquisitions of Pixar (in 2006), Marvel (in 2009), and Lucashlm (in 2012). The Pixar and Marvel deals, in particular, continued to bear fruit in 2015. Another Avengers movie topped $1 billion, and the Lucas deal may turn out to be even bigger after the first of three Star Wars films opens, in December. CORD-CUTTING CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON? Subscriptions to ESPN, long a crown jewel of the portfolio, dropped in its most recent quarter—an omen for the dawn of the cord-cutting era. The drop prompted a sell-off of not only Disney stock but also those of other media companies.

3 THE MURDOCHS

JAMES, RUPERT & LACHLAN MURDOCH

21ST CENTURY FOX, NEWS CORP.

AGES: 42,84,44. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 1)

24 MILLION Viewers for the G.O.P. primary debate, in August, broadcast on Fox News.

STAGE OF SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA: In June, Rupert anointed his younger son, James, as the next C.E.O. of 21 st Century Fox; he also made his elder, once exiled son, Lachlan, the executive co-chairman—alongside himself—of the film-andtelevision company as well as News Coip. (Lachlan was already co-chairman of News Corp.) The power-sharing arrangement could lead to a sibling feud, but in the brothers' first earnings call, Lachlan declared otherwise: "It's a true 50-50 partnership," he said.

4 BRIAN ROBERTS & STEVE BURKE

COMCAST

AGES: 57, 56. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 3)

$5.5 BILLION Threshold crossed in global box-office receipts for Universal this year—an industry record.

OH, NBC: At first, it looked like a disastrous year for Comcast. Brian Williams's suspension threatened to crater its evening news division; the affable C.E.O. Roberts was thwarted in his company's attempted $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable. SILVER-LINING ALERT! Remarkably, however, NBC Nightly News has returned to No. 1 while helmed by Lester Holt, and Today is now neck and neck with G.M.A. Under the leadership of Burke, Universal has also had an unprecedented year. Run by Jeff Shell and Ron Meyer, it now leads studios in box-office receipts. Jurassic World has earned more than $1.5 billion worldwide; Minions netted more than $875 million; Traimweck earned raves and crossed $100 million.

5 RICHARD PLEPLER

HBO

AGE: 56. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 17)

$1 BILLION Amount that analysts expect the network to spend on programming in 2015.

STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: "There is nothing errant or scary or left to chance," says a rival executive about HBO's chief. Plepler, who sports an Agnelli-like tan year-round, and runs the same stretch of the East River every night, has grown HBO to its highest subscription rate in history, with nearly 120 million paying customers. In an embrace of millennial cord cutters, he recently launched the streaming service HBO Now, which quickly became one of the top-grossing items in Apple's U.S. App Store. And despite competition from Silicon Valley, HBO still has a lock on original programming with a record 126 Emmy nominations— including a few for Silicon Valley.LATEST COUPS: After Plepler won the Bill Simmons sweepstakes, he worked out a deal to broadcast the next five seasons of Sesame Street on HBO and its streaming platform.

6 LEBRON JAMES

ATHLETE

AGE: 30. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

$215 MILLION The estimated economic boost to the Cleveland area provided by James's return to the Cavaliers, according to Bloomberg.

KINGDOM COMEBACK: Star athletes generally sign long-term contracts to secure future earnings. But James, who enjoyed a well-received supporting role in Traimweck and recently stalled a production deal with Warner Bros., is so bankable that he is expected to buck the trend by signing contracts that allow him to opt out every year as the N.B.A. salary cap increases.

7 J. J. ABRAMS

FILMMAKER

AGE: 49. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 24)

$467 MILLION Worldwide box office forInto Darkness, Abrams's most recentStar Trekfilm.

STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: "Any year in which you tell Harrison Ford what you think Han Solo would do, and then he kindly does it, is about as impossibly surreal a year as you can have," says Abrams. After back-to-back Star Trek successes, Abrams will attempt to please an even more committed geek cohort this Christmas with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Paramount recently extended its first-look agreement with Abrams's production company, Bad Robot, through July 2018.

8 THE FUNNY GUYS

STEPHEN COLBERT, JAMES CORDEN, JIMMY FALLON, JIMMY KIMMEL, BILL MAHER, SETH MEYERS, TREVOR NOAH, CONAN O'BRIEN & LARRY WILMORE (see also p. 248)

COMEDIANS

AGES: 51, 37, 40, 47, 59, 41, 31, 52, 53. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 15)

27 Percentage increase in total viewers forThe Tonight Showsince Fallon took over.

STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: Late-night television is fully transcending the actual living room. Fallon is the current leader, with more than 3.5 million nightly television viewers and more than seven million YouTube subscribers. Kimmel is right behind, with around 2.7 million TV viewers and more than six million YouTube subscribers. The big question is whether Colbert's Late Show, in which he plays himself, will translate to a broader audience, too. UBER OR LYFT: "Uber," says Kimmel. "It's like a limo ride with just a hint of kidnapping."

9 HILLARY CLINTON

POLITICIAN

AGE: 67. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 9)

$2.5 BILLION Amount that Clinton's campaign hopes to raise.

HILLARY VS. HILLARY: Given that her most serious threats for the presidency are currently a self-proclaimed socialist, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, Clinton's biggest obstacle remains herself. After she turned over her server and 55,000 pages of e-mails to the State Department, potential leaks could become increasingly damaging—perhaps inviting that Biden run.

10 LEE DANIELS

DIRECTOR, PRODUCER

AGE: 55. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

16.7 MILLION Average weekly audience forEmpire, this year's top-rated new TV series.

PRIME-TIME PLATINUM:Empire, Daniels's prime-time hip-hop soap ("Black Dynasty," as he puts it), was one of the biggest shows on television during its inaugural season, thanks to an impressive cast and Daniels's eye for character—especially the fabulously fearsome Cookie Lyon, played by Taraji P. Henson. "There is something completely relatable with this badass woman who also has a heart of gold," says Daniels, the acclaimed director ( The Butler, Precious) who recently signed a multi-year deal with 20th Century Fox that allows him to write, direct, and develop new prime-time shows.

11 DAVID ZASLAV

DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

AGE: 55. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 7)

$156 MILLION His 2014 compensation.

MOGUL BURN: "Every device and every wire is really a dumb pipe," says the longtime Discovery boss, referring to possible threats posed by relative TV newcomers such as Netffix and YouTube. "None of those come to life without great content. We have that." The value of Discovery's portfolio—which includes Discovery Channel, TLC, Oprah Winfrey's OWN, and the rights to carry the Olympics through 2024 in Europe—has climbed from about $6 billion in 2007, when Zaslav took over, to around $30 billion today.

12 KANYE WEST & KIN KARDASHIAN

MUSICIAN; REALITY-TV STAR

AGES: 38, 34. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

$28 MILLION Kim Kardashian's estimated 2014 earnings.

STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: The West-Kardashian coupling represents a strong argument in favor of corporate synergy. West gives Kardashian artistic legitimacy, and the reality star and spokesperson offers her acclaimed yet famously difficult rapper husband something bordering on broad appeal. Kardashian's new book, Selfish, earned what seemed like genuine praise—at least in a Warholian way—from some book critics. West is currently recording his next album, under the working title Swish, which reportedly includes collaborations with Paul McCartney and Bruno Mars. It promises to be even more Spotify-friendly than his critically beloved Yeezus.CAN'T STOP THE HUSTLE: Kardashian and West also demonstrated a well-honed alacrity for entering new industries. Kardashian authorized her likeness to an app developer in a deal that could pay her up to $85 million. West, who is moving further into the fashion business, recently released his latest collaboration with Adidas, the Yeezy Boost 350, a limited edition that fetched up to $10,000 on eBay from eager sneakerheads.

13 ROGER GOODELL

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

AGE: 56. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 8)

$105 MILLION Gross compensation during one five-year period as commissioner.

MAN IN THE ARENA: Despite the endless saga of Deflategate, football games sell advertisements like nothing else. This spring, Goodell got Yahoo to pay a reported $20 million for the right to live-stream a 9:30 A.M. E.S.T. game between the lowly Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars, to be played in London.

14 D.B. WEISS & DAVID BENIOFF

GAME OF THRONES

AGES: 44. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

2.2 MILLION Number of times a single episode ofThrones was illegally downloaded in 12 hours during last season.

LATEST SIGN OF INVINCIBILITY: On-screen violence—especially the rape of perpetually tormented Sansa Stark—led to a public outcry. (Senator Claire McCaskiU called for a boycott.) But none of that stopped the most popular show in HBO's history, which has earned 24 Emmy nominations, from breaking its own ratings records and wooing fans to HBO Now. The network has invited creators Benioff and Weiss to make three more seasons—and perhaps even a prequel.

15 MARC BENIOFF

SALESFORCE

AGE: 50. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 23)

$40 MILLION Compensation for fiscal year 2015.

MAKING IT RAIN: Benioff, the billionaire founder of Salesforce, has positioned himself as the tech world's moral conscience. In March, after Indiana's governor signed the anti-gay Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Benioff tweeted that he was pulling all Salesforce business from the state. (The law was subsequently changed, and Salesforce dropped its boycott.) The following month, he announced that Salesforce was reviewing the salaries of its female employees to ensure that they were being fairly compensated. He's been able to push for all the do-gooder stuff, perhaps, because he continues to line his shareholders' pockets. "He's the closest thing the Bay Area has to Mike Bloomberg," says one notable tech investor.

16 MICHAEL RAPINO

LIVE NATION

AGE: 50. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 21)

25 MILLION Total number of tickets sold in 2014.

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: In the Internet Age, concerts arc the main way musicians mate money, and Rapino dominates that business. Live Nation represented more than 2,700 shows last year. He also signed a long-term contract with Yahoo to stream conceits and struck similar deals with Snapchat and Vice. COURTING THE UNWASHED MASSES: During the past year, Live Nation has acquired controlling stakes in Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.

17 LEE JAE-YONG

SAMSUNG

AGE: 47. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 11)

83 MILLION Number of smartphones Samsung reportedly shipped in the first quarter of 2015.

REAL-LIFEGAME OF THRONES: Samsung's longtime dauphin has consolidated power at the family-controlled conglomerate in the wake of the hospitalization of his father, Lee Kun-hee. Samsung, which makes far less money per phone than Apple, could use a little youthful vigor. The company's market share is falling, squeezed by growing demand for Xiaomi's ultraaffordable handsets in China and Apple's ultra-premium ones everywhere else.

18 BRADLEY COOPER

ACTOR

AGE: 40. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

$547 MILLION Worldwide boxoffice gross ofAmerican Sniper.

SECRET AMBITION: While Cooper has been busy on Broadway (The Elephant Man) and on-camera (this month's drama/comedy Burnt, and Joy, in December, which will re-unite him with David O. Russell and Jennifer Lawrence), he's also been building an impressive portfolio as a producer. He and business partner Todd Phillips have a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, and arc serving as executive producers for the CBS thriller Limitless and Syfy's forthcoming Hyperion. (He also pulled off a hysterical turn as a zoot-suit-wearing theaterloving counselor in Netflix's new prequel to Wet Hot American Summer) But insiders speculate that the actor would like to follow the model of his Sniper director, Clint Eastwood, and make his own debut behind the camera with the studio. He's in talks to remake A Star Is Born.

19 REID HOFFMAN & JEFF WEINER

LINKEDIN

AGES: 48, 45. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 16)

380 MILLION Approximate worldwide users.

C-SUITE TURNAROUND: While Hoffman has remained ensconced in his main role as a savvy investor at Greylock Partners, the V.C. firm, Weiner has drawn criticism for a falling stock price. But Linkedln has other tricks up its sleeve, such as its $1.5 billion purchase of online education company Lynda.com. "We have a very clear road map," Weiner told Fortune.WHAT TECHNOLOGY DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE IN FIVE YEARS? "Sensors," says Weiner. "In your clothes, on your wrist, in your car, in your home."

20 LOWELL McADAM

VERIZON

AGE: 61. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

$4.4 BILLION The price Verizon paid to buy AOL.

EMPIRE BUILDING: The longtime telecom executive with a reliable cell-phone network, and a public persona as dynamic as a phone book, seems poised to turn Verizon into an unlikely media giant. His AOL acquisition gives the company control over fast-growing advertising technologies and the Huffington Post. And thanks to a renewed contract, he'll also have the services of its founder, Arianna Huffington. (As The New York Times noted this summer, Huffington rebuffed an attempt to relegate her to a ceremonial role—an effort dubbed "the popemobile.") Meanwhile, McAdam is said to be building a wireless pay-TV service. ** PUBLIC FEUD: McAdam picked a fight with Disney by launching a low-cost version of Verizon's FiOS TV service that left ESPN out of its "skinny bundle" base package. If Verizon prevails in the resulting lawsuit, it could help permanently dent ESPN's power while spelling the end of traditional cable bundles.

21 JAY Z &, BEYONCE

MUSICIANS

AGES: 45, 34. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: 5)

$115 MILLION, $60 MILLION Beyonce's and Jay Z's 2014 earnings, respectively.

HAVING IT ALL? After a year filled with rumors about their marriage, and in which Beyonce earned nearly double her husband's income, Jay Z has struggled of late to pull his share in this dynastic power couple. His would-be Spotify

competitor, Tidal, which he helped purchase for $56 million and then relaunched with Beyonce and a bevy of famous partners, has been beset by turmoil, including two departed C.E.O.'s and a $50 million lawsuit. TOKEN VANITY PROJECT: In February the couple helped introduce 22 Days Nutrition, a vegan-diet meal-delivery service that will compete in the same space as Plated, Hello Fresh, and even the newly minted unicorn Blue Apron.

22 BILL ACKMAN

PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

AGE: 49. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

$20 BILLION Pershing's capital under management.

BIG BOLD MOVE: Last year— and try to stay with us here— Ackman teamed up with Valeant, a highly acquisitive drug company, while also buying stakes in Allergan, the maker of Botox; then Valeant (and Ackman) made a bid for... Allergan, whose shares had since skyrocketed and made a fortune for, yes, Ackman. The best part is that, in the end, even though the deal fell through, Ackman still walked away with around $2.6 billion in profit. More recently, he has turned his scrutiny on Mondelez International, the maker of Oreos and Ritz Crackers. TENNIS, ANYONE? The longtime enthusiast is reportedly planning to build a private court atop his new office on the far West Side of Manhattan.

23 MARGRETHE VESTAGER

E.U. COMPETITION COMMISSIONER

AGE: 47. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

116,000 Number of Twitter followers, an unofficial record for a Danish economics minister.

EVIDENCE OF EUROPEAN SCOURGE-DOM: Vestager, who inspired a character on Borgen, the Nordic West Wing, has taken on a number of corporate giants. None was bigger than Google, against which she leveled formal anti-trust charges in April, for trying to boost its other, less dominant businesses. HOLLYWOOD, YOU'RE UP NEXT: In July, she opened an anti-trust case against six major studios over their exclusive licensing deals with Sky UK.

24 IRVING AZOFF

AZOFF MSG ENTERTAINMENT

AGE: 67. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

$145 MILLION Ticket sales by the Eagles, Azoff's longtime client, during the first year of their current tour.

LATEST DUSTUP: Azoff, who resigned abruptly from Live Nation in 2012, made news in late 2014 when his company threatened to sue YouTube for $1 billion on behalf of his clients—Pharrell Williams and Bruno Mars, among others—unless the online-video giant agrees to directly negotiate with artists for streaming rights. "We've changed the fucking business," he says. "It's about being disruptive in a positive way."

25 MEGYN KELLY

BROADCASTER

AGE: 44. YEAR AHEAD: (PREVIOUS RANK: NEW)

3.1 MILLION Viewers for Kelly's interview with the Duggar family, the fallen reality-TV stars.

STAGE OF RIGHT-WING DISRUPTION: The former litigator scolded Senator Rand Paul for arguing with female reporters and told Dick Cheney he "got it wrong" on Iraq. And many pundits agree that it was Kelly—not the candidates—who won the first G.O.P. primary debate. Donald Trump's subsequent vexation with her tough questions only underscored her success. "If everybody is talking about you, there's something to it," said one rival news executive. Kelly's contract reportedly expires in 2017.

Nick Bilton

Max Chafkin

Sarah Ellison

Peter Kafka

Kevin Roose

Bee Shapiro