Three Indians among world's '100 greatest living business minds'

Ratan Tata
Image: Mexy Xavier
 
Three Indian entrepreneurial legends, Ratan Tata, Lakshmi Mittal and Vinod Khosla have been included in Forbes’s special list of the world’s ‘100 Greatest Living Business Minds ’.

As part of Forbes’s 100th anniversary celebrations, the magazine unveiled on Tuesday its special centennial issue, which highlights essays, lessons and ideas for the next 100 years from the world’s greatest living thinkers from the world of business.

In developing the list, Forbes sought people who have either created something with a lasting impact on the world or innovated in a way that transcends their given field.

“The list speaks to a century of entrepreneurial capitalism compiling the doers who have created, disrupted and innovated on a collectively historic scale. All honorees were required to actively participate in the project – all essays are original, capturing wisdom from the list-makers themselves, “Forbes said its statement.

Sharing his wisdom as part of the special issue, Ratan Tata, former Chairman of the iconic Tata Group conglomerate—which owns brands including Land Rover, Taj Hotels, and Tetley Teas— said “Be passionate in areas relevant to you, and be a voice that is respected and abreast of developments.”

Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of Arcelormittal, the largest steelmaker on Earth, shared these insights: "Every industry today has to fight complacency, prepare to see the disruption coming and then be flexible enough to adapt swiftly.”

Commenting on ‘reputation’, venture capitalist and the former CEO of Sun Microsystems Vinod Khosla, said: “I explicitly don't build or guard my reputation. I believe in telling it like it is and not worrying about it.”

Some of the other notable honourees featured on the world’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds list include: Giorgio Armani, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Bono, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jack Dorsey, Bill Gates, Paul McCartney, Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk, Miuccia Prada, Shonda Rhimes, Sheryl Sandberg, Carlos Slim, Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, Jack Welch, Mark Zuckerberg.

Forbes magazine was founded 100 years ago on September 17, 1917 by B.C. Forbes, a financial journalist, and his partner Walter Drey, who was then GM of the Magazine of Wall Street. As B.C Forbes put it, the reason he started Forbes magazine was to promote humaneness in business. “Business was originated to produce happiness, not to pile up millions,” he said.

Click here to view the full list of the world’s ‘100 Greatest Living Business Minds’