TIME/CNN presents Global Influentials, the top 25 business people worldwide

MARK LEONG/MATRIX FOR TIME

14. Liu Chuanzhi
Legend Computer CEO

Making computers was not the first step on Liu Chuanzhi's long march to success, but it may well be the one that matters most. Liu, 57, survived China's brutal Cultural Revolution and rode the winds of reform to a government concession distributing IBM PCs in the late 1980s. Then he persuaded the government to let him build PCs. He's CEO of Legend Computer, the most profitable PC maker in a market in which sales will grow 25% this year. Liu says he learned it all from Hewlett-Packard and IBM, but he aims to best them. Today, China; tomorrow, the world.

CNN Video: Watch a short profile of Liu Chuanzhi
Company Web Site: www.legend-holdings.com

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