AGE: 53
OCCUPATION: American economist, professor at Columbia University
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 2
PRO: Dedicated to the global eradication of extreme poverty, the do-gooder economist is combining charitable work (speechifying, hitting up philanthropic donors, bringing much-needed supplies to African villages) with celebrity wattage (hello, Angelina Jolie!) to drive home his ideas.
CON: Critics dismiss his theories as extraordinarily naïve, and increasingly see him has a plaything for Hollywood's A-list.