Mister Lean

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Kok's company next developed a more efficient way for the solar division of Shell to turn raw silicon wafers into photovoltaic cells. And Kok has returned to work in the optical-media sector, designing in-line machines to mass-produce all types of dvds. His company has invented a type of compression-molding technology called the E-Clamp. Existing DVD-production machines require operators to change molds every time they want to switch production to a different type of CD or DVD--say, from single-sided discs to double-sided ones--at a cost of about $50,000 a change. With the E-Clamp, the same mold can be used to make a DVD or CD in any format.

Kok's closely held OTB-Group has revenues of about $100 million a year, and he has a substantial personal fortune. Yet he still lives with his wife in the same three-bedroom house they bought in 1986. His only indulgences are a stable of racing bicycles on which he exercises each day and a vintage Bugatti sports car. But what he's most passionate about driving--now as much as when he was 14--is innovation.