24. Chamath Palihapitiya

Founder, Social Capital

Outspoken Silicon Valley investor Palihapitiya didn't tread lightly this year. He decried the gender gap in tech, shared which startups he thought were "mostly crap," and publicly criticized Apple CEO Tim Cook. Through his more than $1 billion investment fund Social Capital, Palihapitiya is righteous in his conviction that today's generation has the opportunity to put "a massive dent in human suffering and make trillions of dollars in return."

The company he is most excited to put his money behind? Amazon, which he thinks could be a $3 trillion behemoth a decade from now. "We think this is the most incredible company being built today in the world," he said at an investment conference in May. Also this spring, the multimillionaire and part-owner of the Golden State Warriors launched a hedge fund, the impact of which remains to be seen.