Last year's position : Not Placed

Who said dot-com innovation is dead? Betfair has revolutionised the business model of the online bookie - and Stephen Hill is leading that charge. Rather than a two-way relationship between punter and bookmaker, customers trade bets across a community of users, attempting to outwit one another and get rich in the process.

Hill cut his teeth at publisher Pearson as CEO of the FT Group but with Betfair he is set to shape the future of a growing multi-billion pound industry - arguably the web's second largest cash cow after pornography.