The Year’s Most Fascinating People.
Barbara Walters has long had a corner on that list and since “fascinating” means enthralling, captivating, spellbinding and gripping, it’s best to use another adjective to describe those men and women who have done something remarkable in the staid world of business in 2013. So forget the fascinating, here are the most interesting business figures of the year:
Mary Barra: Forget Sheryl Sanberg and Marissa Mayer. The most interesting woman in business in 2013 is the one who will take the helm of General Motors early next year. Barra is cut from a cloth almost entirely different from that of any other Fortune 500 CEO. Having started as a factory intern 33 years ago, Barra is a GM lifer and one steeped in the company’s storied roots. With Barra’s modest ego and years of factory experience, her ascension was applauded by most on the GE message boards. She’ll be one to watch in 2014. Let’s hope she can avoid the curse of the Vogue fashion shoot!
Tony Fadell: One of the fathers of the iPod is now taking over the home. Two years ago, Fadell came up with the hottest thing in thermostats in a generation. His Nest Learning Thermostat isn’t only chic, it learns your living patterns over time so it can adjust your heating and cooling patterns accordingly.
Individual investors: Tens of millions strong, these hardworking, hard-saving Americans barreled back into the stock market this year and got remarkable returns. While many of the marquee hedge-fund names were struggling to lock in double-digit returns, those who quietly invested in an S&P index fund this year saw their returns go up a remarkable 29 percent.
Anonymous: The most interesting businessperson of 2013 may just be “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonym of the developer of bitcoin, the open person-to-person payment record and digital currency.
Ostensibly a libertarian’s dream, the virtual currency has taken hits from many quarters in recent months. After rising to what many called bubble-like status in November, when it traded at a record $1,100, last week it fell to $558 after the Chinese government tried to clamp down on its use.