FT Person of the Year
2017
Susan Fowler
Software engineer, formerly at Uber
In February, Susan Fowler published a blog post about her time at Uber that lifted the lid on a company out of control, and describing the sexual harassment she experienced. The post quickly went viral, leading eventually to an avalanche of allegations about sexual harassment and assault that have brought down some of the most important men in business, and which hold the potential to permanently improve the way women are treated at work.
2016
Donald Trump
President-elect of the United States
Donald Trump did not upend US democracy on November 8, 2016. It has been dysfunctional for years. It is no coincidence that Mr Trump’s victory took place in the same year as Brexit, the No vote in the Italian referendum and other populist eruptions across the western world.
2015
Angela Merkel
German Chancellor
The cautious, “step-by-step” Chancellor who has led Germany for a decade has gone, replaced by a politician with bold convictions and the political capital to pursue them
2014
Tim Cook
CEO of Apple
The Apple chief has faced criticism of his early stewardship of the company, but in 2014 he stamped his identity on the business, which saw its valuation reach as much as $700bn
2013
Jack Ma
CEO of Alibaba
The billionaire determined to transform his country, even if it means stepping down as Alibaba’s chief executive to devote himself to tackling some of China’s biggest problems – in particular its looming environmental disaster
2012
Mario Draghi
ECB President
The Italian willing to do “whatever it takes” to save the Euro has managed to defend the currency union for now
2011
Mohamed Bouazizi
Representative of the Arab youth.
The Arab youth have defied cliches and clampdowns to fracture an adamantine order. The street vendor whose self-immolation initiated the Arab Spring was their most visible symbol
2010
Steve Jobs
Co-founder and CEO of Apple
With the iPad following the success of the iPod and iPhone, the Silicon Valley visionary's dream of small screens was putting Apple back on top
2009
Lloyd Blankfein
CEO of Goldman Sachs
By the end of 2009 the Goldman Sachs chief executive had navigated the global financial crisis better than others on Wall Street and was set to make record profits
2008
Barack Obama
President-elect of the US
The historic election of the first African-American president defied sceptics, inspired a nation and revived confidence in the power of US democracy
2007
Jean-Claude Trichet
ECB President
The European Central Bank president steered a confident path through the choppy waters of 2007's credit crisis
2006
Lakshmi Mittal
CEO of Arcelor Mittal
The Indian steel entrepreneur enjoyed a challenge, from skiing uphill to building the world's largest steel group in a series of daring raids
2005
Sergey Brin & Larry Page
Founders of Google
The single-minded technologists who founded the business of a generation
2004
Eliot Spitzer
New York Attorney-General
The New York state attorney-general took on big business and Democrats smelled a winner as he began wooing voters
2003
Jeffrey Immelt
CEO of General Electric
The friendly face of American capitalism in a cynical and dangerous era was no showbiz CEO but led by example with his remodelling of General Electric
2002
George W Bush
43rd President of the US
The American president defied sceptics by gaining a rare degree of dominance in domestic politics while persuading other nations to support his war on terrorism and the US campaign against Saddam Hussein
2001
Howard Lutnick
CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners
The chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald used to be more respected than liked but September 11, which devastated his bond broking firm, gave him a higher motive to make money
2000
Craig Venter
Biochemist and enterpreneur
The pivotal figure in the decoding of the human genome was a Californian with an unwavering determination to achieve his scientific goals
1999
John von Neumann
Polymath and inventor
With contributions to mathematics, the atom bomb and the computer, the FT Person of the Century encompassed the intellectual brilliance and human savagery that defined our times
1998
Alan Greenspan
Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1987-2006)
The Federal Reserve chairman acted as the guardian angel of the financial markets and so preserved the American boom
1997
Tony Blair
Prime Minister of the UK (1997-2007)
The New Labour prime minister started to change Britain substantially in his first year in office
1996
Rupert Murdoch
Founder and CEO of News Corp
At 65, an age when most business executives reach retirement, the media mogul laid the foundations for a global digital broadcasting business, becoming the biggest owner of television stations in the US and launching Fox News
1994
Bill Gates
Co-founder and CEO of Microsoft
As Microsoft became the world's largest software publisher, Mr Gates' every pronouncement was scrutinised by the computer industry and analysed by investors
1993
Edouard Balladur
Prime Minister of France (1993-1995)
Calm in the face of record unemployment, he steered France towards the euro and was the most popular politician in the west
1992
Deng Xiaoping
Leader of the People's Republic of China
Though a politician without any formal position, the force of his character was driving China towards the free market
1991
James Baker
Secretary of State of the US (1989-1992)
During the greatest political upheavel since the Bolshevik revolution, the US Secreatry of State was a force for stability around the world
1990
Helmut Kohl
German Chancellor (1982-1998)
The architect of reunification led his people from an unbloody revolution to a new Germany
1989
Mikhail Gorbachev
(Man of the Decade) Leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)
His thinking earned him much of the credit for the end of the Cold War
1988
Henry Kravis & George Roberts
Founders of KKR
The two men who virtually invented the the leveraged buyout took the art of borrowing to new heights
1987
Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister of the UK (1979-1990)
The FT's first Woman of the Year was the prime minister who kept winning against all odds
1986
Yasuhiro Nakasone
Prime Minister of Japan (1982-1987)
He legally and quietly accomplished reforms that had previously been considered impossible in Japan
1985
Mikhail Gorbachev
Leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)
A new type of Soviet leader emerged to end years of leadership crises in the Kremlin
1984
Albert Hall
(representative of) the Army of Unemployed
As joblessness stalked the UK and most of the western world, an unemployed musician vows “not to let the bastards get you down”
1983
John Opel
CEO of IBM (1981-1985)
“Beliefs are imperatives” said the chief who led computer giant's remarkable bounce-back
1982
George Shultz
Secretary of State of the US (1982-1989)
Political leader who reversed the disintegration of the western alliance
1981
Francois Mitterrand
French President (1981-1995)
The perpetual loser triumphed as the country's first directly elected Socialist leader
1980
Lech Walesa
Leader of the Solidarnosc movement
Then a 37-year-old unemployed electrician, Mr Walesa had already become the globally-recognised face of Poland's revolt against a corrupt and incompetent system
1978
Deng Xiaoping
Senior Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China
After a year of rapidly growing diplomatic contacts and foreign tours, his intervention in the last days of talks on the normalisation of relations with the United States finally achieved the historic agreement to exchange ambassadors
1977
Anwar Sadat
President of Egypt (1970-1981)
Pursuing peace the Egyptian president was the first Arab leader to visit Israel officially and speak before the Knesset
1976
Jimmy Carter
39th President of the US (1977-1981)
In the course of 1976, the obscure peanut wholesaler and Georgia governor rose to become president of the United States
1975
Helmut Schmidt
German Chancellor (1974-1982)
Helmut Schmidt gained worldwide respect in his first two years as Chancellor of West Germany, particularly for his handling of the recession and high unemployment that he faced when he came to office
1974
Harold Wilson
Prime Minister of the UK (1964-70 and 1974-76)
The FT conceded that the choice would be seen by some as “more than a little eccentric”, but argued that after winning two general elections Harold Wilson “may very well be about the most convincing leader that Western democracy can display at the present time”
1973
King Faisal
King of Saudi Arabia
The austere and inscrutable Saudi monarch was a key figure in the oil crisis, agreeing to use the “oil weapon” and providing aid for Egypt and Syria ahead of the October 1973 Arab–Israeli War
1972
Henry Kissinger
Secretary of State of the US (1973-1977)
The year when the former professor emerged to world-wide eminence in diplomacy by improving US relations with China and the Soviet Union, ended with his reputation in the balance as negotiations began towards a ceasefire in Vietnam
1970
Jean Rey
First President of the European Commission
The organ-playing Belgian was the man British ministers faced across the negotiating table during talks on entry to the European Common Market