Julian Assange
Age: 39
Occupation: Co-founder and public face of WikiLeaks
Previous TIME 100 appearances: 0
A sort of Robin Hood of the information age, Julian Assange acquires secret and often controversial documents from government and corporate sources and then releases them to the public. Not universally admired, and facing sex-crime charges in Sweden, Assange has nevertheless drawn the admiration of many for his flinty belief in the value of transparency. Under house arrest in Britain since mid-December, he is currently fighting a ruling by a British court in February in favor of his extradition to Sweden. He also faces possible prosecution in the U.S. following the publication of classified material from the State Department and the Pentagon on the WikiLeaks website.