Author: Ben Debski

Since 2009, Samsung has been the world’s largest information and technology company in terms of revenue. It currently employs over 370,000 people and is the biggest player in the highly-competitive smartphone market. The company has successfully diversified its business, branching out into the consumer electronics market after decades spent manufacturing components. If it seems like things can’t get better for Samsung, they can: the company is on track for another record-breaking year, currently producing one fifth of South Korea’s exports.

David Karp is the founder and CEO of short-form blogging platform Tumblr. In 2013, the company was valued at over $800m, with Karp’s personal net-worth estimated to be in the region of $200m – he was 26 years old at the time of this valuation. Tumblr is a combination of microblog and social networking site, and it is the go-to place to launch and find viral content. Launched in 2007, it had over 75,000 users within its first two weeks: it has been successfully featuring advertising since 2012. Tumblr was bought by Yahoo in May 2013 for $1.1bn and, as of February 2014, it hosts over 170 million blogs.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals is best known for developing drugs used to treat rare disorders. The company is the original developer of Soliris, a unique medication used to treat hemolytic-uremic syndrome and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria – potentially fatal blood conditions. In 2010, Alexion was applauded for donating Soliris to people in Germany who had fallen victims to an E. coli outbreak. The company is currently researching eculizumab, a treatment for neurological disorders and conditions linked to transplants.

One of the world’s dominant aerospace and defence companies, Europe’s Airbus Group is a leading player in multiple markets. Until this year, it was known as the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) but has rebranded as Airbus Group with three notable divisions: Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters. Airbus Group is a conglomerate made up of British, German, French and Spanish interests. Employing over 143,000 people around the world, the firm’s notable jets include the world’s largest passenger airline – the A380 – and military planes, such as the Airbus A330 MRTT and the Airbus A400M Atlas.

Founded in Austria and Germany in 2000, paysafecard is a prepaid online payment solution that anyone can use. No bank account or credit card is necessary: the card’s 16-digit PIN is all that’s needed to complete a payment transaction. Based in Vienna and with subsidiaries in London, New York and Buenos Aires – among other places – it is owned by the Skrill Group and is present in 37 countries at over 450,000 sales outlets. The company has become the European market leader in prepaid payment solutions with the brands paysafecard, YUNA and Happy Schenkcard.

Wang Shu is one of the most celebrated Chinese architects working today. Based in Hanzhou in the Zhejiang Province, Wang became the first Chinese citizen to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2012. Wang is renowned for his modern designs that incorporate traditional materials and techniques, and has become known as a great enthusiast of architectural heritage. All of his most notable works – except the Venice Biennale pavilion – are located in China. He works frequently with his wife, with whom he founded the Amateur Architure Studio in 1997.

Founded 30 years ago and based in Edinburgh, Scotland, Wolfson Microelectronics remains a global leader in the supply of semiconductor solutions for the consumer electronics market. Its products are found in all manner of appliances, including smartphones, tablets, hi-fi equipment, gaming devices, MP3 players, televisions, digital cameras and navigation devices. Producing ground-breaking audio products, such as audio hub solutions, noise cancellation solutions and MEMS microphones, is at the heart of the company’s business.

The daughter of Spanish billionaire and Grupo Santander Chairman Emilio Botín, Ana Botín has been CEO of the bank’s UK subsidiary since December 2010. Her early education and career came in the US, where she studied business at Harvard Business School before working for seven years at JP Morgan. Botín returned to Spain in 1998 to work at Santander. Described as the most powerful woman in the British banking industry, her success has led to increased demand and Santander UK looking to double its business centres over the next two years.

Since the company was founded in 1995, Intuitive Surgical has spearheaded innumerable innovations in the field of minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgery. The California-based enterprise boasts some 2,300 employees worldwide and ended 2012 with cash and investments worth $2.9bn. The past year has seen the company improve its services by quite some margin, so much so that robotic solutions have even been cited by some as the future of surgical care. Last year approximately 523,000 surgical procedures were performed with the company’s da Vinci system.

A world-renowned designer of medical devices, Team Consulting was launched in 1986 by five former colleagues in a tiny cottage in the English countryside. The company is focused on creating commercially successful products, and combines its expertise in design, science and engineering from the planning stages of a product, right through to the realisation of mass production. Based near the scientific research hub of Cambridge, Team Consulting is perfectly placed to help clients design the most advanced and safe medical devices on the market.

The world’s leading computer animation film studio, Pixar’s huge success over the last 25 years has led to it winning countless awards and has brought in vast sums of money. Starting life as the computer division of Lucasfilm in 1979, Pixar
was spun off in 1986 with the help of Apple founder Steve Jobs, who sat on its board until his death in 2011. It has gone on to produce such popular films as Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 , Cars, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, grossing a combined $7bn, while 2010’s Cars saw merchandise sales of $10bn. In 2006, Disney paid $7.4bn to acquire it.

Snøhetta is one of the leading architectural landscape firms in Norway and has helped popularise the now omnipresent ‘Nordic style’ building. Founded in 1989, the company is behind some of the most iconic structures in Norway, such as the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Lillehammer Art Museum. It has also won a number of awards for its work around the world, most notably the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, for which it won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Its buildings are well known for their clean lines and creative use of modern technology.