The 10 Most Creative People In Business: Fast Company

On Tuesday, Fast Company celebrated the most creative people in business by again identifying the world's most innovative minds in "The 100 Most Creative People In Business." (You can see last year's rankings, too.)

Maybe not surprisingly, nearly every person in Fast Company's top 10 is involved in work that is tech- and Internet-related. Taking advantage of the Internet's infinite possibilities has brought recognition to education innovator Sal Khan, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and even our very own Arianna Huffington. There are those, however, who have found ways to create outside of the world wide web, too, as the list also features fashion designer Guo Pei and 30 Rock's Tina Fey, among others.

Here are 2011's top ten most creative people in business according to Fast Company:

1 of 10

10. Arianna Huffington - Huffington Post Media Group

1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

When Arianna Huffington is looking for inspiration, she goes to sleep. "There are many, many great ideas locked inside of us," she says. "We just need to close our eyes to see them." So there are three nap rooms in the offices of the Huffington Post Media Group, the mashup created after AOL acquired HuffPo for $315 million in February. Huffington is in charge of everything editorial, including nearly 1,300 staffers who write and report (and nap) for AOL's ailing but resource-rich sites. One of those resources is, of course, Huffington herself -- and her network of A-listers, from Twitter cofounder Biz Stone, advising HPMG on "social impact," to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, whose partnering with AOL's localnews site, Patch, has raised an eyebrow or two. This has all the makings of a good story, and that may be just the thing for Huffington, who believes in "the power of using narrative to connect with people." -- Fast Company For the full list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business visit Fast Company.

Hospital Debt Collection A Symptom Of A Sick Health Care System

Las Cruces, New Mexico, Threatens To Shut Off Public Utilities Unless Residents Pay Traffic Fines

States Where Incomes Are Rising The Fastest: BEA

Foreclosed Homes Destroyed By Previous Owners (VIDEO)

Health Care Access Worsened For Americans Since 2000: Report

Foreclosure Vandals Threaten Prospective Homeowners: 'Only Going To Get Worse'

When Arianna Huffington is looking for inspiration, she goes to sleep. "There are many, many great ideas locked inside of us," she says. "We just need to close our eyes to see them." So there are three nap rooms in the offices of the Huffington Post Media Group, the mashup created after AOL acquired HuffPo for $315 million in February. Huffington is in charge of everything editorial, including nearly 1,300 staffers who write and report (and nap) for AOL's ailing but resource-rich sites. One of those resources is, of course, Huffington herself -- and her network of A-listers, from Twitter cofounder Biz Stone, advising HPMG on "social impact," to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, whose partnering with AOL's localnews site, Patch, has raised an eyebrow or two. This has all the makings of a good story, and that may be just the thing for Huffington, who believes in "the power of using narrative to connect with people."

-- Fast Company

For the full list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business visit Fast Company.

comments(68)

Total comments: 68 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Current Top 5 Slides

loading...

Choose your Top 5 Slides

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[Masonx]

10:59 AM on 06/14/2011

From the owner of an enterprize that gained wealth and power from her personal relationships "(she just goes to bed for her creativity" - what a Freudian slip) primarily benefits from claiming, compiling and re-posting other peoples work an creativity - it isn't a surprize that they are clueless to the definition of real creativity. (Check out her Wikipedia ref - and her conservative Republican past.)

[bpd9227]

10:10 PM on 05/24/2011

So capitalism IS king! For you too, Arianna.

[Joshua Da Costa]

08:02 AM on 05/21/2011

Speachless so darn speachless
but obiviously the owner of the huffinton post was gonna be there, she probably would have fired the person for making this list without including her
LOL
Follow me on twitter @JoshDaCosta

[BarryWolk]

05:01 PM on 05/20/2011

WTF? What an absurd list!

So, are you saying that Conan O'Brien is one of the 10 most creative people in the business world?!? Has he demonstrated ANY business skills? And since he is the only 'entertainment' figure in this top 10, he is the most creative person in show business?

Who makes this stuff up? Is this a joke that I'm not getting?

[Brandon D Williams]

03:03 PM on 05/20/2011

This is more like a list of your favorite people, not a list of the most creative people.

[cljvedelman]

08:11 AM on 05/20/2011

This list is a joke. Right ?

[zteach]

02:27 AM on 05/20/2011

conan????? yuck! my middle schoolers do as well. egotism is not a talent

[Lena Elizabeth]

01:44 AM on 05/20/2011

I love the diversity of this list.

[MMMMarilyn]

12:12 AM on 05/20/2011

Arianna Huffington #1
Couldda bowled me over with a feather.

[Andrew Jara]

11:45 PM on 06/15/2011

she was #10. but i think there's something wrong with her being on it in general

[Abraxas Discala]

05:02 PM on 05/19/2011

All of the people mentioned in this article have an entrepreneurial spirit, married with the ability to identify, secure and leverage the resources required to get a great idea to market. They built networks of supporters – capital, creative, technological, ideological – that enabled them to effectively engage in the war for talent and innovation. All the while, they were dogged in the pursuit of their vision.
Leadership and perseverance are among the most critical components required to effectively create and leverage the ecosystems forged by these innovators. Add the ability to seize luck to the equation and you have a picture of these powerful people’s lives.

[olitenup]

03:19 PM on 05/19/2011

They left out Alan Klapmeier, out of the general aviation industry.

[boomcat44]

02:06 PM on 05/19/2011

Conan?
Is this some kind of joke?

[CPNASH]

04:44 PM on 05/19/2011

i think the whole article is meant to be a joke...it's just not funny.

[wilray]

01:53 PM on 05/19/2011

The most creative person in business is Sarah Palin. She's managed to dupe millions out of their money.

[Red Ohio]

03:10 PM on 05/19/2011

Let's not forget our billion dollar president.

[bluereality909]

01:38 PM on 05/19/2011

Yeah right, she married into billions and has nothing to do with being innovative in the least bit. She has "MONEY" and all the influence it buys !!

"While in the United States, Arianna met Texas oil billionaire Michael Huffington and married him in 1986. She helped Huffington win office as a Republican congressman in Santa Barbara, California. In 1994, Michael Huffington lost the race for the US Senate seat to Dianne Feinstein. She was widely thought to have been the instigator of his unsuccessful campaign in which he spent a record-breaking US$30 million of his personal fortune"

[nornoralee]

04:44 PM on 05/19/2011

Thanks, you just connected the dots. I never bought that "she came from nothing" story.
Now, it makes sense. It's a familiar story and the more power to a woman who marries well.
I just don't like HER.

[bluereality909]

04:50 PM on 05/19/2011

Noone likes her, she has failed in every election she tried to buy... her ex-husband and hers. She was a mediocre writer turned billionaairess, uses her money as influence.

[BlacknProud310]

05:11 PM on 05/19/2011

In 1998, after having divorced Arianna, ex-Congressman Michael Huffington finally revealed to Esquire that he was in fact bisexual. this despite having told himself 18 years prior: "I am straight, I will get married. I will have children. I will never sleep with another man again."

When Arianna ran for California governor during the 2003 recall election, Michael instead endorsed Arnold Schwarzenegger, who he described as "a charismatic leader."

[bpd9227]

10:08 PM on 05/24/2011

I'm Whitenproud. Nice to meet you.

[Joe Friday]

01:08 PM on 05/19/2011

Arianna (x-Con) has the business sense and individual drive to be a "stellar" example of talking like a Lib but acting like a conservative, leading to success. Politically we should tag her as a DINO but in business she is a role model of Capitalism. Congratulations Arianna!

[bluereality909]

01:39 PM on 05/19/2011

You are so misled !!!

"While in the United States, Arianna met Texas oil billionaire Michael Huffington and married him in 1986. She helped Huffington win office as a Republican congressman in Santa Barbara, California. In 1994, Michael Huffington lost the race for the US Senate seat to Dianne Feinstein. She was widely thought to have been the instigator of his unsuccessful campaign in which he spent a record-breaking US$30 million of his personal fortune"

[Joe Friday]

02:20 PM on 05/19/2011

REDDOG .... She has $315,000,000.00! What's your bank balance?

[nornoralee]

04:52 PM on 05/19/2011

Don't you love all the Progressives like Arianna and Michael Moore who benefit from the "Free Market" Capitalist System then get religion. I don't see them giving "their" money in additional taxes to the gov't....above and beyond what they are taxed. Just like I don't see the Rappers, worth 100s of millions of $$, give to their brothers and sisters in Africa who are starving and dying. Gosh, I love the Liberal Left. They are so generous with OUR money but not theirs.

[bluereality909]

05:06 PM on 05/19/2011

What would you expect from Hypocrits? They spend their money and time trying to convince you otherwise, but the facts always seem to speak louder.