2017 – 5 Most Influential People of the Year

It’s been quite a year, with Bitcoin coming close to $20,000 and the U.S equity markets seeing record runs, with the Dow knocking on the heels of 25,000 and then there is Trump’s tax reforms, the end of ISIS and the ongoing investigations into the U.S election campaign that seems to have gotten ever closer to the U.S President himself.

Picking the most influential people of the year is certainly not an easy task with so much having been achieved throughout the year, so it would be without surprise that such lists differ greatly from one to the next.

The top 5 selected are not made up of those without market influence or get on with their work out of the spotlight. Impact on the financial markets and the future have been key considerations in making the selection.

Donald Trump

Like him or loathe him, the U.S President has spent more time in the public eye, influencing the markets and the Dollar by a greater extent than any President since Ronald Regan’s capitalism drive of the 80s. Granted that much of the credit to the U.S economic recovery should be attributed to Yellen and the team, but the record runs have come on Trump’s watch and expectations of growth policies have been a key driver. Some may even continue to choose him purely in acknowledging that the U.S was spared from a Hillary Clinton presidency. While failing on repealing the Obama Healthcare Bill, he’s delivered on the tax reform promise and that’s not a bad achievement considering how badly the Obamacare repeal bill went.

Jeff Bezos

Amazon Inc.’s CEO and owner of the Washington Post is certainly not one to shy from the public eye. Amazon’s rise has been an impressive one and even with the stock’s current $1,174.76 value, Bezos’s ambitions for the company make the stock one of the must-haves in any portfolio. His selection is based on influence and the markets certainly acknowledged his influence this year when stocks considered being adversely impacted by Amazon’s ascendancy led to a combined $30bn in the loss in value on the same day as Bezos announced that he wants Amazon to become the world’s largest retailer.

Tim Cook

The CEO of Apple Inc. had some big shoes to fill in the passing of Steve Jobs and many had written off, not only Tim Cook but also Apple Inc. on the expectation that its innovative advantages would be lost along with Jobs. It’s been quite an extraordinary year for Apple and when considering the fact that Apple’s market cap has risen from just under $350bn to its current $898.56bn (as at 21.12.17) under CEO Tim Cook, that’s quite a rise and has taken Apple to the top of the list by market cap as it looks to knock on the $1tn door. The iMacs and iPhones of today could well become the iBots and iCars of tomorrow and Tim Cook looks to have preserved Steve Jobs’s vision for the company.

Robert Mueller

Whether the U.S President can make it into next year’s top 5 remains to be soon. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has continued to lead an investigation that has edged ever closer to the Oval Office door. We’ve seen Mueller catch Trump’s son-in-law Kushner and of course, there’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn to consider, with Flynn’s willingness to testify against the U.S President coming from Mueller’s relentless search for the truth. Like others on the list, Mueller’s doggedness and findings throughout the year have shaken the markets and he’s closing in on the biggest apple on the tree.

Elon Musk

South African born, Musk is far from home, running Tesla Inc. with an electric car vision that has taken the car industry by storm. Tesla Inc. may not be the biggest car manufacturer, but its innovation and progress in the electric vehicle space have caused the Fords and GMs of this world to stand up and take notice. The threat of a Tesla Inc. world alone has led to the speed up of electric car development programs across the world’s largest car manufacturers. Such an influence alone is worthy of making the list. Some even suggest that he may be Satoshi Nakamoto…