Table of Contents: Apr. 26, 2004

In this special issue we present our list of the 100 most powerful and influential people in the world--and we take a close look at how their words and deeds have an outsize effect on the rest of us

Leaders & Revolutionaries

GEORGE W. BUSH by Andrew Sullivan 54

ABU AL-ZARQAWI by Romesh Ratnesar 56

CONDOLEEZZA RICE by Michael Duffy 56

WU YI by Hannah Beech 56

VLADIMIR PUTIN by Paul Quinn-Judge 57

KIM JONG IL by Michael Elliott 58

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN by Andrew Purvis 58

ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE by Alex Perry 59

KOFI ANNAN by Richard C. Holbrooke 59

BILL GATES by Warren E. Buffett 60

LUISA DIOGO by Mark Malloch Brown 60

JOHN KERRY by Joe Klein 61

TOSHIHIKO FUKUI by Jim Frederick 61

JOHN ABIZAID by Mark Thompson 62

ALI HUSAINI SISTANI by Hassan Fattah 62

OSAMA BIN LADEN by Richard A. Clarke 64

BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON by Karen Tumulty 64

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA by Tim Padgett 67

HU JINTAO by Matthew Forney 67

POPE JOHN PAUL II by Elie Wiesel 68

Builders & Titans

THE GOOGLE GUYS by Chris Taylor 70

WARREN BUFFETT by James J. Cramer 71

MICHAEL DELL by Cathy Booth Thomas 72

CARLY FIORINA by Marjorie Scardino 72

JOHN BROWNE by John Elkington 73

RUPERT MURDOCH by John Heilemann 73

LEE SCOTT by Bill Saporito 74

LINDSAY OWEN-JONES by Jennie James 74

MEG WHITMAN by Chris Taylor 74

STEVE JOBS by Josh Quittner 75

HOWARD SCHULTZ by Barbara Kiviat 76

THE AL-JAZEERA TEAM by Scott MacLeod 76

AZIM PREMJI by Aravind Adiga 76

DAVID NEELEMAN by Sally B. Donnelly 77

TOYOTA'S TOP TWO by Jim Frederick 77

DANIEL VASELLA by Unmesh Kher 80

BELINDA STRONACH by Stephen Handelman 80

BERNARD ARNAULT by Peter Gumbel 81

ABIGAIL JOHNSON by Daniel Kadlec 81

SEPP BLATTER by Bill Saporito 81

Artists & Entertainers

NICOLE KIDMAN by Belinda Luscombe 82

CHARLIE KAUFMAN by Joel Stein 83

FRANK GEHRY by Richard Lacayo 84

NORAH JONES by Christopher John Farley 84

HIDEO NAKATA by Richard Corliss 84

SIMON COWELL by James Poniewozik 85

SEAN PENN by Richard Schickel 88

JOHN GALLIANO by Kate Betts 88

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER by Desa Philadelphia 90

FERRAN ADRIA by James Graff 90

NICHOLAS HYTNER by Richard Zoglin 91

J.K. ROWLING by Nancy Gibbs 91

GUY LALIBERTE by Steven Frank 93

KEN KUTARAGI by Lev Grossman 93

AISHWARYA RAI by Alex Perry 94

OUTKAST by Josh Tyrangiel 95

MARK BURNETT by Donald Trump 95

KATIE COURIC by Richard Zoglin 98

BRUCE NAUMAN by Richard Lacayo 98

PETER JACKSON by Richard Corliss 100

Scientists & Thinkers

JULIE GERBERDING by Alice Park 102