Since 1994, Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list has identified the people who have defined the moment—from the Information Age to the dot-com bubble, the financial crisis to the social media tidal wave. But never in the list’s history have the stakes of individual influence felt so high. Today, a founder’s moral code can embed itself in world-defining AI systems, an influencer can command an army of acolytes, and a financier can create a sprawling hydra of investments that infiltrates every aspect of modern life. Where we once found ourselves honoring innovators, we now confront overlords.
Which leaves us to answer the question: What does it mean to wield power in this strange, at times terrifying, new world?
We set some ground rules: We would not present an idealized version of the world as we’d like to see it but rather document reality as it is. No heads of state—except the Pope, not because of his Vatican sovereignty but because of his humanist influence—and no foreign actors whose influence can’t be felt acutely here in the United States. It would not be a ranking of net worth or follower count but a measure of hard power. The list would be subjective, eclectic, and discretionary. After all, it wouldn’t be, hasn’t been, written by a chatbot.
As such, this year’s entrants hail from across industries and disciplines, from Silicon Valley to DC. The most powerful people here are also some of the most controversial, who promise to conjure both boundless wealth and economic upheaval.
No matter your point of view, this list should inspire complicated feelings. From certain angles, it may spark optimism; from others, trepidation and perhaps even horror. Well, such are the times in which we live. Meet the new New Establishment. —Julia Black
Read more about the New Establishment in Mark Guiducci’s editor’s letter.
Photographer Annie Leibovitz
