Tata, Ambani, Mittal among most influential of 21st century

NEW YORK: After making waves on the lists of richest and powerful business leaders of the world, four Indians --- Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Ronnie Screwvala -- now figure among the 75 most influential persons of the 21st century.

The four are accompanied by two more persons of Indian origin residing in the US -- Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and geopolitical analyst Parag Khanna -- in the list compiled by fashion entertainment magazine Esquire.

These six with India link find a place alongside Bill and Hillary Clinton, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, US presidential candidate Barack Obama, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and former US Vice President Al Gore.

The list appears in the 75th Anniversary edition of the magazine, hitting the newsstands this month.

It includes media baron Rupert Murdoch, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, Apple's Steve Jobs, industrial conglomerate GE's chief Jeffrey Immelt, Russian oil oligarch Roman Abramovich, Google's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and celebrities like Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey.

Besides there are also Hollywood personalities like Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney and Will Smith.

About Mukesh Ambani, it said that he has made the cut "because India's rise will be fuelled by its entrepreneurs. And Ambani -- with his USD 43 billion fortune and his oversight of India's biggest firm -- is chief among them."

On Tata's inclusion, Esquire said that he is among the 75 most influential of 21st century "because it's nearly impossible to go a day in India without using a Tata product. And it might be that way in many other places, too."

Esquire said that steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is there "because he heads up the world's largest producer of steel and employs 310,000 people in 60 countries."