U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 48, got off to a rocky start, but the man who holds the economy in his hands has recovered nicely with an ambitious bank-rescue plan, far-reaching regulatory reform and deft handling of the auto-industry bailout. He's also moved to shore up insurance companies. But huge challenges remain: the big banks are far from healthy, and he has yet to persuade many large institutions to dump the overpriced toxic assets that are rotting their books. The nonstop crisis has made his job the toughest any Treasury Secretary has faced in generations.
Fast Fact: He graduated from an international high school in Bangkok