![dek](https://content.time.com/time/2009/time_100_walkup/damien_hirst.jpg)
AGE: 43
OCCUPATION: Wealthy art provocateur
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0
PRO: The acerbic British artist creator of the formaldehyde shark and diamond-encrusted skull sold nearly $200 million worth of highbrow artifacts last fall.
CON: His decision to bypass galleries and go straight to Sotheby's struck some art experts as greedy, even for him.