Media professionals dominate Fortune’s 40 under 40 list

Fortune celebrates young innovators, value creators and agents of change in its annual 40 under 40 list, and this year features a strong line-up of 17 professionals who made their fortunes in media and the digital space.

Marc Andreessen
Rank: 1
Co-founder of Netscape, Opsware, Ning and Andreessen Horowitz
Ranking first on the list, Andreesen moves up from tenth last year Andreesen tipped the scale in the online world with the creation of Netscape. Today he’s a venture capitalist and director to some of the biggest brans, including Facebook and Skype.

Mark Zukerberg
Rank: 2
Founder and CEO, Facebook
As one of America’s youngest self-made billionaires, the youthful Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook with fellow classmates while attending Harvard. Today, private equity deals place Facebook's value at around US$23 billion, and this year Forbes estimates that Zuckerberg is worth US$6.9 billion.

Evan Williams and Biz Stone
Rank: 3
Co-founders, Twitter
Biz Stone is co-founder and creative director of Twitter. Previously, he helped build other popular social media services Xanga, Blogger, and Odeo. He also published two books about the origins and social significance of blogging. Besides his contributions to Twitter and various startups, Evan Williams invented the term 'blogger' and popularised the term 'blog'. Recently, he stepped down from CEO to focus on product strategy, making way for Dick Costolo.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page
Rank: 5
Co-founders, Google
The pair was ranked first in last year’s 40 under 40 list, but have fallen to fifth place this year, as Google seems to have lost poularity in some of the markets across the world. Still, the pair is worth about US$30 billion collectively, and Google’s revenue grew 8.5 per cent last year.

James Murdoch
Rank: 8
Chairman and CEO, Europe and Asia, News Corp.
The son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, he oversees assets such as News International (British newspapers), SKY Italia (satellite television), and STAR TV (satellite television in Asia). At the age of 30, James Murdoch was much younger than most of his counterparts when he became chief executive officer of British Sky Broadcasting Group in 2003.

Cesar Conde
Rank: 12
President, Univision Networks
Conde replaces longtime president Ray Rodriguez as head the nation’s most-watched Spanish language television network in the US.  Formerly a White House Fellow who served as a special assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Wharton graduate also worked in M&A at Salomon Smith Barney. The Miami native of Cuban and Peruvian descent harnesses his bi-cultural roots for the networks success, and aims to take the network from the current fifth most-watched to the first.

Wendy Clark
Rank: 15
Senior vice president, integrated marketing and communications, Coca-Cola
Wendy Clark oversees design, advertising development, media, sponsorships, interactive marketing and Coca-Cola’s Live Positively sustainability commitment across 500 brands in 200 countries. She was previously head of marketing for AT&T, where she was behind some of its largest re-branding and advertising campaigns.

Tim Armstrong
Rank: 18
Chairman and CEO, AOL
Previously, Armstrong was president of Google’s Americas operation. In his current role, he has aggressively streamlined AOL’s operations, while investing in local journalism ventures, with plans to make the internet service provider a content destination.

Dennis Crowley
Rank: 29
Co-founder and CEO, Foursquare
Taking social media up a step by letting users 'check in' to venues, Crowley’s Foursquare technology marries social, locative and gaming elements to encourage people explore the cities in which they live. Previously, Dennis founded dodgeball.com, one of the first mobile social services in the US, which was acquired by Google in 2005.

Rio Caraeff
Rank: 31
President/ CEO Vevo
The man behind Universal Music’s digital division, which accounted for 45 per cent of the company’s digital revenues, Caraeff’s Vevo venture launched last year is generating huge interest and eyeballs in the US and Canada.

Marissa Mayer
Rank: 34
Vice president, search products and user experience, Google
Mayer heads Google’s user experience division, where she is responsible for the look and functionality of the search engine. She also oversees programming and design for over 100 web products, from Google's search function to Google News. She is taking on a new role as head of Google’s location and local services, and is involved in high-level company decisions.

Jason Kilar
Rank: 39
CEO, Hulu
After nearly a decade with Amazon as its VP and GM Kilar began his career with The Walt Disney Company, where he worked for Disney Design & Development. An MBA from Harvard Business School and a graduate of Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina, Kilar is believed to be prepping for a potential IPO for Hulu and planning a subscription service that will allow access to a broader array of shows.

Carolyn Everson
Rank: 42
Corporate vice president, global ad sales, Microsoft
The former executive vice president of US ad sales for MTV Networks came on board Microsoft to lead and grow its advertising through Bing and its recently launched Windows mobile. But this high position has high stakes too, as she is charged with to grow the corporate giant by 25 per cent, and taking a US$3.3 billion business to US$15 billion.

Ian Tait
Rank: 43
Global digital creative director, Wieden & Kennedy 
The co-founder of Poke left the digital agency in 2001 to join Portland-based Wieden+Kennedy (W+K). He is popularly known as the man behind P&G's 'Old Spice Guy' campaign and for the popular 'Crack Unit' blog. He was voted most influential person in last year’s Top 100 Interactive Agencies Guide.