OROne year ago, we launched TIME Business, a new franchise dedicated to exploring the growing influence of business not only in our economic lives, but also as a force shaping society and our collective future. Led by Executive Editor John Simons, we’ve chronicled everything from the future of work to how American shoppers broke the supply chain. We’ve brought you inside the C-suites with interviews from major figures in the business world via our weekly Leadership Report, and inside the rise of cryptocurrencies and NFTs via staff writer Andrew R. Chow. in the metaverse Newsletter.
Along the way, the business has grown from a very small portion of our coverage to about a fifth of all the content we publish. This is how it should be. From the vaccines that are pulling the world out of the worst depths of the pandemic to the unprecedented withdrawal of Western companies from Russia as a tool of war, business has never had a greater impact. And certainly not always for the better, as reflected in Billy Perrigo’s ongoing reporting on the all-too-frequent prioritization of profit over people in the tech world.
You can see all of that on display in our second annual TIME100 company list, included in this issue and featuring the world’s most influential companies. Some, like pharmaceutical startup Moderna and space junk removal firm Astroscale, are pushing the boundaries of technology in new and potentially revolutionary ways. Moderna is developing new mRNA vaccines for a host of pathogens, while Astroscale is developing technology to safely de-orbit satellites after their useful life ends.
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Others, like United Airlines and Capital One, took bold steps and defied rivals to follow: United was the first major US airline to issue an employee vaccination mandate, while Capital One recently became the the first of its peers to eradicate overdraft and non-funding. fees, which so often punish those least able to pay them. Meanwhile, disruptors like Engine No. 1 and AMC are changing the rules. As Vivienne Walt reports in this issue, Engine No. 1 is fast becoming the leading activist firm in the climate capitalism movement, while AMC’s Adam Aron wrote the book, in real time, on how to respond to becoming a “stock of memes”. courting younger, digitally savvy investors to keep the company afloat. Others, like Alphabet and Ford, are titans whose size and reach make them naturally influential.
“Taken together, these 100 companies, and the executives who lead them, represent the companies and leaders that are charting an essential path forward,” says Senior Editor Alex Fitzpatrick, who oversaw the list. As TIME’s business coverage continues throughout the year, these are the companies we’ll be watching the most closely, and we suggest you do the same.
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