AGE: 59
OCCUPATION: CEO of Wal-Mart
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 2
PRO: He's pledged to cut the energy use of many of Wal-Mart's products by 25% and to use the company's cost-cutting celerity to help other companies deliver health care for their employees. Scott can change the direction of the economy — in greener and more ethical directions — with Wal-Mart's purchasing power. And he's lately shown an appetite for justice: stating that while "we live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems," the world's biggest retailer "does not wait for someone else to solve problems."
CON: Wal-Mart's size and ubiquity means it is like a de facto government: a retailer with the reach and posture of a Soviet ministry. You know, they had low, low prices on toilet paper, too, for a while there. Also, there's this recession thing we keep hearing about...